Paper 2 - Section B - Health, Human Rights And Intervention Flashcards
Define development
The ways in which a country seeks to develop economically and to improve the standard of living for its inhabitants (implies progress is being made)
List the 4 indicators than can be used to measure development
- Economic indicators (GDP)
- Composite indicators (HDI); GNI pc, education, life expectancy
- **Gender inequality index (GII); reproductive health, empowerment
- **Environmental quality (EPI, AQI); air quality, sanitation, pollution
List some benefits and drawbacks of using GDP to measure development
Benefits:
- economic growth drives other types of development
- advances in health and life expectancy can only be delivered by economic growth
Drawbacks:
- the modern concept of development focusses on improving well being and abilities
- GDP gives crude average (skews income distribution)
- the informal economy is not included in GDP
- countries may have similar GDP yet still have disparities i.e noticeable difference in life expectancy
What is the happy planet index?
It combines 4 elements to show how efficiently residents of different countries are using environmental resources to lead long, happy lives.
It also includes sustainability, satisfaction and health
What is the formula for he happy planet index (HPI)?
Well X Life X Inequality
being Expectancy Of outcomes
——————————————————
Ecological footprint
Are higher or lower HPI values indicative of high levels of development?
Countries with the highest values are usually considered to be emerging. Do they balance human development with environmental management?
What are complex indices used for development?
They measure more than one factor:
- happy planet index
- KOF index of globalisation
- world happiness index
Why might countries like USA, New Zealand, Japan and Ireland have high HDI rankings?
- these nations have large economies with advancing quaternary industries
- cities and towns have good infrastructure
- most of them have free education systems
Why might literacy rates be an unreliable method of measuring development?
Because countries measure this themselves and so could be biased / skewed in order to make the country look successful
Who is Rosling and what are his views on development?
Rosling is a lead statistician from Sweden who believes health and life expectancy directly correlates with a country’s development.
He argued human rights are essential to economic growth, and that these cannot exist without a good government
> will boost economic potential
What are welfare systems that governments use to support those in need (which in turn contribute to high indicator values)?
provides:
- Free education, usually from age 4 or 5 to 16 or 18
- Health services, which are free in some cases
- Benefits such as a basic income, housing and social services to those in need
What is the Sharia Law / where did it originate from?
The law of islam:
Derived from actions of the prophet Muhammad, and the words he expressed in the Qur’an
Muslims lives get governed by the Sharia — covers behaviour / beliefs which potentially violate human rights
What are the 5 necessities of Sharia Law?
- preservation of religion
- life
- intellect
- lineage
- wealth
Why does the sharia law get contested? (Think human rights abuses)
- theft is punishable by the amputation of the right hand
- converting from Islam is punishable by death
- a man can beat his wife for disobeying him
- a woman cannot speak alone to a man who is not her husband or relative
What was rule under Evo Morales (Bolivia) like?
- he won an unprecedented third term in office in 2014
- taxes had been raised on the profits of oil TNC’s to over 80% for reinvestment in health, education etc
- lifted 500,000 Bolivians out of poverty
> extreme poverty fallen by 43% - Bolivia is still one of the poorest Latin American countries
Why is education important for development?
- Increased skills
> more people in better jobs
> improved economy - reduces youth unemployment
- competitive workforce globally
- higher skilled doctors etc
- greater awareness about contraception, diets and sanitation
What factors may cause unfair access to education globally?
- higher wealth allows flexibility to move to areas with better schools + private education, tutoring etc
- boys may be subject to more pressure from their parents to choose academic subjects
- better schools have smaller class sizes — more beneficial learning
- lack of specialist facilities for disabled students in developing countries
What are human rights?
the rights people are entitled to simply for being human: they often include freedom, equality, the right to a fair trial, the right to education and a certain standard of living.
How many children of primary school age still don’t have access to education globally?
60 million — 32 million from Sub-Saharan Africa
What do rates of education vary?
- children work on farms / factories instead
- conflict / war zones
- child marriage — 38% of sub-Saharan Africa girls are married before 18
- lack of trained teachers
- culture / religion — girls may need to stay home
- periods — poor country girls can’t afford sanitary products: in India 1 in 5 girls drop out after their period starts
Define life expectancy
Age someone is expected to live to
Define mortality rate
Number of people dying
Why are maternal mortality and infant mortality rates important?
