Adopting a human development perspective involves recognition of development as a process beyond economic concerns and beyond a particular sector, to one that respects the choices and freedoms of human beings and seeks to enlarge capabilities and opportunities for all.

This tool aims to develop skills to apply a human development lens to issues. It is a first step in operationalizing the human development approach in shaping policies and programmes. The human development approach keeps people at the center (rather than, for example, GDP per capita) and their quality of life as the ultimate aim.