What impact do very low levels of economic development have on people?

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What impact do very low levels of economic
development have on people?

• You will be given your answer from yesterdays
  exam question look at how it has been marked.
  What did you do well? Improvements?

2
Objectives for two lessons

• All will know the characteristics of the least
  economically developed countries and be aware of
  the impact of development on the lives of people
  in these countries.
• Most will be able to exemplify these issues
  through a case study of Malawi.
• Some will use a range of sources to explore the
  extent to which the Millennium Development Goals
  are likely to be achieved in Malawi.
• STRIPE Reflective learner

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What are LDCs?

• The Least Developed Countries represent the
  poorest and weakest segment of the international
  community.
• The category of LDCs was officially established
  in 1971 by the UN General Assembly with a view to
  attracting special international support for this
  group of countries.
• Four United Nations Conferences on the LDCs had
  been held since, each charting a decade programme
  for the LDCs. The first two were held in Paris in
  1981 and in 1990, the third in Brussels in 2001
  and the fourth in Istanbul in 2011.

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Who are the LDCs?
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Why them?

• The criteria used to identify this group of
  countries
• GNI per capita under 900
• Human Asset Index (made up of the of pop
  undernourished, death rate of children 5 yrs or
  under, secondary school enrolment rates and adult
  literacy rates).
• Economic Vulnerability Index (extent to which a
  country would be affected by unplanned shocks.
  It is based on pop size, remoteness, imp of
  agriculture, risk of homelessness and dependence
  on exports)
• A population of less than 75 million

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Characteristics of LDCs

• Average income of less than 475 (288) a person
  a year.
• Weak human resources as measured by nutrition,
  infant mortality, secondary school environment
  and adult literacy.
• High economic vulnerability as measured by
  factors such as population size, remoteness,
  share of agriculture, and homelessness due to
  natural disasters.
• A country "graduates" from LDC status if the
  figure hits 900.

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Main challenges facing LDCs

• High levels of poverty more than half the 800
  million people in the LDCs live on less than a
  dollar a day. Women in LDCs have a one in 16
  chance of dying in childbirth, compared to one in
  3,500 in North America.
• Food insecurity More than 300 million Africans
  are food insecure.
• Economic vulnerability LDCs are highly dependent
  on external sources of funding, including
  official development assistance, workers'
  remittances and foreign direct investment. This
  overly exposes them to external shocks such as
  the global financial crisis.
• Environmental vulnerability While they
  contribute least to climate change, LDCs are
  among the groups of countries most affected by
  it. Many LDCs are also small islands whose very
  survival is threatened by rising sea levels.

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What is being done to help LDCs?

• The United Nations Conference on the LDCs closed
  in May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey, put forward a
  number of recommendations seeking to halve, from
  48 to 24, the number of LDCs during the next 10
  years.
• See details from
• www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matt
  ers/2011/may/13/least-developed-countries-un-confe
  rence-action-plan

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Successes?

• Since the establishment of the category in 1971,
  only three countries have "graduated" from the
  list
• Botswana in 1994,
• Cape Verde in 2007 and
• Maldives in January 2011.

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HIPCs

• Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) are the 38
  least developed countries in the World (with the
  most poverty and debt) as identified by the IMF
  and World Bank (currently most of them are in
  sub-Saharan Africa).
• In 1996, due to pressure from NGOs, HIPCs were
  identified in an attempt to reduce their debt
  burdens.
• In 2005 during the G8 conference in Gleneagles,
  the World Bank, the IMF and the African
  Development Bank cancelled all loans (worth US40
  billion) owed to them by 18 HIPCs. The countries
  that qualified were
• Benin, Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana,
  Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania,
  Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal,
  Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia

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HIPCs continued

• To qualify for debt cancellation the countries
  had to demonstrate good financial management and
  lack of government corruption. The money saved
  HAD to be spent on poverty reduction, education
  and health care.
• By 2008, 27 of the 38 HIPCs had met the
  conditions for debt relief
• However, African countries still owe US300
  billion, and due to civil war, several need to
  take out more loans, thus increasing this debt.
• Debt campaigners believe that there are other
  countries that should be classed as HIPCs.

