Developement
Level of development
Uneven global development
Higher in N America, Middle east, Europe and Australia - developed
Lowest in sub-saharan Africa (central), Afghanistan - developing
S America tends to be more middle class, in between the wealthiest and the poorest - emerging
Limitation of a Choropleth map (GDP per capita)
Lacks specific detail
Each country has one broad range; no internal variation can be observed
Only uses economic data and not social data ( ie life expectancy or literacy rate)
Most and least useful measure of development
Can argue that GDP is the most important; it does sufficiently show a countries economy
However a mid GDP is sufficient to provide the economy of a country but it still depends on the political decisions ( how the money is equally distributed)
Gini coefficient
Measures the inequality of a country
Score from 0 (completely equal) or 1 (completely unequal)
How does inequality link to human development
Inequality of getting on the property ladder. How developed the country is from the quality of life show by how high or low it inequality is
High inequality can result in a small, ultra wealthy elites; whilst ordinary citizens lack the resources they need for development - an extreme example of this can be North Korea
A much less extreme example of this can be the UK’s housing market, where increasingly young first time buyers are having to rely on loans from wealthier parents to afford a mortgage
Happy planet index
Countries in South America are high like Costa Rica (1st) and some countries in Europe like Switzerland (4th)
However countries in central and south Africa are very low in HPI or in the middle
How useful is HPI
It uses ecological footprint; which show sustainability (which is a important factor and countries are focusing on it more now)
Also is very easy to compare
But it is not believed by everyone as good measure (government) - as it can be subjective
Difference between GDP and HPI
USA has a high GDP but there HPI depends on their ecological footprint which America has very low in (high resource consumption) - their life expectancy is also in the middle
Human development index
Three development dimensions - life expectancy, education and GDP
Alternative approaches to development
Sharia law
Extreme law of islam - derived from the actions of the prophet Mohammed
Different from the western law in attitudes towards marriage, inheritance and woman’s role in society
They have a death penalty
Taliban has caused Afghanistan to follow sharia law - women can’t go to schools, can’t open a business
Bolivia under Morales
Excludes indigenous people from the political system
His policies deliberately focus on social gains + reducing inequality
An economy with a rampant inflation
The selling of state assets - oil and gas industries renationalised
Extreme poverty fallen by 43%
It’s still one of South America's poorest country
Still dependent on its natural resources for economic growth
Radical tax distribution - can be seen as discouraging economic growth
Haven’t done anything on women’s rights
Forced to step down as hes was corrupted
Access to education for women
Sub -saharan and Asia have lots of girls that are not in education - ie Afghanistan - Taliban
Extreme laws like Sharia Law
Believing in traditional view on the role of women in society
Men are prioritised
Women are seen as to only get married and give birth
Education important for development
Knowing your human rights in the 21st century is important
UNESCO see’s education as the main ‘driver’ of development and a fundamental rights of all people
Investment in female education has been to show an improvement in health and child mortality between 15-20 yrs, then female literacy rates has increased
Global pattern of life expectancy
High life expectancy in developed countries for example Europe and America (ie Spain - 83 yrs) compared to low life expectancy in developing countries like central america (51 yrs)
Emerging countries are around the middle life expectancy and getting higher (China and India - the rise in middle class)
2021 - life expectancy in Monaco - 89 yrs (developed)
2021 - life expectancy in Afghanistan - 53 yrs (developing)
Reasons for life expectancy variety
Conflict (war) - access to healthcare - preventing people from shelters (Gaza)
Transmission of diseases such as HIV - education levels are low
Economic development - not enough money to invest in better healthcare
Being landlocked - don't have good access to resources - lower economic development - less medical infrastructure - lack of access to clean water (clean water)
Access to healthcare
UK - NHS is free at any point in time
America - $50 mln lack medical insurance
Levels of deprivation - high unemployment + bad environmental quality
Food security - fast food culture - pacific islands ie Vanuatu islands - changing diets
What extent is life expectancy a useful development measure
Quite an objective measure; available for every country - great for comparison
Helps investigate health
However the average figures hide differences between the areas/regions in the country, economically and demographic (between gender)
Why there is a difference in health between Algeria and the DRC
Algeria has had 30% increase in GDP per capita (1980-2014)
The government have invested in public infrastructure ie Hospitals etc
Poverty, hunger, infant and maternal mortality have halved
DRC - nearly half of the population rely on unimproved water sources - exposed to water borne diseases)
Also severely due to civil wars in the country against its vast mineral wealth (gold and diamond)
DRC has one of the highest tuberculosis mortality rates in the world
Not diagnosed quicker + no access to life saving treatment
Variation within developed country - UK
UK average life expectancy are 82.8 yrs for women and 79.1 yrs for men
People living in the south east of england have a longer average life expectancy than people living in scotland
Regional variation
North east england below LE and has higher death rates 0 high proportions of death rates being from smoking and alcohol consumption
Certain cancers and respiratory and heart diseases ( higher in north than south)
High unemployment - can be because of globalisation (global shift) - levels of deprivation because of poor quality housing (badly insulated - respiratory diseases)
Inner city of Liverpool has the highest hospital admissions for alcohol abuse - therefore economic deprivation and less healthy lifestyle are linked
Richmond upon Thames (London suburb), has one of the highest life expectancy (70,3) which is 15 yrs higher than the life expectancy in the inner city Manchester (55 yrs) - clear link to income and the general north and south divide.
