Geography

Human Wellbeing

Human Wellbeing is the quality of life experienced by a population in a certain geographic location. It is the general physical, mental and social health of a population, combined with access to amenities, resources, and a sense of purpose and satisfaction in life.

Factors: Human Wellbeing

Social, Technological, Environmental, Political, Economic

Indicators

An indicator is usually a number that gives us an idea about some aspect of wellbeing e.g life expectancy. These indicators are useful to compare countries, and to measure within a country.

Main types of Indicators (quantitative)

Stated numerically, straightforward to measure, e.g number of doctors per 1000 people

Main types of indicators (qualitatively)

More complex to measure, often focuses on a particular quality of life, could use multiple index's together (health + safety), e.g level of freedom

What do social indicators measure

Demographic, social, and health indicators e.g. population growth, literacy, and life expectancy

What do political indicators measure

Measure effective governance and the opportunity to live and work in safety, e.g defence expenditure, female parlimentarians

What do technological indicators measure

E.g mechanisation, access to electricity, and access to the internet

What do environmental indicators measure

Assess natural and man-made environmental resources e.g access to fresh water

What do economic indicators measure

Measure income and employment to help quantify living standard such as GNI

SEDA

Sustainable Economic Development Analysis --> shows where countries are doing well an where more work is needed. Comparing this to GDP shows which countries have converted economic growth to overall wellbeing. Factors:

- Economic: income, economic stability, employment

- Investment: health, education, infrastructure

- Sustainability: income equality, civil society, governance, environment

GDP

Gross Domestic Product is a measurement of the total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a period of time. If GDP increases, economic growth has increased

GNI

Gross National Income is GDP + net income earned from overseas (rent, emittances). GNI is often used as an indicator of an countries economic performance and standard of living.

Gini Coefficient

The Gini coefficient is a commonly used measure of income or wealth (economic) inequality that condenses the entire income distribution of a country into a single number between 0 and 1.

0 = Everyone owns/earns the same

1 = one person owns/earns everything

HDI

The Human Development Index was created to emphasise that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of the country. It includes health, education, and income (holistic measurement of wellbeing).

Health: assessed by life expectancy at birth

Education: measured by mean years of schooling for adults aged 15+ and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age.

Income: measurement by GNI

Why are there social inequalities

- Population size and growth

- Adequate food

- Social Structure

- Status of women

- Indigenous peoples

- Human resources: health, education, skills

Population size and growth (social inequalities)

India's population of over 1.4 billion has created a strain on food, housing, and healthcare. Overcrowding and limited resources have lowered living standards and increased poverty, harming wellbeing.

Adequate food (social inequalities)

In Yemen, years of conflict have caused widespread food insecurity, with 17 million people lacking reliable access to food. Malnutrition and hunger have severely damaged physical health and overall wellbeing.

Social structures (social inequalities)

Japan's collectivist culture values conformity and social harmony, which can discourage individuality. This pressure to fit in has contributed to high stress and suicide rates, negatively impacting mental wellbeing.

Role and status of women (social inequalities)

Pakistan ranks 161 out of 162 on the global gender gap index, showing severe inequalities. This limits a women's access to education, employment, and healthcare, reducing their overall wellbeing.

Indigenous peoples (social inequalities)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the first nation people of Australia. Although Australia has incorporated Indigenous culture into society, harmful differences remain in life expectancy, with Indigenous Australians living 7 years shorter

Human resources (social inequalities)

Limited access to quality education and healthcare has left many Nigerians without essential skills or services. In 2024 the literacy rate was only 63% leading to reduced employment opportunities and poor wellbeing.

Why are there political inequalities

- Land ownership

- Colonisation

- War and civil unrest

- Ethnic cleansing

- Trade Agreements

- Human Rights

- Provisions of schools, hospitals, clean water, sewage systems, transport, and shelters

Why are there technological inequalities

- Information and communication technology

- Dams and irrigation

- Clean water

- Sanitation

- Transport

Why are there economic inequalities

- Income (GDP)

- Assets

- Distribution of income

- Consumption: level and types

- Urbanisation

- Employment

- Trade

- Investment

- Tourism

- Size of the working population

Why are there environmental inequalities

- Access to resources: fossil fuels, forests, minerals

- Natural disasters: cyclones, earthquakes

- Prevalent biomes

- Land quality and degradation

Extreme Poverty

Extreme poverty refers to living on less than $2.15 per day, however, it also includes many overlapping disadvantages. E.g. living in geographic isolation without clean water, electricity, or nutritious and regular meals

Multidimensional Poverty Index

The MPI looks beyond income (monetary poverty) to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways

It captures the acute, overlapping deprivations in:

- Health

- Education

- Standard of living

People who experience deprivation in at least one third of these weighted indicators fall into the category of multidimensionally poor

1 in 3 children are multidimensionally poor

1 in 5 children live in extreme poverty

Dimensions of Poverty

Health:

- Nutrition

- Child mortality

Education:

- Years of Schooling

- School Attendance

Standard of living:

- Cooking Fuel

- Sanitation

- Drinking Water

- Electricity

- Housing

- Assets

Reasons of Child Marriage

- financial burdens

- social pressure/expectations

- expectation of girls to have children and serve their husbands

- poverty

- dowry

- natural disaster

Why are child mortality rates higher in Africa?

1. Limited access to healthcare

2. Poor nutrition and food insecurity

3. Unsafe water and sanitation

Limited access to healthcare

Many areas lack hospitals, clinics, trained doctors, and essential medicines, so treatable illnesses like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea often become fatal

Poor nutrition and food insecurity

High levels of poverty and drought lead to malnutrition, which weakens children's immune systems and makes them more vulnerable to disease

Unsafe water and sanitation

Many communities don't have clean drinking water or proper toilets, leading to infections and waterborne diseases like cholera and dysentery

How can we reduce the number of children with HIV in the world?