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Task 1

• Add notes to the diagram in your pack using pages
  196-201 in your textbook.

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Reflection

• All will know the characteristics of the least
  economically developed countries and be aware of
  the impact of development on the lives of people
  in these countries.
• To what extent have you achieved this objective?
• What do you need to do to build upon this?

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Task 2

• Look at statistics about Malawi at the back of
  the atlas.
• Watch the mini-movie about Malawi to find out
  more

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Reflection

• Are these statistics as you expected?
• Is anything surprising?
• Why?

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Task 3

• Countries at very low levels of economic
  development face such huge challenges that they
  cannot hope to address them without assistance
  from the rest of the world.
• To what extent do you agree with this view?
• Prepare a short statement to answer this question
  in relation to Malawi be ready to share this
  with the class.

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This was a 40 mark exam question how well do
you think you could answer it?
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Reflection

• All will know the characteristics of the least
  economically developed countries and be aware of
  the impact of development on the lives of people
  in these countries.
• Most will be able to exemplify these issues
  through a case study of Malawi.
• To what extent have you achieved your objectives?
  What do you need to do to build upon this?

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Extra reading

• www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matt
  ers/2011/may/13/least-developed-countries-un-confe
  rence-action-plan
• www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matt
  ers/2011/may/06/goal-halve-ldcs-10-years-conferenc
  e
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavily_Indebted_Poor
  _Countries
• www.unohrlls.org/en/home/
• www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LDC20Pocketbook20
  10-20final.pdf LDCs statistical pocket book.

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Homework

• What are the characteristics of the countries
  which make up the group known as least developed
  countries (countries at a low level of economic
  development). 8 marks.

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What are the characteristics of the countries
which make up the group known as least developed
countries (countries at a low level of economic
development). 8 marks.

• Mark your answer to this question using the mark
  scheme in your pack.

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Mark Scheme

• Level 1 Straightforward statements, very much a
  list of characteristics, e.g. low GNP, low
  literacy, low life expectancy, low levels of
  calorie intake, etc. (14 marks)
• Level 2 Recognises that the characteristics can
  be placed into categories, such as economic,
  social, political. Links made between some of
  the problems listed above, such as lack of
  capital leading to poor education and health
  services giving low life expectancy and low
  levels of literacy. Puts in some detail such as
  figures, and may back up material with examples.
  (58 marks)
• What have you done well?
• What do you need to work on?

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Objectives for two lessons

• All will know the characteristics of the least
  economically developed countries and be aware of
  the impact of development on the lives of people
  in these countries.
• Most will be able to exemplify these issues
  through a case study of Malawi.
• Some will use a range of sources to explore the
  extent to which the Millennium Development Goals
  are likely to be achieved in Malawi.
• STRIPE Reflective learner

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Task 1

• Watch http//www.youtube.com/watch?vReRx12QUv54
  to find out about the Millennium Development
  goals.

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Task 2

• Look at the different sources of data in your
  pack.

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Task 3

• To what extent do these sources suggest that
  Malawi will be successful in achieving the
  millennium development goals by 2015?

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Extension task

• Either carry out your own research to develop a
  case study of another country with very low
  levels of development, or look at
  http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8320781.st
  m to find out more about the challenge of
  achieving the millennium development goals in
  Malawi.

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Reflection

• Share your answers to task 3 - do you agree on
  the extent to which the sources suggest that
  Malawi will achieve the millennium development
  goals?
• How may your own values and attitudes influence
  your views?

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Reflection

• Some will use a range of sources to explore the
  extent to which the Millennium Development Goals
  are likely to be achieved in Malawi.
• STRIPE Reflective learner
• To what extent have you achieved your objectives?
  What do you need to do to build upon this?