Australia life expectancy variation
Overall australia has a high LE (80.1 men and 84.3 women)
Massive disparity between indigenous and non indigenous australian - there is around a 10 yrs gap between them both
Reasons
High levels of deprivation; lower levels of education and employment
High rates of chronic diseases and injuries
Lots of social disadvantages faced by many indigenous australians
High mortality rates in middle ages (45-64)
Poor diets as only corner shops and fast food establishments - 7x more deaths in type 2 diabetes
Loss of their traditional life; historically aboriginals were denied human rights - concentrated in worst quality land - level of mistrust from government
low level of employment
Relationship between economic and social development
Economic development provides the capital and human resources to drive and sustain social development
More income in a country - improve social well-being of its population
Investing in healthcare
Improves the population health of its population
Increases life expectancy
Creates a more productive workforce
Investing in education
Increases literacy rates
Empowers women - gender equality improves
More skilled workers
The government attitudes to improving social progress is crucial
Democracy - UK
Governments are elected
Laws to protect human rights
A welfare state to focus on citizen well-being
Government spending on - education, health (free)
More social development
2020 spending on education - 10.6 and healthcare - 11.94
Authoritarian - Russia
Can also be known as totalitarian government
Country run by elites
Population had to be obedient to the state
2020 spending on education - 8.9 and healthcare - 7.6
IGOS’s
IGO’s believe that improving economic development enables advancement in social development
They promotes neo-liberal view of development - free trade, privatising state assets
Recently they have focused on social development, improving environmental quality, health, education + human rights
World bank
Aims to alleviate poverty by increasing economic growth
Supports projects that developing countries would not be able to finance
Recent projects
Promoting healthcare + education
Reducing the threats of climate change
2016, world bank launched its climate change action plan to help developing countries develop renewable energy + achieve food security
Given $1bln for increasing solar energy capacity
Investing in flood warning - increase resilience
Global partnership for education - 2002 - help achieve millennium development goals
By 2015 - invested > US $35bln in education programmes - particularly in early reading/numeracy for the poorest
WTO
Aims to reduce barriers to trade, promote free trade between countries, enforce sanctions
Force for globalisation but had led to environmental degradation ie threats to pollution, water pollution
IMF
Aim ro allow currency to be exchanged freely and easily between countries
Poverty reduction programme
Instead countries come up with their own development plans to receive aid/loans
Ie Haiti IMF working with the government to increase economic resilience to hurricanes after the 2016 hurricane
Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)
The UN focuses on protecting human rights, peace and social development
Created the MDGs to achieve these goals
The overall goal was to reduce the development gap between the developed and developing nations
The Goals ran from 2000 to 2015
Some of the achievements
In 90% of countries there has been an increase in the number of women in parliament - promote gender equality and empower women
6,2mln deaths from malaria and 37mln from tuberculosis have been prevented
2.1bln people have gained access to sanitation
Problems with the MDGs
The progress made was uneven across regions and countries
The MDGs fell short for the poorest and those disadvantaged because of gender, age, disability or ethnicity.
