DEVELOPMENT

Summary
Mati Heidmets
The global view of human development alludes to the
fact that the size of the differences between countries and
peoples are sometimes almost impossible to comprehend.
The wealth per person, in the most advanced countries,
is more than 50 times greater than in the least developed
countries. In the computations of the years devoted to
schooling,, the differences have stretched to being fivefold.
Life expectancy in Europe is pushing forward into
the eighties, while in many African countries it has yet
to reach the fifties. The world continues to be split, and
we are used to this. We are used to all kinds of rankings
that start with Europe and North America, and end with
Central Africa.
Against the background of a split world, Estonia
looks good. According to the 2013 UN Human Development
Report, we continue to be a country with “very
high human development.” On the global scale, Estonia
is far from being a poor peripheral country, which how
we sometimes see ourselves – actually we are significantly
smarter, wealthier and more developed than the
average, and a society that has coped well in the global
marketplace. A position among the “highly developed”
also presumes a corresponding mentality, including
the understanding that helping those who lag behind
is our duty and in our interests. Slowly, alongside the
mentality of being a dependant and an aid recipient,
a new, more self-confident and empathetic approach
to the world is actually developing in this country,
which is actually a truer reflection of our position in
the global cauldron.
Our rapidly changing position from being dependent,
to being accountable, also means that a different
attitude toward global matters is required. The concern
about a deeply divided world is also Estonia’s concern.
It is in our interest to work to mitigate these differences,
be it through developmental aid; by spreading knowledge;
or by distributing fishing hooks. Although not
widely publicised in Estonia, one of the major largescale
undertakings for smoothing over these gaps was
initiated in September 2000, when the UN General
Assembly approved the United Nations Millennium
Declaration. The nations of the world accepted the task
of working to resolve the most significant development
concerns. Among other things, it was agreed to reduce,
by 2015, the number of people suffering from hunger
twofold, compared to the beginning of the century; and
to halve the proportion of the world’s people whose
income is less than one dollar a day. A very important
goal is to ensure that all children complete a full course
of primary education. At first glance, it would seem that
these topics do not affect Estonia. Actually they do, very
much so. Efforts to create a balanced and sustainable
world are directly related to the efforts being made on
behalf of Estonia’s future.
A global, and therefore well synthesised, view of
Estonia does not always coincide with how we see and
assess our life and development internally. The closer the
scrutiny, the more causes for concern there are – even
in those fields of activity in which the rest of the world
views us as being very successful. Let’s take education,
our perennial trump card in various rankings. Estonia
is characterised by both very well-acquired knowledge
as well as by poor personal capabilities. Estonian people
have sufficient knowledge, but lack self-sufficiency and
self-confidence; there is little creativity or willingness
to assert our erudition. The same thing is indicated by
our continued Eastern European position on the map of
the World Values Survey. Many fundamental values of
Western life (tolerance, readiness to participate in the
affairs of the society) are becoming rooted with great
difficulty. Estonians have gained individual freedom, but
filling this with positive and constructive content will
take more time.
Often enough, Estonia’s good average indicators hide
unreasonably excessive differences within the society. A
discernible split continues to exist between Estonians and
the representatives of other nationalities. It seems that
many non-Estonians have yet to become fully acclimated
to the situation in re-independent Estonia, and continue
to suffer from a kind of transition stress. This is indicated
by a low natural population increase, which is significantly
lower than among Estonians; by more dynamic
emigration from the country; and by a lower degree of
trust in the Estonian country. And the gender gap has
become a dismal trademark of sorts for Estonia. We are
the European Union champions not only in the sphere of
sex-based salary differences, but also in the educational
inequality between men and women – in Estonia, more
than twice as many women as men acquire higher education.
Maybe this odd distinction is the reason why so
many young and educated women leave Estonia.
In twenty years, Estonia has built a well-functioning
country and energetic society. In global comparisons,
we are praised for this. At the same time, it seems that
a considerable segment of Estonians have not yet settled
into their new environments, due to their resources,
lifestyles or mentalities. Bringing a successful Estonia
into the homes and souls of all those living in Estonia
could be an important challenge for the next period of
development.
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013
59