North-South Relations

The concepts and definitions of development

Concept of Development
What is the meaning of growth if it is not translated into the lives of people?
UNDP, Human Development Report, 1995

Development is about fundamental change in economic structures, about the movement of resources out of agriculture to services and industry, about migration to cities and international movements of labour, and about transformations in trade and technology. Social inclusion and changechange in health and life expectancy, in education and literacy, in population size and structure, and in gender relations are in the heart of the story. (World Bank, 2003)

If we should shrink the world to one village of 100 people, this is how it would look:
By origin 57 Asian 21 European 14 Western Hemisphere 8 African By gender: 52 women 48 men 70 non-white: 30 white 70 non-Christian: 30 Christian 6 people own 59% of global wealth, and all 6 are from USA 80 live in substandard housing 70 cannot read 50 are malnourished 1 is dieing 1 is being borne Only 1 has college education Only one has a PC

Principles and concepts of development studies - content

How the other half (85%!) lives? The nature of development economics Some of the questions we ask What do we mean by development?
Traditional economic measures New economic view Sens capabilities approach

The role of core values Millenium Development Goals

How the other half (85%!) lives?

World PPP GNP 55,938,191 billion $/
Low income 5,350,327 Middle income 19,729,421 High income 31,004,190 South Asia 4,115,428 Sub-Saharan Africa 1,407,349 2,5%

Income gap:
1960: 20% the richest to 20% of the poorest- 30:1 2000: the ratio is 70:1 and growing 2007: gap between Norway and Niger in GDP per capita: 280:1

How the other half (85%!) live? Some facts.

Infant mortality rate: Least developed countries 96 per 1000 live births LDCs: 64; developed countries 8! Life expectancy: sub-Saharan Africa 45.8, Japan 76 More than a billion people still live with less than a dollar a day, every day 20,000 people die from poverty More than 40 million people suffer from HIV/ AIDs. In LDCs, 65% of population lives in rural areas, in developed countries, 27%.

And more:
Agricultural production is dominant in LDCs: 68% of African population versus 3% of North American. Heavy dependence of LDCs on primary exports, and falling share in total world trade: 1950: 33%; 2000: 25% (in some commodities increase in 2007). Similarities, but also significant differences among LDCs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajHXWtMFMM&feature=related

The nature of development economics (studies)

A systematic study of the problems and processes of the economic development; Draws on relevant principles and concepts of other branches of economics, but has its own distinctive analytical and methodological identity Economics of contemporary poor, underdeveloped nations with varying ideological orientations, diverse cultural backgrounds and very complex, yet similar economic problems, demanding new ideas and new approaches. Development economists, Nobel Prize winners: W.Arthur Lewis & T. Schultz (1979), Amaryta Sen (1998) and Joseph Stiglitz (2001).

The nature of development economics- II

Traditional economics: efficient, least-cost allocation of scarce productive resources and their optimal growth Political economy: goes beyond traditional to study social and institutional processes: relationship between politics and economics> the role of power Development economics deals also with the economic, social, political and institutional mechanisms to bring rapid and large- scale improvements in levels of living in LDCs.

The nature of development economics- III

Concerned with: Rapid structural and institutional transformation of entire societies; Accepts larger government role and coordinated decision making; Must be eclectic, attempting to combine relevant concepts and theories from traditional economic analysis and broader multidisciplinary approaches derived from contemporary development experience. Ultimate purpose: help better understand developing economies in order to improve lives of majority of global population.

What do we mean by development?

Traditional economic measures: rate of growth of gross national income (GNI) or of income per capita, sometimes corrected with Purchasing Power Parity- PPP. New Economic View (1970 on): reduction or elimination of poverty, inequality and unemployment > development as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as well as acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of poverty. (Todaro, 2005, p.17)

What do we mean by development?

Sens capability approach (Sen, 1999, Development as Freedom):
Capability to function is what really matters for status as a poor or non-poor person Capability: the freedom that a person has in terms of the choice of functioning, given his personal features and his command over commodities. Basis for the Human Development Index, as well as other indexes developed by UNDP in their annual reports.

Core values of development

Development economics, just as economics, is a social science>>implicit and explicit value premises realisation of the human potential! Development: interdependent relationship between economic and non-economic factors> do not forget the later! Dev. economics: acknowledge the role and impact of values, attitudes and

institutions!

Three core values:

Sustenance: The ability to meet basic needs Self-Esteem: To be a person Freedom from Servitude: To be able to choose

The three objectives of development

1. To increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life-sustaining goods 2. To raise levels of living 3. To expand range of economic and social choices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al7hNr0_LLU

The Millenium Development Goals MDG, 2000- 2015, adopted by 189 members of UN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3p2VLTowAA Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 1
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

Target 2
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Target 3
Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 4
Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Target 5
Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 6
Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target 7
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

Target 8
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 9
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

Target 10
Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

Target 11
By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers.

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Target 12
Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction both nationally and internationally).

Target 13
Address the special needs of the least developed countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for least developed countries exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction).

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing States (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly).

Target 14

Target 15
Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.

Target 16
In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth.

The Millenium Development Goals - MDG

Target 17
In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries.

Target 18
In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.

The achievements by 2010

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/stats.sht ml Much achieved, still many goals off the track Why? Were the goals set too high? Are they the right goals? Who failed? Goal 8th? Just the crisis or?