Especially true for Sub-Saharan Africa, which struggled to get anywhere near the MDGs targets
Sustainable development Goals
From 2015-30 – 17 SDGs replaced the MDGs
aspirations : end poverty, protect the planet, tackle climate change, ensure prosperity for all, fight inequality and injustice
193 members of the UN agreed to the goals - no matter how developed the country is
Key challenges to SDGs
Far more goals to achieve
Countries have verbally agreed, but this is not binding - not likely to succeed
Global inequality is increasing rapidly - assets becoming concentrated into hands of a small number of super wealthy people and companies
Human rights
Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans on the planet are entitled to regardless of nationality, gender, ethnic origin etc..
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
Created in 1948
Not legally binding and countries did not sign up for it
Some right - freedom of slavery, the right to marry
How is it used
Justify economic sanctions against countries and military interventions
Ie in 1990s, NATO were forced to intervene between a conflict in the former Yugloslavia to prevent an attempted genocide of Bosnian muslims
UDHR Evaluation
Strengths
To justify giving international aid
Ie to tackle slavery in Afghanistan
Been used to justify a number of military conventions
Limitations
Can be used as a cover for invasion – 2014, Russia argued human rights of russian living in Ukraine were being abused,
Some countries don't follow them - middle east - cut heads off
Some islamic countries made up there own version - Cairo declaration
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
Only applies in EU
Closely follows the UDHR - right to marry and find a family etc
The ECHR is an international court that interprets the ECHR broken
ECHR Evaluation
Strengths
Safety for civilians
Ie in 2004, two gay men would be prosecuted for having sex if one was at the age of 17/16 - even though it was legal for heterosexual couples
This was removed after the ECHR ruling
Makes countries oblige
Criticism
Loss of sovereignty - erosion
The court is based in Strasbourg
An uk law being broke would have to take place in a different country - controversy
The Geneva Convention
The four treaties that apply during a conflict to protect both civilians ad also prisoners of war ie medical personnel
Long history, originally established in 1864 to protect the rights of soldiers injured on the battlefield
Endorsed b 196 nations - widely supported global agreement
However over 150 countries continue to engage in torture
Modern version formed in 1949 - rules covering anybody caught in a armed conflict
Later protocols added in 1977 + 2005 - but not all countries signed up for it
Examples of some of the rules
Forbidden to kill an enemy that has surrendered
Physical and mental torture is prohibited
Overall evaluation
The UN is a large bureaucracy and many convictions don't make it to trials
Concern in developing nations (ie sub saharan africa) - to prosecute leaders they do not agree with
Ultimately the UN tribunals need to be agreed by the security council - ie Russia can VETO a decision - power
Variation in Human Rights
Priorities in countries
Authoritarian - china - genocide of muslims
Sharia law - middle eastern extreme beliefs
Economic development - bangladesh rana plaza disaster
What is the pattern of human rights variation + there reasons?
Some larger countries are not free - ie China + Russia
Corruption can cause the government to not protect human rights - china needs to control everything and it has to go there way of life (muslims genocide in the north of China)
Middle eastern countries are mostly not free
They follow a strict sharia law
Type of governments
Democracy - more free, people can vote, educated on their rights etc
Authoritarian - regimes crack down on human rights + worry about ‘western’ influences corrupting their countries
May focus more on economic development
Bangladesh has a relatively lax labour protection laws to attract investments - Rana Plaza disaster
Comparison of authoritarian and democratic system
China - authoritarian
No general election at national level since 1949 - communist
Restricts human rights
Freedom of expression - google + facebook blocked in china as they won’t censor material the chinese government dislikes
High economic development but also social development - socialist market economy since 1979 ( china's open door policy)
Rejects human rights as it seems like a ‘western’ concept
Trials are still unfair + still a use of torture - responsible for ¾ of the global executions
India - democratic
World largest democracy since independence in 1947
Its a federal system of government, so individual indian states have lots of power to make their own decisions - like USA
Constitution dates back to 1950 + contains 444 articles - some with human rights
Strong independence judiciary + medic - improve human rights
Concerns over treatment of women (sexual violence) + minority groups (muslims)
Political intimidation by hindu nationalists against journalists
Political corruption
Denmark is rated the best + somalia the worst
High corruption -> worst human rights
Corruptions tends to be greater in war zones, where there is little legal oversight ( Afghanistan)
Zimbabwe corruption - post colonial state
Used to be under the british empire - then gained independence - economic sanction put on zimbabwe because of apartheid - Robert elected for 37 years - rigged election and land reforms - crops failure - economic crisis in 2001 - hyperinflation - most wealthy country in africa to one of the poorest.
