Health and Human Rights Flashcards
1
Q
explain the relationship between wealth, income and human contentment
A
- There is not a clear relationship between wealth and happiness
- One would argue that as a country develops they would become happier through an increased ability to invest in a country’s social capital through offering free education and health as well as well as forming a good relationship between the government and the population
- Most Nordic countries have been able to develop a very happy population through ensuring good social support, e.g. all schools are equal, free education for all, 1.5 years maternal leave, governments working with the population
- However, through the evidence of China and USA, they have shown that a wealthy country doesn’t necessarily equate to a happy population, due to the lack of freedom the population have
- Robert Waldinger said that what makes people happy through having relationships and support networks, relationships with communities and the government
- The happy planet index implies that it is health, justice, wellbeing and an ecological footprint that determines the happiness of a population
2
Q
explain how sharia law may give an alternate view on the relationship between human development, wealth and contentment
A
- The oppressive and restrictive law is put into the constitution of many muslim countries, whereby no other law can be passed that contradicts the laws of islam
- It doesn’t sit easily with the universal declaration of human rights through its views towards the freedom of women yet many of the wealthiest countries in the world still apply this law, it creates inequality by denying fundamental human rights to women
- Muslims are told that by following Sharia you will have a good life, yet they don’t have the choice as it is law
- In Islam, Sharia is seen as nurturing and freeing humanity to realise individual potential, they believe that through following it they will be ensured of human happiness
- The law includes very violent and inhumane laws including theft being punishable by the amputation of the right arm, a muslim who becomes a non-muslim can be punished by death and a woman can have one husband but a man can have up to 4 wives
- International banks have created Islamic departments and deal with Islamic bonds (sukuk)
3
Q
explain how socialist governments such as Bolivia provide an alternate view that human development is linked to wealth
A
- He renationalised industries (oil and gas) to gain control and invest in health and infrastructure
- He takes more money from the rich in order to fund the poor and allow for the redistribution of money
- Taxes have been raised on the profits of oil TNCs to over 80% and the extra gov income is used to reduce poverty through health, education and other programmes including increasing the minimum wage by 50%
- He has lifted 500,000 bolivians from poverty with extreme poverty having fallen by 43% yet they are still one of the poorest countries in latin America and remain highly dependant on their resources for economic growth
- He puts an emphasis on how as countries become richer, they can gather high gov incomes in order to fund the development of their social capital
4
Q
why do some people believe environmental quality is more important than wealth in terms of human development
A
- Through creating a green environment that is free of high pollution it will lead to a reduction in polluted-related illnesses
- The environmental focus of Totnes the transition town has led to localism and the embracing of conservation, this has led to them being less exposed on the reliance on superpowers for resources
- Through a collaborative effort to improving the environmental quality it will allow for greater amount of co-operation in making an area more inclusive society
5
Q
why do some people believe health is more important than wealth in terms of human development
A
- Investing in health leads to a multitude of positive multiplier effects, more people working making it more attractive for investment and therefore long-term economic growth
- Rostow believe you can’t get to the last stage of his model without social development
- There are clear disparities within countries and between countries, e.g. the north and south divide
- Sweden have had world ranking health statistics for over 150 years
- Investments into child mortality ensures long-term success, it will result in a growth in the active population, more workers = higher tax revenue = more investment into a country’s social capital
- Hans Rosling believed in the importance of health
6
Q
why do some people believe life expectancy is more important than wealth in terms of human development
A
- If the life expectancy is high then it means that people will work later in life leading to an overall rise in their contribution to the economy
7
Q
why do some people believe human rights is more important than wealth in terms of human development
A
- An increase in human rights towards women means that the increased diversity and equality allows for a rise in women in the workforce leading to an increase in productivity by 50%
- It allows for a more inclusive society where global co-operation allows for better decision policies
- Human rights are said to increase the economic development of a country through reduction in conflict and increase in co-operation as well as seeing the benefits of having high social capita
- It is the first stage of economic progress, without human rights there is arguably a limit to which you can reach economically, it is not a sustainable way of growing
8
Q
why is education so important for economic growth?
