On 15 July 2004 in Moscow, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) conducted a presentation and a round-table discussion of the UNDP-commissioned Global Human Development Report for 2004 preceded by a press briefing on 13 July. The international launch of the Report took place on 15 July in Brussels in a public ceremony with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr Guy Verhofstadt and the UNDP Administrator, Mr Mark Malloch Brown.

The 2004 Report, titled Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World, was prepared on UNDP initiative by a team of international experts, including the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, Mr Amartya Sen, former President of South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Iranian lawyer and human rights activistMs Shirin Ebadi, the 1998 co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for forging peace in his native Northern Ireland, Mr John Hume, and the President of Afghanistan, Mr Hamid Karzai.

According to the Report, the theme, which has been selected, is particularly topical today, when the notion of a global “clash of cultures” is resonating so powerfully – and worryingly – around the world, finding answers to the old questions of how best to manage and mitigate conflict over language, religion, culture, and ethnicity. The Report argues that cultural freedom is an essential element of human development. In addition, it challenges the prevailing myths about diversity, development, and political stability. The themes of the Report, which are especially relevant for the Russian Federation, include recognition of cultural and ethnical diversity, problems of federalism and multicultural policy, demography and migration, and demography and human rights.

The Human Development Index, and integral part of the Report, ranks 177 countries, including the Russian Federation, according to their level of human development. The Index is based on indicators of life expectancy, education level, and GDP per capita.

During the event at the UN Information Centre in Moscow, the Report was presented by the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Russian Federation, Mr Sviatoslav Dyomin, and discussed by Russian experts, including Professor Sergei Kapitsa, Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology under the Russian Academy of Sciences, Mr Valeri Tishkov, Director of Migration Research Centre of the Institute for Economic Forecasting under the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ms Zhanna Zayonchkovskaya, Head of the Department of Humanitarian and Social Sciences of the Russian Fund of Fundamental Studies, Mr Vladimir Zhidkov, and others.

You can download the full text of the Report from here

http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/