Philippines corruption
1980s, President Marcos of the country managed to take $10 billion of state assets
He was forced to flee
When protesters broke into there house they found president Marcos wifes designer shoe collection (2700 pair bought from corrupted money)
Human rights varying within countries
Post colonial states
Were often authoritarian and largely excluded indigenous people
Chaotic as they became independent it led to ‘insurgent’ groups to take power and it resulted in lots of civil wars
Rwanda - worst example of post colonial chaos
High ethnic composition of Hutu (85%) and a minority of Tutsi (14%)
Was a German colony but got passed over to Belgium after WW1
Historically Tutsi elite ruled Hutu majority
Following independence the Hutu struggled to ensure the Tutsi could not dominate them again
The tensions between the groups led to a attempted genocide of all Tutsi by the Hutu
The president's plane crashed which lets to a call on the radio to kill any ‘cockroaches’ (Tutsi)
Within just 100 days 800,000 Tutsi had been killed and the majority of the rest fled to neighbouring countries
Ethnic variation
The ATSI of Australia
How did the ATSI have fewer rights?
Before 1967 the ATSI people weren’t considered to be Australian citizens
ATSI people could not vote, gain political representation, participate in shaping the country
Were often forced to live on ‘reserves’
Often had their children forcibly removed by the Australian authorities to be raised in ‘civilised’ homes - stolen generation (stopped in 1970)
How have rights improved for the ATSI?
They are now considered citizens of Australia - they now have their rights
In 2016, the prime minister promoted anti-racism and equal rights
Reconciliation with ATSI people, and redress for their past social and economic disadvantages
Restoration of land that was forcibly taken from ATSI people
Taken action to improve education with 20% increase in the amount of ATSI children finishing school
In 2008, the ‘closing the gap’ campaign was launched to improve the health of the ASTI people
However, many ATSI people still are discriminated against
Gender variation
Women's rights in Afghanistan
Gender equality in the UK
How specifically have women's rights been restricted by the Taliban?
Enforced their own version of the sharia law
Banned from going to school/studying, working, leaving the house without a male chaperone, showing their skin in public, accessing healthcare delivered by men, being involved in politics or speaking publicly
In 2001, gradually women’s rights were restored, but as the military troop leave, the Taliban returned and their rights were taken again ( like the ones above)
Comment on the extent to which there is gender equality in the UK?
2024 - the gender pay gap has been its lowest since data started to be recorded (9.1%) - however it is higher in public sector (14.4%)
It will take more than 20 years to bring men and womens pay into line
Close to four out of five companies + public bodies paid men more than women in 2023-24
Types of interventions
Development aid / overseas development assistance (ODA)
Is given by developed nations - Bi-lateral aid
Is given by IGOs - Multilateral aid
All to developing nation to improve their development - economic, social, political and environmental
Used to measure aid - used as an indicator of flows (transfers of resources - cash/commodities) of international aid
2013 recipients of ODA
Afghanistan - 5.050
Fight against human rights from terrorism - Taliban
2022 recipients of ODA
Ukraine - 29,29302
Russian invasion/war
% of GNI given by the UK
The UK is giving too much and should focus more on the rise in poverty in the country
Challenged by aid given to India though it is a emerging country
Motives changed with regard to giving ODA
After cold war most aid was targeted at alleviating poverty
In the 21st century - it is more politicised and given to nations to support ‘war on terror’ (ie USA) or to limiting migration into Europe (ie Afghanistan)
Trade embargoes / economic sanctions
A government's / international ban to restrict trade with a particular country
Restrict access to military equipment
Restrict to economic growth
Forces governments to change their policies
In 1980s, the UN banned trade in oil + military supplies with South Africa to try and end Apartheid
However it can cause a large impact to the working class more + the most vulnerability into extreme poverty than the elitists + corrupted
Example of a economic sanctions - Iran + North Korea
Violation of the treaty on the Non-proliferation of nuclear weapon
Lifted in 2016 after Iran agreed not to develop nuclear weapons
Successful attempt
The same sanction were put up in North Korea for the same reasons however they were ignored and they kept developing nuclear weapons
Unsuccessful attempt
Military Aid
Countries provide resources in the form of technology/equipment to help a developing nation improve its military capacity
Military aid can be given to opposition groups to fight against their own president
