Ghana

Since 1997 UNDP Ghana has been working with Government to prepare and disseminate the Human Development Report. The prime objective of the report is to offer guidance on policies and guidance required at different levels by different actors to keep development actions focused, cordinated and efficacous by presenting systematic account and assessment of social and economic development in the country from the sustainable Human Development perspective.

Climate change is now a scientifi cally established fact. Th e exact impact of greenhouse gas emission is not easy to forecast and there is a lot of uncertainty in the science when it comes to predictive capability. But we now know enough to recognize that there are large risks, potentially catastrophic ones, including the melting of ice-sheets on Greenland and the West Antarctic (which would place many countries under water) and changes in the course of the Gulf Stream that would bring about drastic climatic changes.
Prudence and care about the future of our children and their children requires that we act now. Th is is a form of insurance against possibly very large losses. The fact that we do not know the probability of such losses or their likely exact
timing is not an argument for not taking insurance.
We know the danger exists. We know the damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions is irreversible for a long time. We know it is growing with every day of inaction.

This year’s Human Development Report looks at an issue that profoundly influences human potential and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
Throughout history human progress has depended on access to clean water and on the ability of societies to harness the potential of water as a productive resource. Water for life in the household and water for livelihoods through production are two of the foundations for human development. Yet for a large section of humanity
these foundations are not in place.
The word crisis is sometimes overused in development. But when it comes to water, there is a growing recognition that the world faces a crisis that, left unchecked, will derail progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and hold
back human development. For some, the global water crisis is about absolute shortages of physical supply. The Report rejects this view. It argues
that the roots of the crisis in water can be traced to poverty, inequality and unequal power relationships, as well as flawed water management policies that exacerbate scarcity.