EQ1- What is human development + why do levels vary from place to place?

How is development traditionally measured?

GDP per capita: High GDP per capita is linked with high life expectancy, health, and development.

-masks income inequality between rich + poor

-doesn’t consider the informal economy e.g. 94% of Uganda’s pop. work in untaxed jobs

Measure of development- Happy Planet Index

A composite measure of sustainable well-being, considering long-term happiness using limited resources:

• well-being: how satisfied people are

• life expectancy: how long people live for on average

• ecological footprint per capita: amount of land needed to sustain a person’s resource consumption

e.g. Costa Rica places 1^st above more developed countries, USA places 122^nd below poorer countries like Haiti

Criticisms of the HPI

-well-being is highly subjective

-ecological footprint of less developed countries tends to be lower as people can’t afford many material objects

How are western approaches to development contested?

1. Shariah law

Islamic law; includes rules on marriage, inheritance, derived from Qur’an teachings

• contests human rights as women can be beaten + converting from Islam is punishable by death

2. Bolivia Law of Mother Earth

Gov. run under an indigenous person (Evo Morales) who proposed law that environment is interconnected with humans- puts nature first.

• requires major changes to economy previously based on mining exports, and requires costly ecological investments

• contests western economic approaches to development

What is Rosling’s approach to development?

Aim to improve:

• environmental quality- vital for well-being of physical + human environment

• health + life expectancy- via investment

• human rights- empowers people to be economically successful

-can be achieved through economic growth + stable governance, BUT this usually leads to env. degradation e.g. 90% Europeans live in cities exposed to harmful air pollution

Human capital

The collective skills, knowledge + experience that individuals possess in a population, that contribute to productivity.

Importance of education

The main driver of development + a fundamental right to all people.

-at least 4-6% of GDP should be spent on education (UNESCO)

Importance on:

HEALTH: live longer + healthier lives, education on reproductive health lead to higher maternal mortality- ↑ quality of life

HUMAN RIGHTS: knowledge on knowing their rights, participate in decision making.

DEVELOPMENT: skilled workforce (human capital) leads to better jobs + higher wages, knowledge on disaster response + safety.

-in Pakistan, women with high literacy rate earned 95% more than those with none

Barriers to education- why levels vary between countries

Niger + Pakistan example

Gender discrimination

129M girls worldwide without access to education

Niger is 1 of 24 countries that don’t protect rights of pregnant girls to access education

Poverty

Parents prefer children to go work rather than go school

Poor infrastructure + lack of sanitary facilities in school in Niger

Extremism

In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head for campaigning for the rights of girls in Pakistan.

Variation in health + life expectancy in developing world

Algeria (N. Africa)- 6% health exp.

LE: 76 years

22/1000 <5 mortality rate

DRC (C. Africa)- 4% health exp.

LE: 62 yrs

76/1000 <5 mortality rate

Why does health + life expectancy vary in developing countries?

Poor healthcare

• lower GDP means less investment into healthcare e.g. vaccines, medical training

• travel longer to access healthcare (urban areas)

Food insecurity

• malnutrition means more susceptible to diseases

Poor access to clean water

• waterborne diseases are prevalent e.g. cholera, exacerbated by poor sanitation

Variation in health + life expectancy in developed world

USA- 17% health exp.

LE: 76yrs (could be due to increasing no. of obesity, smoking)

Leading cause of death: heart disease

UK- 12% health exp.

LE: 80yrs

Leading cause of death: dementia/ alzheimers

Why does health + life expectancy vary in developed countries?

Lifestyle choices

• smoking, alcohol, saturated fats limit LE + strains healthcare system

• in USA+UK, type 2 diabetes affect large %

Deprivation

• individual/ community lacks necessities- healthy diet, housing, healthcare

Quality+accessibility of healthcare

• countries with ‘free’ healthcare (via taxation) means poor ppl can access services- overall better health

• countries with private healthcare provide wider range of effective services

Variations in health + life expectancy- UK

Variation between North + South of England

e.g. Manchester- healthy life expectancy of 55, Richmond-upon-Thames- healthy life expectancy of 70

Variation between socio-economic group

e.g. Men in ‘professional’ group has a LE of 80, whereas those in ‘unskilled’ have LE of 72.7

Reasons for variations

• Employment: northern cities that underwent deindustrialisation have lower LE due to exposure to chemicals, physically demanding jobs