Ie Israel ($3.1bln) - in 2016, US agreed to long term funding of up to $40bln to help develop Israel's air force
Ie the US announced several rounds of military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022 - helping Ukraine defend itself over the long term
Military Intervention
An intervention which is used as an last resort - if economic sanctions have failed
Direct intervention
Air strikes/ground forces within a country
ie 2003, invasion of Iraq by the UK + US
Indirect intervention
Training /providing weapons to the one of the side of the conflicts
ie 2017, the british army had helped train Nigerian forces to fight the islamic militant group Boko Haram
Examples of military interventions
Afghanistan 2001 - NATO intervention to remove Al Qaeda after 9/11 terror attack
Iraq 2003 - More controversial, US led invasion to remove Saddam Hussein + tackle alleged weapons of mass destruction
Promoting interventions
IGOs
World bank - development loans
UN - peacekeeping
WTO - increase global share of global trade to help nations develop
Powerful governments
USA + Russia - Veto power
China - aid to africa
NGOs
Amnesty international - exposing human rights abuse
ie has promoted campaigns against Saudi Arabia for lack of protection for human rights worker - the country is a key ally to America in the middle east
NGOs are concerned that powerful countries only intervene if it's in their geostrategic interest
Medicins san frontieres - disaster relief - provided healthcare/medicine in 70 developing nations - has a reputation for operating in conflict zones to provide emergency medical assistance
How valid are they ?
Development aid
A debate over the role of development aid to meet the sustainable development goal
Will protote dependency on aid, also concerns on how much aid is lost to corruption - ie Philippines President Marcos corruption
Aid has to be achieving something concrete
Iraq war 2003
An controversial intervention
Removal of Saddam Hussein, promoted by the USA and supported by the UK
Human right abuses + threat to global peace - possessing mass weapons of destruction
There was no evidence of human rights abuse found - it was felt the US was acting on its own interest - war on terror
Improving human rights
Who gives?
Donations + charitable gifts - given by the public through charities
Governments - uk aid match
Variation in scale / duration
GNI (gross national income) - USA don’t give much as they could - could be giving more from how much they can afford
USA give the most aid out of all the countries
Motivations for aid
Invest in countries that oil and minerals
China targets aid toward developing countries specifically in Africa
Aid has gone up 5 times as much in China
Countries in Africa might get dependent
Types of aid
Bilateral
Between 2008-11 60% of ODA was bilateral
Advantage:
Control over where and how the money is spent
Quicker + more flexible action
Multilateral
Between 2008-11 28% of ODA was multilateral
Advantages:
Considered to be more ‘legitimate’
Less tied to political + economical interest
Multilateral loans by IGO’s
Example
They have loaned to over $150 bln to developing countries like Benin received $40mln in improving flood protection infrastructure, so farmers can get to the markets (would collapse the rural economy)
Criticisms
Some loans come with strings attached
Uganda had to meet 200 conditions before it received a loan
Countries can’t always repay the loans, so may have to adopt SAP - force them to cut spending on human development
Indirect control of developing nations (neo-colonialism)
Disaster relief - Haiti earthquake relief 2010
Who helped and what did they provide
Countries
Between 1990-2009 - aid over $5 bln from countries like USA, Canada and the EU
America gave aid for a new port in Haiti
$300 mln, 600 acre industrial park
More attractive
Financial power plant
Should have helped haiti’s economy with trade
However to build the port - hundreds of relatively poor landowners had to be moved
The port was never complete
Non governmental organisation
Christian aid has worked in Haiti since 1980s
Provided basic necessities; shelters, clean water
$180,000 helped using $14m appeal fund
Started to reduce their aid
Problems still remain
77% live on less than $21 a day
Nearly 40% of health spending in Haitis is from NGOs
Evaluation
Successes
The emergency temporary homes and shelter - the death toll would have been higher without these
Red cross - 100,000 homes received
Does enable them to have healthcare and educations for the citizens
Challenges
The camps were still being used 5 years after
Half a million people still living in temporary housing
Not showing resilience
Cholera outbreak in the temporary housing
Terrible sanitation
10,000 died in the housing
Haitian government weren’t trusted and corruption - weak government
Very dependent on aid
Short term successful - death toll wasn’t as high cause of the shelters
Long term not successful - did not become resilient and are mostly dependent on aid
Are the impacts of aid positive?
