CONFLICT AND POVERTY

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

Each year the UN publishes a Human
Development Report
It contains an index that ranks its member
countries according to 3 measures: adult literacy,
life expectancy and the per capita GDP
GDP = gross domestic product
the total value of all goods and services produced in a
country in one year. If you divide this number by the number
of people in the country, and you get the average GDP per
person, or per capita.

WERE QUITE LUCKY

For each of the last 6 years of the 20th century,
Canada ranked first overall on the Human
Development Index.

OTHERS ARE LESS SO

In more than 20 countries, life expectancy at birth
was still under 50 years, a full 30 years less than
in Canada.
However, the wealth of the 200 richest people in
the world almost $800 billion dollars in 2008
was greater than the combined income of 40% of
the worlds population.

WHAT DOES THIS LEAD TO?

DEVELOPED VERSUS DEVELOPING

FRIGHTENINGLY
The gap continues to grow, despite the efforts of
organizations such as the UN, aid from
government agencies, and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) such as Save the Children
or Oxfam.

ZERO SUM GAME

I win, you lose

You win, I lose

WORLD BANK AND INTERNATIONAL

MONETARY FUND
The World Bank is an international institution that
provides loans and grants todeveloping
countries. It grew out of the Marshall Plan and has
two stated goals: end extreme poverty within a
generation and boost shared prosperity.

IS IT REACHING ITS GOALS? CAN IT?

The bank has for a long time played a double game
where a lot of the publicity suggests that they are
engaging intensively with human rights. Youll find
many references on their websites. They have
conferences every year where there are lots of
panels on human rights and so on. But the reality is
the exact opposite. They can talk about these issues
but when it comes to country programming and the
advice and so on that they give which is their core
mission they wont touch human rights.
Professor Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme
poverty and human rights

UNFORTUNATELY
Poverty is very much real and it is unlikely that
extreme poverty will be ended in a generation
But why is this the case? Why is there so much
inequality and poverty around the world?
Read also 274-277 (to 279 for 911 and
Afghanistan)

HOMEWORK
Visit http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries and compare
Canada with two other nations using key
development indicators
life expectancy rates literacy rates infant mortality rates disease
(e.g., HIV/AIDS) fertility - GDP population size

Choose one of Rwanda or Somalia

and one of Bosnia & Herzegovina or Kuwait
How do the differences in development indicators
reveal the different standards of living?

CONFLICT
Canada opts out of star wars
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1985-canada-opts-out-of-star-war
s

end of cold war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=595W4JJHa2U
Rwanda Canadas peacekeeping
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26875506