What impact do very low levels of
economic development have on people?
Objectives for the 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
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.
Who are the LDCs?
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 (NB: 1991)
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.
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.
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/globaldevelopment/povertymatters/2011/may/13/least-developedcountries-un-conference-action-plan
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.
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 US$40 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
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 US$300 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.
Task 1
• Add notes to the diagram
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?
Task 2
• Look at statistics about Malawi
• Watch the mini-movies about Malawi to find
out more…
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0OHcY5
_4M
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re1AMebt
GvE
Reflection…
• Are these statistics as you
expected?
• Is anything surprising?
• Why?
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.
This was a 40 mark exam question – how
well do you think you could answer it?
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?
Extra reading…
• www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/povertymatters/2011/may/13/least-developed-countries-unconference-action-plan
• www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/povertymatters/2011/may/06/goal-halve-ldcs-10-years-conference
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavily_Indebted_Poor_Countries
• www.unohrlls.org/en/home/
• www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LDC%20Pocketbook2010%20final.pdf LDCs statistical pocket book.
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.
‘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.
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. (1–4
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. (5–8 marks)
• What have you done well?
• What do you need to work on?
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
Task 1
• Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRx12QUv54
to find out about the Millennium
Development goals.
Task 2
• Look at the different sources of data in your
pack.
Task 3
• To what extent do these sources suggest that
Malawi will be successful in achieving the
millennium development goals by 2015?
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/8320
781.stm to find out more about the challenge
of achieving the millennium development
goals in Malawi.
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?
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?