Successes
Malaria
Affects people in developing countries
2000 (since) - aid has been particularly effective in public health in developing nations
6 million people did not die because of the millennium development goal
Had almost eradicated polio (vaccination programme)
Measles declined by 79% globally
Evidence:
Decrease prevalence of malaria
By donations
Free access to new, improved medicines
Free insecticides treated nets
2000 - 2% sub-saharan had these
2014 - 50% now have them
The rate of new infections fell by 37% by 2015
Still had a deadly impact - killing around 0.5 million people each year
Gender equality
Has seen measurable improvements
UN ‘decade for women’ in 1975
Increased the priority given to gender equality + in 2014 over $30m in aid was specifically targeted at gender equality programmes
2002 it was only $10m
44% decline in maternal death rates
Evidence:
Women's reproductive rights targeted
The rise of islamic state in parts of the middle east threatens to undermine much progress within the region - sharia law extreme
Criticisms
Aid dependency
ODA promotes a culture of dependency in developing nations
Reliance on ODA meaning countries cannot be effectively governed without it
Can’t guarantee provisions of basic services without ODA
Government cannot plan long term - don’t know what their income in the future
Evidence:
Aid goods can flood the local market
Driving double price
Acting disincentive to local producers
Can come with strings attached - become more accountable to donor countries than their own people
Prompting corruption
Much aid is lost to corruption
The amount of aid actually promotes corruption
Countries receiving the most aid have a weak governmental systems
Easy for corruptions
Impacts on human rights of the poorest people as money not spent on healthcare
Ie Philippines corruption
Evidence:
Wealthy elite can something use ODA to further their own political agenda
Used to develop a strong military
Hard to determine how aid money has been spent
Environmental impacts
Oil in Niger delta
Exploited how
Diverse environment (freshwater swamps and rainforests)
31 mln people live their
Rich in oil (exported) - 90% of Nigeria export earning
Oil is extracted via TNCs - shell which sells 10% of its supply from this region
Nigeria earns $10 bln per year from oil revenue
Social impacts
70% of people in Niger delta live below the poverty line
Schools + hospitals underfunded
Poor sanitation
Lack of access to safe drinking water
Less than 20% of the delta region is accessible by good roads
Traditional livelihood are being damaged by pollution (ie fishing)
Disrupts cultural traditions
Makes people even poorer
Ie Ogoni people
Environmental impacts
Oil spills are common
550 reported in 2014
Deforestation to make new roads
Natural gas is burned off during extraction
Acid rain, climate change
Local air pollution, increasing the incidence of cancers in local people
Development aid - mixed success
Ebola outbreak
Why was aid needed?
2014 west Africa saw the largest outbreak of ebola
28,600 people were infected + over 11,300 died - world health organisation
Is easy to spread and travel
West africa - one of the poorest regions
Very underprepared
Little access to healthcare - making it even worse
Needed to try + contain the infection + prevent it from becoming a global pandemic
Started in places like Guinea
Takes a while for symptoms to take place (3 weeks)
Aid given
Provided nearly $2.25 billion aid
8% was for urgently needed short term humanitarian aid
28% for medical research
64% was directed towards development aid
Healthcare teams were sent out to help treat cases + educate others on how to keep safe
How successful was the aid
Rapid and effective aid
Outbreak occurred mostly in remote locations
logistics were difficult to organise - conducting field activities
Hard to provide adequate isolation wards - far away - sometimes lacking electricity + running water
Carried out a community approach to the outbreak- importance of disease control, prevention + management
Does aid decrease inequality ?
Evidence for decreased inequality
Latin america receives large amount of overseas aid
About 7% of multilateral overseas aid is given to latin america
Still remains one of the worlds unequals region
It’s gini coefficient falling on average by 0.94% each year
Poor health indicators
Lower life expectancy
Widening inequality harms economic development
Columbia
Improving health centres
Increase in life expectancy at birth of 4 years (2000-14)
Double the global average
Evidence for worsening inequality
Kenya receives large amounts of ODA (since 2012)
Yet it still has a high gini coefficient and a low life expectancy (64 yrs)
San antonia dam
Lots of economic development - prioritised
Only helped the industry sector - inequality
Whilst the poor people lost their land
Indigenous land at risk of flooding
How has aid for trade changes
Aid for trade has increased
Success in Uganda
Half of ODA received was allocated to improving trade (ie improving transport + storage infrastructure)
Rise in life expectancy to 58
However that could be because of external factors like the millennium development goals on malaria
Evaluation on the changing emphasis on trade within aid
Increases economic growth - but at what terms? Is the trading fair? - neo-colonialism
Tackles dependency concerns ( Haiti)
Tensions with increased trade and environmental impacts (niger delta)
Aid as foreign policy?
