in the example of the “Three Children and a Flute” invoked by Sen (Deneulin,
2011). International organizations such as the International Labour Organization
and the World Bank have also benefited from his pioneering inputs on poverty,
famine, human rights and gender inequality. Arguably, the most notable real-life
application of Sen’s insights was the launch of the Human Development Index by
the United Nations Development Program in 1990. The conceptual foundation
of the HDI relied heavily on Sen’s writings, as well as on his personal advice to
the UNDP (Leelavathi and Gopalakrishna, 2012). The HDI seeks to widen the idea
of progress by focusing on the actual lives of people and their capabilities in
order to provide a more complete measurement of development. Several
governments have employed adapted versions of the HDI in order to foster local
development. In Argentina, for instance, the creation of the “Extended Human
Development Index” has been used to inform policies and for a better
redistribution of wealth. Similarly, the “Human Development Atlas” in Brazil has
aided policy decisions in different states and municipalities (Dervis and Klugman,
2011). After the creation of the HDI, the UNDP also introduced the Gender-
Related Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure with similar purposes but
related specifically to gender inequality (Leelavathi and Gopalakrishna, 2012).
All in all, Sen’s departure from mainstream understandings of justice has
offered a new insightful account that incorporates the advancement of human
capabilities into global development and human rights. Sen’s perspective of the
capability approach is sensitive to its limitations, but has made a real impact in
broadening the discussion about global justice. Shifting the attention of
researchers from resources to a realisation-based conception focused on people
has proven to be crucial to the execution of justice. Additionally, the application
of the mathematical results of social choice theory as means for public
discussion is an innovative account that makes space for a plurality of impartial
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