The new HDI figures, launched today in Mexico City by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. This year 187 countries and territories were measured.

Norway retained its top position from last year, ahead of Australia and the US, while the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan round out the top 10, in that order.

However, when the HDI is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education and income, the standings of some countries fall significantly. The US falls from 3 to 16 and the Republic of Korea descends from 12 to 28. By contrast, Sweden rises from the seventh to the fourth spot.

“National averages hide large variation in human experiences, and wide disparities remain within countries of both the North and the South,” the report says.

The report, entitled The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World, emphasizes the unprecedented growth of developing countries, which is propelling millions out of poverty and reshaping the global system.

According to the report, leading economies in the South such as China, India and Brazil will be the main drivers of economic growth and societal change for the first time in centuries. This growth, however, is not limited to these three countries, and the report spotlights more than 40 other countries that have made greater human development gains in recent decades than what was predicted.

A Programme Cooperation Agreement will be signed by Norway’s Deputy Minister for International Development, Arvinn Eikeland Gadgil, and UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova on Thursday at the agency’s headquarters in Paris, France, UNESCO stated in a news release.

The agreement stipulates that Norway’s additional contribution will be given over the next two years, and that UNESCO will support national development plans and contribute to coordination among development partners, particularly within the UN.

Following the signing ceremony last week, Norway will host a debate on women’s issues, entitled ‘Nora’s Sisters, Women Worldwide: Challenges of Freedom.’ at the Paris Institut du Monde Arabe.

Held under the patronage of UNESCO, the event will include a theatre performance and a panel with various women’s rights experts and activists, including a Saudi women’s rights activist, Manal al-Sharif, a French-Nicaraguan anthropologist, Milagros Palma, and Bunker Roy, an Indian social activist, entrepreneur and educator.

The Estelle, carrying 17 activists  including Canadian, Norwegian and Swedish nationals left from the port at Naples, Italy on Saturday. The vessel, which measures 173 feet long, reportedly is carrying humanitarian goods.

The leader of the Norwegian section of the group “Ship to Gaza,” Torstein Dahle, told Reuters that the groups’ goals were the same as that of previous flotillas, namely to end the blockade and bring relief to the people of Gaza.

It will take about two weeks to reach Gaza’s territorial waters, according to AFP.

The ship is part of the “Freedom Flotilla” movement. The movement’s first attempt to break the blockade ended in the deaths of nine Turkish activists after Israeli Navy commandos on May 31, 2010 boarded the Mavi Marmara in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Estelle began its journey in Sweden and toured Europe, including Finland, Spain, and France before arriving last week in the Gulf of Naples.

As part of its illegal blockade on Gaza, Israel’s naval blockade extends to around 37 kilometers from the coast of Gaza, but previous Israeli attacks against solidarity ships were carried out as far as 65 kilometers from the shore.

A second attempt to break the blockade last summer with a coalition of ships setting sail from Athens failed after Greek authorities intercepted the boats, banning their departure.

In November last year, the Israeli navy also intercepted two Irish and Canadian ships  that were trying to breach the blockade in international waters off Gaza.

“The mission of the observers may be risky. The situation in Syria remains fragile, and one will be completely dependent on both parties respecting the integrity of UN personnel,” says Norweigian Minister of Defence Espen Barth Eid.

“We therefore have to have realistic expectations in terms of what the observer force can achieve. Still, our hope is that the presence of the observers may help reduce the level of violence in the country,” he added in a statement released by the Norweigian mission to  UN website.

Mood has been a military advisor to Kofi Annan by supporting Annan in his efforts to halt the violence in Syria, and to prepare the ground for the establishment of an observer mission.

The UN Security Council on April 21st unanimously decided to establish an unarmed military observer force. Last Saturday, the Security Council authorized the establishment of UNSMIS,an observer mission made up of up to 300 unarmed military observers an deployed for an initial period of 90 days, to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria.

Born in Norway in 1958, Mr. Mood has extensive experience and knowledge ofpeacekeeping operations at a national and international level, including inUN operations such as the Organization¹s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)from 1989 to 1990.

The observers are also tasked with monitoring and supporting the full implementation of the six-point peace plan put fornt by the Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syria, Kofi Annan, which calls for an end to the violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, and the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the wants of the Syrian people.