Aid to form alliances with other countries - political weapon
US aid
Aim to promote international development
America might force alliances
When Yemen voted against US invasion in Iraq
US withdrew their aid to Yemen
Using aid to try and gain power political power
Germany wants a permanent seat on the UN security council
Has sought support from other countries
Ie Nigeria, Germany offered support with developing HEP plants etc
Aid given to secure military alliances + extending global military reach
US donated $750 mln to Jordan between 2014-16 in return for allowing the US to have an military base to carry out joint trikes against their targets in the middle east
Aid to secure access to natural resources
Vast amount of aid from China into Africa
The tarzan rail link between copper mines in Zambia and the Tanzanian port at Dar es Salaam
Can be a form of neo-colonialism - indirect control
Evaluating military interventions
Afghanistan (2001-14)
US led an invasion to tackle Al-Qaeda following 9/11 and to remove the taliban government due to their human rights abuse
Gains:
Civilians government restored in 2004
The taliban were removed from power + forced out to remote tribal areas of the country
Al-Qaeda could no longer use the Afghanistan base
Women could get an education + job
Costs:
149,000 civilian deaths
2.6 mln refugees
Loss of sovereignty until 2004
Country has seen much unrest since the invasion
Since 2013, Afghanistan has been regained control by the taliban
Evaluation:
The regaining of the taliban will restrict the modern advances in human right
Sharia law - extreme strict islamic law
The intervention failed, with the fragile democracy installed has been removed
Iraq invasion (2003-11)
Invasion led by the USA
To depose of Saddam Hussein
To promote both human rights and global stability - due to chemical weapons (nuclear)
Wasn’t approved by the UN
Gains:
Saddam Hussein was removed from power
In 2005, Iraq held its first free election in 50 years
Success in development programme
US funded vaccination programmes, which led to 75% reduction in infant mortality
Costs:
134,00 civilian deaths
Led to the country to have slid into anarchy with the competing groups vying for power
Led to IS to fill the place of power
ISIS managed to capture large parts of the north west Iraq
$212 bln development aid (corruption)
Evaluation:
Afghanistan was more justified than the Iraq invasion
Iraq is not ready for democracy especially with the civil war that started after the invasion
Lots of the success was undone
Ukraine (Russia invade Crimea in 2014)
Russia invade crimea
Due to threats to ethnic russians
But actually the invasion was for geo-strategic region
Russia wanted a warm water port access
Gains:
Russia gained a port
By weakening Russia + prevent it from becoming a NATO member
Costs:
2500 civilians killed
Ukraine are to weak so they can’t join NATO now
Russia has set a dangerous precedents
So this could mean others might find it okay to invade - ie china??