• Lifestyle: Wales has highest rate of alcohol consumption per day (11%) + rate of obesity (22.5%)

• Healthcare: Kensington+Chelsea have lowest cancer deaths (81/100k), also has private hospitals e.g. Royal Marsden who specialise in cancer

Variations in health+life expectancy in Australia (Aboriginal)

• Aboriginal LE is on avg 10.6yrs lower than non-indigenous for men

• quality of life is 2^nd worst in the world according to UN

• low education level

Reasons for variations of health + LE in Australia (Aboriginal)

• use of illicit substances- alcohol, smoking

• dispossession of their traditional land

• ethnic discrimination + genocide since British colonisation 1788, wasn’t accepted by gov. until 1967

  • led to poverty as they struggled to access services- education, housing, healthcare

• politicians don’t address poor housing problem

How does gov decisions impact social + economic development?

Economic development drives and sustains social development.

• gov’s determine how much of the country’s wealth is used to invest in education + healthcare (to improve productivity + skilled workforce)

Types of government + their spending on education (E), healthcare (H)

Full stable democracy (UK- 12% H, 11% E)

Flawed democracy (Romania- 6%, 9%)

Hybrid regime (Kenya- 4%, 5%)

Authoritarian gov (Russia- 8%, 9%)

Full stable democracy

• gov is elected + there are laws to protect human rights

• market economy

• focus on citizen’s well-being

• high gov spending on education, healthcare

• more social development

Flawed democracy

• election often rigged

• gov doesn’t fully protect individual rights + freedoms

• priority on economic development e.g. infrastructure

• citizens pay more for healthcare+welfare

Hybrid regime

• some characteristics of democracy but opposition is weak

• little respect for political + civil rights

• gov have a range of spending priorities

• due to lack of funding, social services may not be effective

Authoritarian gov

• country run by elite

• population obedient to state

• allocate small budget to healthcare+education, more to defence+security, economy, controlling the pop.

IGO’s role in promoting development in health + human rights

IGO’s believe improving economic development enables advancements in social development.

• have often promoted neo-liberal views: free trade, capitalism, deregulation, privatisation

• more recently focused on social development programmes: environment, health, education, human rights

World Bank in promoting development

Economic + Social/environmental

Economic

• provides financial + technical advice to developing nations

• promote economic growth to alleviate poverty

• low/no interest loans issued

Social+environmental

• founding member of the Global Partnership for Education(GPE): invests in early childhood education esp. disadvantaged, helps develop numeracy + literacy

• climate change action plan: help developing nations develop renewable energy + achieve food security e.g. low cost solar Taxis in Ivory Coast

WTO in promoting development

Economic + Environmental

Economic

• reduce barriers to trade+promote free trade

• ensure trading nations keep to agreed international trade rules- enforce sanctions

-has led to environmental degradation: rainforests, water pollution

Environmental

• challenge trade agreements which may impact climate change e.g. forest clearance

• restrict international movement of species that are potentially harmful/ endangered

IMF in promoting development

Economic + Social

Economic

• allow currency to be exchanged freely + easily between members

-criticised in the past: lending with attached conditions e.g. forced privatisation, putting financial concerns over spending on health+education

Social

• moved attention to poverty reduction programme

  • gov.’s develop their own poverty reduction strategies

  • donor countries to choose nations that have good poverty reduction policies + stable gov

Success of Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s)

(2000-2015)

Goal	Target	Progress
eradicate extreme poverty	reduce by half	extreme poverty rate 14%
promote gender equality	women’s equal employment in national parliament	parliamentary representation +90%
ensure environmental stability	land area covered by forest increase by 20%	land covered by forest 14%

• progress was uneven, esp. Sub-Saharan Africa, e.g. for poverty goal:

  • significant reduction in global poverty, except Central + Western Asia

  • great reduction in E+SE Asia

Success of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)

(2015-)

SUCCESS	NOT
15: 2015-20, forest cover in Asia, Europe, N.America have stayed same/ increased 1: global poverty reduced by 1.7% between 2015-22 16: peacekeeping efforts+post conflict recovery initiatives e.g. Colombia	15: during same period, S.America, SE Asia, Caribbean, areas were destroyed to create agricultural land 1: from 2000-21, poverty rates rose in LIDC by 41% 16: world’s conflict zones increased 2/3 in the past 3 yrs

• replace + build on MDG’s to be achieved by 2030 as part of sustainable development- for ALL countries