FACT: Poor countries must first strive to fulfill the basic human needs of their people before they endeavor to increase per capita income.

Bangladesh and Nepal are two of the poorest countries in the world. In Bangladesh, nearly 50% of its 135 million people live below the poverty line; in Nepal, over 40% are impoverished. Can these countries even hope to become developed by 2015?

Today Bangladesh reports a per capita income of US$360 and Nepal, US$230. From a narrow perspective, one could argue that by doubling or tripling their current per capita income to approximately US$700 by 2015, these countries can graduate from being ‘low-income’ to at least ‘middle-income’. This could happen, for example, if the per capita income in Bangladesh grows on average by 7.5%, and in Nepal, by 12.5%, every year until 2015. Such economic growth would be nothing short of a miracle—and therefore, highly unlikely. The reality is that per capita income has, over the past decade, been growing on average by about 2% and 3% in Nepal and Bangladesh respectively.

The goal, therefore, is not for developing countries to strive toward wealth, but to work towards eliminating poverty and fulfilling every citizen’s basic human needs. A developed country is not characterized by high incomes, and the abundance of glitzy buildings, shopping malls and the like, but rather, by the quality of life that the vast majority of its citizens enjoy. Citizens should be able to fulfill their basic human needs without restrictions and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

To understand the definition of “quality of life”, it is important to understand key social measurements that gauge a population’s overall health and education levels, each of which pertains to human rights. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), defined as the annual number of women’s deaths from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births, is an indicator often used to measure a country’s level of health care and related infrastructure. Bangladesh reports an MMR of 380 and Nepal 740. By comparison, the MMR for the US is 8.

The fulfillment of the right to education is another social yardstick which relates to quality of life. In developed countries, nearly 100% of adult women are literate. Although some developing nations, such as Cuba and Costa Rica, have high living standards and similarly high literacy rates, many do not. For example, female literacy rates in Bangladesh and Nepal are only 30% and 24% respectively. If poor countries want to offer a better quality of life to people, they must first ensure that every person has access to the goods, services and assistance needed to fulfill their most basic human needs.

The good news is that many developing nations have made strides in improving quality of life. Countries like China, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, as well as the state of Kerala in India have been able to achieve significant improvements in quality of life despite relatively low levels of income.

In fact, it is entirely possible that by 2015, poor countries could catch up with developed countries on all of these fronts—by stepping up investments in health, education, nutrition and general well-being. Economic growth needs to be channeled to create jobs and other opportunities to make the lives of the poor more secure.