Topic 8 - EQ2 - Health, Human Rights, and Intervention Flashcards

Question

What are human rights like in South Korea?

Answer 1

SK has embraced capitalism and has transformed itself from a war-torn country into a high-income advanced economy with booming businesses like Samsung and LG. Today, the Democracy Index ranks South Korea number two in Asia. Large-scale public protests and confrontations with heavy-handed police are not unknown, but it also ranks among the highest in the world in terms of education, healthcare and ease of doing business. It does, however, live in the shadow of a belligerent and menacing neighbour.

Answer 2

the more corrupt a country is, the less democratic it is. For example, Canada, Finland and Denmark rank in the 9-10 bracket of democracy in the democracy index (highest) and also rank in the 90-100 bracket in the Corruption Perception Index (cleanest). Similarly, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan all rank in the least democratic bracket of the democracy index, 1-2 bracket, and also fall into the worst bracket of the CPI, 0-9. However, there are some slight anomalies. Saudi Arabia is in the lowest bracket of democracy, 1-2, whereas, it is in a relatively clean CPI bracket, the 60-69 bracket. This is because corruption undermines the democratic nature of a government and reduces the fairness of political systems. However, it can also be argued that the less democratic a country is, the corrupt it becomes, because democracy brings a level of accountability that ensures that those who abuse their power and are corrupt are removed from positions of power. Either way there is a strong positive correlation between the two.

Answer 3

Zimbabwe. It has a problem with bribery, nepotism, cronyism, extortion and embezzlement with bureaucrats stealing huge amounts public money whilst the average Zimbabwean has limited access to the most basic of services. 25% of public service users in Zimbabwe have reportedly paid a bribe in the previous 12 months (this was just 1% in Sweden).

Answer 4

Yes there is a huge difference in the rights of women and oppressed ethnic groups in some post colonial states.

Answer 5

Education of women = knowledge of contraception = smaller family size = women go back to work = higher household income Education of women = can provide healthier meals for family = less people to provide for and less stress on the health service

Answer 6

Rwanda. In 1994 the death of Hutu Rwandan President after his plane was shut down (suspected to have been done by a Tutsi rebel group led by current President Paul Kagame). Despite speaking the same language and follow my nearly identical traditions, their phenotypic features distinguished them to some degree with the Tutsi minority being seen as the racial superiors during the colonial period but the Hutus having control in the 90s. In 100 day period from 7th April - mid July 1994 it is estimated that 800,000 people died as the Hutu government carried out a genocide against the Tutsi population, approximately 8,000 died per day.

Answer 7

-Indigenous communities and their homes are increasingly under threat from mining, oil extraction, dam and road building, logging and agro-industrial projects driving them from their homelands into urban areas meaning they are paying the costs of development yet getting few benefits -Those that stay within isolated indigenous communities receive no government investment into basic social services and so have limited access to healthcare, quality education, justice and participation, in fact any are not even registered at birth -Across the Americas indigenous people are poorer and less educated, more likely to commit suicide, and are generally in worse health than the rest of the population -Some indigenous people want to not have to buy into the mainstream education system and would rather let the next generation learn about how to live with the natural -Indigenous people expected to accept mainstream education when many value knowledge of nature, their culture and the environment as more important

Answer 8

-In the US indigenous territories are theoretically sovereign, but in reality are subject to treaties and federal laws through the Borough of Indian Affairs, and only tribes officially recognised are entitled to assistance (although state laws may provides for this also) -The health and education is provided through and regulated by the Indian Health Service (IHS), which provides care for about 2 million -Since 1972 the IHS has tried to make provisions off reservation areas, but is finding it difficult due to the spread and isolation of the indigenous population and has been greatly underfunded with sterilisation equipment, errors in medical records and unqualified medical staff -Less than half of the indigenous population has health insurance, and thus their access to the US healthcare system is restricted but their needs are greater than the US White population -In 2012 indigenous educational performance levels were about 10% below the US White population and while 5% of indigenous children attend schools with a curriculum emphasising “native ways of knowing”, these schools, run by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), have poor-quality buildings and poor governance -The 2016 US budget proposed 20.8 billion USD, an 8% increase from 2015 including 5.1 billion for the IHS and the funding was to improve federal, tribal and urban programmes in over 650 facilities in 35 states -In 2016 funding for BIE schools was 904 million USD, a 12% increase from 2015, directed at improving education and those that stay within isolated indigenous communities receive less government investment into basic social services -Indigenous Americans in the US and Canada have much higher suicide rates than the white population for a variety of reasons whether it be a lack of opportunities, high rates of alcoholism, high rates of domestic abuse and the effects of intergenerational trauma as well as higher rates of diabetes, infant mortality and TB.