The correct answer is: b) Social progress and well-being.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher if it performs better on these indicators. The HDI was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is published annually as part of the Human Development Report.
The HDI is a valuable tool for assessing the progress of countries towards achieving human development goals. It can also be used to compare the performance of different countries on a range of social and economic indicators. However, the HDI has been criticized for being too simplistic and for not taking into account a wide range of factors that contribute to human development.
The other options are incorrect because:
- Economic growth is a measure of the increase in the amount of goods and services produced by a country over time. It is often used as a proxy for the standard of living, but it does not take into account other important factors such as inequality and social progress.
- Environmental sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is a complex issue that involves a wide range of factors, including climate change, pollution, and resource depletion.
- Military power is the ability of a country to wage war. It is often measured by the size of a country’s military budget, the number of its troops, and the sophistication of its weapons. Military power is not a good indicator of human development because it does not take into account other important factors such as education, health, and economic growth.