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Revisiting the MDG’s: Exploring a Multidimensional Framework for Human
Development
acquired welfare levels at particular instances. As one moves
from left to right, the acquired welfare levels encounter
different aspects of individual lives which determine the
wellbeing stage at any given instance. Three factorspersonal
circumstances, resources/choices (‘resources’ from
here onwards) and conversion factor- play pivotal role in
completing the capabilities space as a person moves from the
initial conditions to the desired level of functionings. The
space of personal circumstances connotes the given
conditions of an individual and encompasses the prevailing
level of physical, social and economic conditions at the
inception of a development intervention. Resources are the
various choices and opportunities thrown up by such an
intervention. Conversion factor symbolizes the enabling force
needed to avail/utilize the resources.
As evident from the figure, it is the interconnectivity of these
three spaces which completes the capabilities set for an
individual. The domain of a development project should not
only address all these three components of human
development, but address them in their proper order and
space. This schema proffers a coherent, systematic and
regimented framework for taking an individual from the
prevailing conditions to the desired thresholds of
development.
A Capabilities Approach Assessment of the MDG’s
Without such an articulation of the various spaces of human
functioning, any human development paradigm would
produce only limited results. To highlight the kind of partialfactuality
that the inherent limitations of the MDG’s
produce, the first six goals of the MDG’s are evaluated within
the capabilities space. The evaluation illustrates that how
the various targets and indicators of the MDG’s address the
three essential spaces of human development 1 . Each goal is
1
These six goals are directly related to human capabilities development,
whereas the last two goals mainly address the institutional and
functional aspects, and are therefore left out of this assessment. For a
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