Infants and pregnant women are at their most vulnerable — mortality rates are important to show the measure of human + social development + responsiveness of healthcare systems
Why might human health and life expectancy vary?
- access to healthy food
- environmental quality
- information provisions about healthy eating, not smoking etc
- sanitation
- air / water quality
- safety conditions
- access to drugs / healthcare
- stress factors
- housing quality
- vaccinations
Why is health important for human development?
- illness reduces people’s capacity to work, meaning they earn less
- family members have to take time off work to care for sick family
- medical costs use up income which could have been spent in the economy
How does life expectancy for men in north and south of UK differ?
National average is 79.5 for men
Manchester: 71
Harrow, London: 86.1
Glasgow: 65
Why is life expectancy for men typically lower in northern areas?
In deprived, post industrialisation cities male unemployment is high, incomes are low and smoking / poor diets are common
> cheap, processed food is consumed more than down south which gives people diseases
How do ethnic variations affect health / life expectancy? (Think aboriginals in Australia)
Australians with European ancestry typically live 20 years longer than aboriginal people
Why is life expectancy for aboriginals typically lower than other urban Australian areas?
Many Australian aborigines live in isolated, rural areas and have low paid jobs — QoL is ranked 2nd worst in the world for them
> alcohol and drug consumption is high
> healthcare is basic
> poor housing
> obesity
> unemployment
> low education
What is a socialist government?
Welfare state funded by taxpayers. High spending on social justice I.e healthcare, education
I.e Norway
What is a capitalist government
Committed to economic development with spending in favour of industrial and business infrastructure
I.e USA
What is a democratic government?
Voted for so social progress needs to be taken into account
What is a totalitarian government?
Leadership does not need to worry about attitudes of people so pursue their own objectives
What is the idea of social progress?
That a country improves in terms of their social, political and economic structures.
> govs play a huge role with the policies they use — typically either focus on human development or prioritise other things instead
What is needed in order for social progress to occur?
Govs need to find a balance on how to spend its GDP to improve the country as a whole, whilst focusing on the specifics to them
I.e Japan spends more on healthcare rather than education because of their ageing population
What does the social progress index (SPI) attempt to quantify, and what three factors is it based upon?
Attempts to quantify how well governments provide for their people. It is based on 3 factors:
1. Basic human needs — nutrition, medical care etc
2. Foundations of well-being — education, access to internet etc
3. Opportunity — personal rights, political freedom etc
How can social progress be accelerated?
- gov intervention
- social enterprise
- social activism
What is Australian governments ‘close the gap’ campaign?
A campaign with aims to implement a human rights-based approach in order to close the health and life expectancy gap between aboriginal and non indigenous Australians within a generation
Are totalitarian or socialist states more likely to have higher SPI rankings?
Socialist states i.e France have higher SPI’s, as there is more spending on welfare provision
What are neo-liberal views in favour of? (Think capitalism)
- reduced state intervention
- free market capitalism
- freedom for private businesses to trade and earn profits
- promoting free trade between countries with few barriers
- deregulating the free market
- privatising state assets
What is the belief that neo-liberal objectives will achieve?
That they will aid development as private wealth will ‘trickle down’, and that the poorest will eventually benefit from a strengthened economy
What programmes do IGO’s promote?
- structural adjustment
- intervening in the policies of individual governments
What are some main concerns over neo-liberalism policies?
That neo-liberalism:
- benefits businesses and TNC’s far more than ordinary people and so creates inequality i.e a growing gap between rich and poor
- focusses on industrialisation, trade and jobs that tend to concentrate in cities, so rural areas miss out on growth
- focusses on profit and economic growth at the expense of the environment
List the main 3 IGO’s
- World bank
- International Monetary Fund
- World Trade Organisation
How is the World Bank helping education globally?
- helps countries set up early reading assessment systems
- focus is on the poorest and most disadvantaged children
- more recent work has focussed on secondary education
- invested over $35 million into educational programmes
How is the World Bank helping the environment globally?
- launched the climate change action plan in 2016
- aims to help developing countries i.e India to add renewable energy
- aims to provide flood warning systems and invest in agriculture
- part of a strategy to end poverty
How has the IMF helped globally in reducing poverty?
- ‘poverty reduction programme’
- countries now required to develop their own medium-term development plans to receive aid, loans and debt relief
- currently working with Haitian Gov to make their economy more resilient
How has the WTO helped globally in preserving the environment?
