Health, Human Rights and Intervention EQ4 - Outcomes of geopolitical interventions Flashcards
What are the possible measures of success of intervention for human development?
- life expectancy
- provision of healthcare
- literacy rate
- quality of physical infrastructure
- per capita GDP
What are the possible measures of success of intervention for human rights?
- freedom of speech
- gender equality
- democratic elections
- respect for minorities
- recognition of refugee status
Why might the introduction of democratic institutions be deemed important?
Some governments and IGOs view freedom of expression as central to development of these democratic societies.
Broad respect for human rights more likely to flourish in a democracy
What is the impact of some countries focusing on economic growth as measure of success?
Less attention given to holistic development - human wellbeing or human rights
Governments tempted to give economic growth precedence over human rights which causes serious tension
Why may the outcomes of development aid not have matched the inputs?
- inappropriateness of some forms of aid
- siphoning of funds via corruption
- lack of sound governance/political unrest and instability
How was development aid relatively successful through the Ebola outbreak?
UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) set up 6 months after the first case - led and coordinated international responses of NGOs.
Sharp fall in number of new cases of Ebola during first half of 2015, and region finally declared Ebola free in Jan 2016. First ever mission deployed by UN to tackle huge health security challenge - and although creation was criticised for being late, it bodes well for future cooperation of governments
How was emergency aid a relative failure in Haiti?
Earthquake in 2010 - £12 billion pledged.
5 years on, only 50% of this received. Aid unequally distributed, and should’ve shifted from short term to longer term priorities such as dealing with serious human rights abuses, corruption, poor governance etc. Uncoordinated relief effort - many NGOs had no language skills/interpreters or experience of working in a developing country
What is emergency aid?
Rapid assistance given by organisations or governments to people in immediate distress following natural or man made disasters
What is the impact on economic inequality of top down vs bottom up aid?
Top down - tends to increase polarisation of country’s rich to poor
Bottom up - done more for the poor in terms of access to basic services, primary education and healthcare (reduction in inequalities)
What do superpowers need to be constantly securing?
- strategic locations
- future supplies of resources
- alliances
- technological advances
- a global sphere of influence
Aid can be used to pave the way to achieving many of these objectives
What is the importance of giving development aid by superpowers?
Use it as an extension of their foreign policies
Can be used to access resources, increase case for political support in IGOs, and form military alliances.
Creates image of magnanimous and benevolent power - philanthropic figures providing support to those in need.
What are the significant costs associated with military interventions?
- loss of sovereignty
- immense human costs (civilian deaths and displacement)
Sometimes short term gains with long term costs
What are the complexities associated with the Syrian crisis, what impacts has this had?
Diverse rebel groups struggling to overthrow President Assad’s regime, whilst IS has also invaded. Superpowers such as US and Russia have also become involved
Impacts of conflict = deaths, internal displacements and refugees
10.8 mil of Syria’s 22 mil population either killed or displaced from their homes by the conflict
What principles guide basic UN peacekeeping?
- consent of all parties in the conflict
- impartiality
- non use of force except in self defence and defence of the mandate
What are the drawbacks of UN peacekeeping?
- doesn’t improve development, only aims to put into place the right sort of governance for successful development
- peacekeepers cannot be everywhere all the time
- UN can only take action where and when all parties to a dispute say yes