The role of governments and IGOs in defining development targets and policies. Flashcards
How can the type of government adopted by a country impact social and economic development?
Different government structures will adopt different government policies. This can affect the level of social and economic development.
For example:
The UK is a constitutional monarchy and spends 5.5% of its GDP on educational and 9.1% of its GDP on health (2014. In 2014 it had a GDP per capita of $45,600.
Myanmar is a totalitarian state it spends 0.6% of its GDP on education and 1.8% of its GDP on healthcare (2014). In 2014, it had a GDP per capita of $1200
Ethiopia despite having a lower GDP per capita ($565 in 2014) spent 5.5% of its GDP on education and 5.1% on health in 2014. It is a democratic republic
It can therefore be seen that some government structures prioritise social progress over others, whereas totalitarian and dictatorial systems prioritise indoctrinating and controlling their population.
Roles of IGOs in accelerating development.
Typically IGOs such as the World Bank, and World Trade Organisation have promoted free-market liberalisation in developing and emerging economies as well as privatisation and free trade by removal of tariffs quotas and subsidies. This has been criticised for benefitting developed nations who gain access to cheaper goods as well a raw materials which they process and can sell at higher prices to developing nations. Also, these IGOs influence where and how loans are spent and countries may be left worse off due to high-interest debt.
More recently, IGOs like the World Bank have focused on social development. The World Bank is a member of the Global Partnership Education which between 2002 and 2015 donated $35 bn to educational programmes of the Millenium Development Goals. In 2016, the World Bank launched the Climate Change Action Plan which aims to add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy to countries such as India and provide early flood warning systems to 100 million people.
Successes of the Millennium Development Goals.
Between 1990 and 2015, the percentage of global population who were malnourished fell from 23.3% to 17.9%
There was a 20% increase in primary enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa between 200 and 2015
1990 - 74 girls per 100 boys in primary school now 103.
Women in 1990 made up 35% of paid workers outside agriculture in 1990. In 2015 this reached 41%
Since 1990, maternal mortality has decreased by 25% - 64% in Asia and 49% in sub-Saharan Africa.
New HIV infections fell by 40% between 2000 and 2013 and between 2003 and 2014 the number of people receiving anti-retroviral therapy increased from 800,000 to 13.6 million
Between 2000 and 2013, 6.2 million malaria-related deaths were avoided
Ozone depletion has been virtually eliminated
In Latin America and the Caribbean the percentage of forested area rose from 8.8% to 23.4% between 1990 and 2014
How can it be argued the Millennium Development Goals were unsuccessful?
Despite making significant progress in all of their targets, the MDGs only met one of its goals. In 2015 it was replaced with the Sustainable Devlopemnt Goals - consisting of 17 targets which has more of a focus on environmental protection whilst still encouraging social progress.