- restricting international movement of products or species that are potentially harmful or endangered
- challenge trade agreements where there may be implications for climate change
What do BINGO’s mean / stand for?
Big. International. Non-Governmental. Organisations who raise funds worldwide and assist people in many countries at the same time
What was the 2007-2008 debt crisis all about?
A global debt crisis arose largely from the USA and European-mortgage-lending markets
> traditionally, funding for mortgages came from savings but in 2007 it was from sub-prime lending (risky), meaning anyone could get a mortgage — BUBBLE EVENTUALLY BURST
What are structural adjustment plans?
A series of conditions that force a state to play a part in boosting social + economic welfare
I.e privatisation of state energy or water companies
What are Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) + their aims?
Rain from 2000-2015, aiming to improve the lives of people living in developing countries through global response.
Consisted of 8 goals and subsidiary targets:
1. To halve the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 per day
2. To halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
3. By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys
4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education
5. Reduce by 2/3 under 5’s mortality rate
6. Reduce by 3/4 the maternal mortality ratio
How successful had the MDGs been?
- health target prevented 20 million deaths
- infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa fell by 53%
- numbers of those living in extreme poverty fell be 54%
- primary school enrolment increased from 83-91%
- parliamentary representation of women increased in nearly 90% of counties
- improved access to sanitation for 2.1 billion
What have been some drawbacks of the MDGs?
- gender inequality not improved as much as hoped
- conflict in counties I.e Yemen, Somalia has set progress back
- the poorest and those disadvantaged were not benefited
- by 2015, 800 million still live in extreme poverty
What are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
These replaced the MDGs for the period 2015-2030: 17 global goals that apply to ALL countries (not just developing ones)
They include:
- clean energy — renewable, low carbon
- decent work — avoiding exploitation
- sustainable cities — for more than 50% of the worlds population living in urban areas
- protecting oceans and ecosystems
What are some drawbacks of SDGs?
- not legally binding
- govs are expected to take ownership
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
Signed in 1948 with aims to provide a common understanding of the rights we all have
- lists 30 articles that define basic human rights
- signed by 48 countries
How does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promote human rights?
- Articles state the rights ought to be protected by law
- educates the population about their rights
- places political pressure on countries seen to be denying rights
- used as a justification for economic sanctions against countries
- used as justification for military intervention in foreign countries seen to be committing genocide or widespread abuse
What controversies are associated with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
Not all countries have signed the UDHR (not legally binding) I.e South Africa, Saudi Arabia in order to protect their fascism, no rights for women, apartheid etc
is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights effective in promoting human rights?
The declaration has since been the basis for 2 further legally binding agreements
> therefore it has been effective for some but not for excluded populations
What is the European Convention on Human Rights?
Founded in 1949 to establish better relationships between European countries after WW2 — 47 countries including all EU members
- treaty to protect human rights
> included within national law
How does the European Convention on Human Rights promote Human rights?
It allows Europeans to lead free and dignified lives
- right to live
- prohibition of slavery / torture
- right to a fair trial
- freedom of expression
What the controversies associated with European Convention on Human Rights?
Some ‘rights’ can be questioned:
- arguable that ECHR is undemocratic as it threatens British sovereignty and self determination
- can be criticised as being a ‘western’ concept since WW2 which doesn’t apply to Islam states etc
is the European Convention on Human Rights effective at promoting human rights?
Since the UK left the EU in 2016, it revamped ECHR into its own ‘British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’
> meaning ECHR won’t be able to overrule the British court judgement I.e. different age of consent for gays
What is the Geneva Convention?
Established on 1864 following the need for humanitarian protection arising from weapons and tech
- originally concerned with soldiers, but after WW2 it covers anyone who gets caught up in the conflict
How does the Geneva Convention promote human rights?
It covers ‘the rules of war’ and has helped to define war crimes:
- wounded and sick soldiers should be evacuated from the field of battle and given medical treatment, even by the enemy side
- prisoners should be well treated, not used for forced labour and hostages shouldn’t be taken
- civilians should be protected in conquered areas
Those accused of war crimes can be tried at the international criminal court in The Hague, the Netherlands
What are some controversies associated with the Geneva Convention?
Few cases of violations of this act ever make it to trial
> in 2014, it was shown that 141 countries still use methods of torture including the USA
- gathering evidence is very difficult
- not all states agree with it so bringing war criminals to trial is hard