Evaluation:
The human rights of the ethnic russian were probably protected
Was this worth the risk and at the cost of deaths to Ukranians
General gains
Success in development - ie Iraq decrease in infant mortality
Removing of extreme groups and leaders
Women's rights and emancipation
Establishing a democracy
General losses
Democracy proved unsustainable - hard to impose on a post colonial state
Countries can become worse off than before
Social gains can be reversed - women rights
Loss of civilians
Non military intervention are more successful
Peacekeeping
Began in 1948 to monitor the armistice (peace deals)
Use a nation's army to keep peace; disarming warring factions
This is not always appropriate - ie russia invading ukraine
Becoming more necessary to use
Moe necessary as civil wars has become more common as it is increasing especially in post colonial states
As the rival groups aren’t military trained
Geo-strategic reasons for interventions
Ensure access to natural resources ie oil
Ensure the stability of a country (prevent incursion by groups ie taliban) and to tackle areas serving as terrorist operating centres ie Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
Ensure the country remains under the control of a regime favourable to the superpower
Justifying military interventions
Russia in Crimea
Human rights justification:
Claimed that ethnic russians living in Ukraine were under threat + that there lives are under threat
This was used as an excuse to send troops into Crimea + annexed the territory
Potential geostrategic motive:
More likely a geostrategic decision aimed at stopping ukraine from getting closer to the west - showing how powerful russia is - Ukraine wanted to join NATO
Russia also gained a very valuable strategic territory - a port close to the west
Comments:
They still use the excuse of them invading to protect human rights
Iraq 2003
Human rights justification:
Also justified in terms of human rights as Saddam Husseinf had been responsible for:
Persecuting minority groups ie Kuras - used chemical weapons (nuclear)
25000 killed
Conducting wars against other countries
Potential geostrategic motive:
When the invasion was complete there was no evidence found of chemical weapon
Potential motive of changing the regime, to replace saddam hussein with leadership closer to the west in order to maintain energy security in the west
Comments:
Despite not receiving authorisation by the UN, the US led coalition to invade Iraq in 2003
Afghanistan
Human rights justification:
Aimed at removing the terrorists organisation from the base of the operation in the country - hosted by the oppressive taliban
Potential geostrategic motive:
Tackling areas serving as terrorist operations centres - response to the 9/11 attack
Comments:
Prior the invasion of iraq
US ked a NATO invasion of Afghanistan in response to 9/11
However this one has UN approval
Who receives military aid ?
UK aid to Saudi Arabia
Aid given:
Military aid of military equipment, training, weapons, transport
Saudi is now a key ally to the UK in the war of terror
Geo strategic interests are more important
Human rights concerns:
Use of the death penalty
Persecution of human rights activists
War saudi arabia is waging in yemen - feared could lead to famines in such a poor country
Why the aid:
2000s - agreement signed by the UK to supply saudi arabia with fighter plane + equipment
Tensions rise
Accusations of corruptions, human rights decreased (ie women's rights) + links to terrorist groups
The war on terror
It means a war against Islamic Extremism and the groups that support it, who commit human rights’ violations - motivated by the 9/11 terror attack
Concerns over conduct of the war on terror
Extraordinary renditions
Secret transfers of suspects without any legal process to a foreign government
To be detained + interrogated (ie torture)
Investigations have shown 1600 CIA flights involved renditions stopped on the UK to refuel
Use of torture
Waterboarding (dunking people underwater - half drown)
How illegal under the 1987 UN convention against torture
Also fundamentally at odds with the UN declaration of human rights
Detention without trials
A US military base camp on an island in Cuba
Not really American soil - argued that legally they therefore do not have rights under US law - they are prisoned there without any trial + without legal representation
Use of torture at the camp - revealed by an NGO in 2004
Drone strikes
Innocent people have also accidently been killed through air strikes to assassinate terrorists
In 2008 a wedding party was reportedly hit by an missile - 40 killed with no links to terrorism - Iraq
Counter productive (american)
Consequences of inaction
Rwanda
Genocide in rwanda where 800,000 Tutsi’s were murdered
The UN peacekeeping force had to withdraw
Too small to be able to handle the scale of the unfolding tragedy
Terrible human costs, human rights violation that can arise when no action is taken
Zimbabwe
Was ruled by an authoritarian leader (president Mugabe) from the 1980s
Lack of democratic freedom, corruption, land reforms + human rights abuse
Never had an intervention
Because strong regional power (ie south africa) do not want one as it would lead to potential instability
Peacekeeping successful intervention
Ivory coast
Why the intervention:
Post colonial state - french colony
With a distinct north-south ethnic division
North - muslim and south - christian
2002 was a rebellion as the north were marginalised
After the rebellion the north had the right to vote in the election
In 2010, the north leader won the election, supporter of the south leader went to the streets - attacking the opposition - shooting in daylight
Civil war had sparked
What did they do:
A UN peacekeeping force was mobilised
Arresting the leader of the south + his wife - had to have an trial at the international criminal court
Within two months the country went back to normal + peace was restored
Involving the element of military intervention - french airstrikes + armoured column to secure the city - protecting civilians
3000 killed, 70,000 combats disarmed
Democracy was restored
Was it successful:
Peace was restored, everything went back to normal (within 2 months)
UN provided humanitarian assistance
Argued that the intervention was a success
Speedy recovery
Economy growing at 9% per year - greater stability
Decrease in human rights violation
Improvements to women's rights
However there was a little done to tackle it - doesn't really contribute from the peace keeping force