- Early testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy to reduce risk of transmission

- Safe delivery practices

- Education

Impacts of Low Literacy

- Education and employment

- Poverty cycle

- Mental health

- Health impacts

- Access to information

- Economic impact

Education and Employment

Limits access to higher education and skilled jobs, restricting people to low-paying or unstable work

Poverty cycle

Lower income makes it harder to afford education for children, continuing the cycle of poverty across generations

Mental health

Low self-esteem and exclusion can contribute to stress, anxiety, and depression.

Health impacts

Limited pay can result in limited access to treatment and medication, resulting in many health impacts

Access to information

Struggle to understand important documents like contracts, bills, or legal papers, leading to financial and legal problems.

Economic impact

A less educated population can slow down a country's economic growth and development.

Foreign Aid

Foreign Aid is the giving of resources by one country, or by an organisation (known as the donor) to another country (the recipient) to help with its development, recovery, or emergencies.

Foreign Aid can come in many forms such as:

- Money (grants or loans)

- Food and Medical supplies

- Military and security help

- Expert advice and training (e.g engineers, environmental planners, administrations)

- Infrastructure projects (building schools, roads)

Why is aid needed?

Aid is needed to improve standards f living and quality of life. Less developed countries require aid for different reasons.

This is mainly for:

- Trade deficit

- Basic amenities

- Encourage self-help schemes

- Natural/Human Induced Disaster

Trade Deficit (why is aid needed)

As they have a large and often increasing trade deficit. They need to borrow money to buy goods from more developed countries. Unfortunately, by borrowing money, less developed countries fall further into debt. This type of aid is often long-term.

Bilateral aid

Direct aid given from one government to another (e.g USA to Colombia)

Multilateral aid

Aid given through international organisations (e.g the UN, World Bank)

Humanitarian Aid

Short-term aid provided in response to natural disasters or humanitarian crises (e.g UN's emergency food aid)

Voluntary Aid

Non-government organisations such as Oxfam and World Vision which collect money for people in less developed countries

The two main ways of providing aid are:

- Tied aid: is conditional, the recipient generally has to spend it on services and products that the donor country provides

- Untied aid: is unconditional, the recipient country can choose how/where to spend it

Advantages of aid

- Provision of medical training, medicines, and equipment can improve health standards of living

- Aid for agriculture can help increase food production and so improve the quality and quantity

- Industrial aid can create jobs and improve transport infrastructure

- Aid helps rebuild livelihoods and housing after a disaster

- Projects that develop clean water and sanitation can lead to improved health and living standards

Disadvantages of aid

- Aid can increase the dependency of LEDCs on donor countries.

- Aid may not reach the people who ned it, corruption may lead to local politicians using aid for their own means or political gain

- It may be a condition of the investment that a proportion of the resources or profit will be sent abroad

- Some development projects may lead to food and water costing more

- Infrastructure projects may end up benefiting more employers than employees

Principles of Humanitarian Aid

- Humanity: means that human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found, with particular attention to the most vulnerable

- Neutrality: means that humanitarian aid must not be favour any side in an armed conflict or other dispute

- Impartiality: means that the humanitarian aid must be provided solely on the basis of need, without discrimination

- Independence: means the autonomy of humanitarian objectives from political, economic, military

Why do countries give foreign aid

- Sign of friendship

- Strengthen a military ally

- Reward a government for activity approved by the donor

- To extent the donors cultural influence

- To gain trade access to a country

How can the Un address human wellbeing

- Due to the power the charter provides the UN had the power to take actions on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century such as: peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies, gender equality, governance, and food production

MDGs

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, global leaders met at a United Nations Conference and agreed to set global targets to work towards addressing extreme poverty and inequality by 2015.

The Eight Millennium Development Goals are:

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

2. Achieve Universal Primary Education

3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

4. Reduce Child Mortality

5. Improve Maternal Health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability

8. A global partnership for development

SDGs

The United Nations new Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015. There are 17 broad Sustainable Development Goals, each with specific targets to work towards by 2030. T

The 16 sustainable development goals are:

1. No Poverty

2. Zero Hunger

3. Good Health and Wellbeing

4. Quality Education

5. Gender Equality

6. Clean water and Sanitation

7. Affordable and clean energy

8. Decent work and economic growth

9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

10. Reduced inequalities

11. Sustainable cities and communities

12. Responsible consumption and production

13. Climate action

14. Life below water

15. Life on land

16. Peace, justice, and strong institutions

17. Partnership for the goals

Goal 1

No Poverty

Goal 1 Targets

1.1: Eradicate extreme poverty

1.2: Reduce poverty by at least 15%

Goal 1 Statistics

Globally the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half from 1.4 billion in 1990. However, 830 million people still live in extreme poverty

Goal 2

No Hunger

Goal 2 Targets

2.1: Universal access to safe, nutritious, sufficient food

2.2: End all forms of malnutrition

Goal 2 Statistics

Globally, the proportions of undernourished people in the developing regions have fallen by almost half since 1990. However, 800 million people are still undernourished. 13% of the population living in developing countries are undernourished.

Goal 5

Gender Equality

Goal 5 Targets

5.2: End all violence against and exploitation of women and girls

5.3: Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutations

Goal 5 Statistics

In Southern Asia, only 74 girls have enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys in school in 1990. By 2012, the enrolment ratios were the same for girls and boys. Women in Northern Africa hold less than one in 5 paid jobs in the non-agricultural sector.