A
- It will lead to a reduction in inequality as the level of education you receive eventually affects the income in which you can access
- Without education you cannot tackle life expectancy and child mortality which are a root for further development (teaching about basic hygiene, reduces health problems)
- Poor education hinders the ability for a country to grow, with a poorly educated population investors will be less likely to invest in your workforce along with your infrastructure
- You need it in order to develop your human capital and in order to reach the final level of development, rostow
- If you aren’t literate then you cannot communicate and so it is very difficult for global trade through your inability to communicate with other nations, seen in the case of farmers
- Educated women results in them being less likely to marry young, less of a chance of maternal mortality as they will have a healthier pregnancy as well as being less likely to be assaulted, happy and productive population
- frees up time for parents to go to work, productivity, economic contribution
china + Finland (life long learning, equal access, innovation)
9
Q
why does education vary across the world in terms of gender equality
A
- development (economically viable), Occupational stereotypes and gendered segregation, need for the fostering of a cultural shift
- religion/culture, Sharia law is imbedded into law and this shows a controversial view on the role of women in society
- safety of going to school, girls being sexually harassed
- There are many societal attitudes particularly in areas of Africa where parents don’t believe that it is economically viable to send their girls to school, they would make more money with keeping them at home and making them work, this has led to programmes to encourage the education of girls and the importance of it, e.g. let girls learn by Obama
- 2/3 of the 774 million illiterate people in the world are females
- For some people due to the lack of health support the girls are needed to stay at home to care for a sick relative, leading to them missing out on education
10
Q
why does education vary across the world in terms of quality
A
- beliefs of the leaders/political ideologies of a country they will have more or less of a focus on education, e.g. socialist vs communist
Chinese leaders only able to teach twice a day, about quality and not quantity, time to put into planning - The focus of socialist Scandinavian countries means that children have access to a high level of education, e.g. they ensure that all teachers have got a masters degree, there is no ranking in terms of education and it is free for all putting everyone in an equal position
- Depending on the culture of a country, some see more or less of an importance on education, in China many parents see a huge importance in education and this has led to parent sending their children to learn for up to 12 hours a day
11
Q
what was the aim of the UDHR?
A
It was created by Eleanor Roosevelt after WW2 in order to ensure that the atrocities in the war didn’t happen again. It provided a common understanding of set rights that every human should be entitled to, and also to form a basis for freedom, justice and peace
12
Q
how is the UDHR used for economic intervention
A
- This is where countries refuse to trade with another due to their approach to human rights
- It is used as a justification for economic sanctions against countries
- This has been in the case of China with North Korea where china has started to stop trading with NK due to their human rights violations
- The USA has put in economic sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and Iran for their evasion of human rights, 40,000 people may have died in Venezuela since 2017 because of the USA’s economic sanctions in 2019 the US banned the central bank of Venezuela from conducting transactions in US dollars
13
Q
how is the UDHR used for military intervention?
A
- It is used as justification for military intervention in foreign countries seen to be committing genocide or human rights abuses
- This has been seen where the US military have gone into Syria due to concerns towards their treatment of human rights
- The US was permitted to launch a military strike in Syria without security council approval to halt the gross violations of human rights
14
Q
give an example of 2 countries that did not sign the UDHR and explain why they didn’t
A
- Saudi Arabia, it completely went against their society, the human rights completely juxtapose with their sharia law and so it wouldn’t have been possible to adopt them into society, cultural clash, they are against the article that ‘everyone has the right to change their religion or belief’, women’s rights are a controversial issue
- The soviet union, they wanted to stay separate from the western ideas and protect their Russian culture, it was a large threat to their future power, the cold war played large role, they wanted to stay separate from the USA, they also believed that the declaration did not sufficiently condemn fascism and nazism
15
Q
explain why the ECHR was created and how it was integrated into British law
A
It was developed in order to ensure that governments would never be allowed to dehumanise and abuse people’s rights
- it integrated the rights into law and is specific to EU nations, their own convention on HR, all EU nations need to abide by the ECHR
All member states now include this in their national law meaning that any human rights case can be heard in the home country without having to go straight to the European court.
However, the ECHR was only integrated into british law as part of the 1998 human rights act- the delay was because of political parties refusing to change.
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