Thursday 19 December 2013

The Geography of Conflict at the Movies

Here are some movies and YouTube clips you may wish to catch up on to help your wider understanding and strengthen your knowledge of Conflict:


Darfur -  roll over tittle here The Devil Came on Horseback

Uganda - The LastKing of Scotland - full movie on DVD tells whole story  clicklink to right  - here is a trailer

Rawanda - Hotel Rawanda - full movie tells story of tribal genocide click link to right click here


Ireland - Five Minutes from Heaven reconcilliation and the peace process click link to right click to see film.

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Afghanistan - post conflict Security and Development


Afghanistan is undergoing huge changes as it strives for political stability and economic development. The following links provide useful background and detail for the purpose of completing the essay on No Security without Development and No Development without Security.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Separatism Rises Again in Spain

Catalonia is seeking to gain independence from Spain - check this story and make notes from it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25353086

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Failed States

Follow the link for the 10 reasons why States Fail http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/18/10_reasons_countries_fall_apart#sthash.mTCIQxPk.dpbs

From the links add notes on key Case Studies for your work on Security and Development

Sunday 8 December 2013

The challenge of Global Poverty

Most of the poorest countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and, until very recently, almost all have huge debts. Few have any hope of repaying the debt as interest alone exceeds the value of their exports consequently many face a long term challenge to erradicate poverty.

Bill Gates & Hans Rosling addressing 2012 conference to end extremme poverty
 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mFHctW3zQgg



Measuring Poverty

Watch the video and make some notes… is it easy to measure?

 


 

 

Economic indicators

 

The International Poverty Line

 

$1.25 per day, adjusted for PPP (set in 2008)

 

Estimated 1.4 billion live at or below this line

 

Is this a good way to measure poverty?

 

 

Poverty Gap Ratio

 

Expresses the total amount of money which would be needed to raise the poor from their present incomes to the poverty line ($1.25PPP), as a proportion of the poverty line, and averaged over   population, which measures the depth of poverty.

 

The mean distance separating the population from the poverty line(with the non-poor being given a distance of zero), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line.

 

In other words it measures the depth of poverty as well as the incidence.

 

Are economic indicators enough?
Literacy Rate
Life expectancy
Access to clean water 
Number of people per doctor 
BMI
Children enrolled in primary school
Mobile phone owners?
Internet users?

 
Composite Quality of Life Indices

 

PQLI  Physical Quality of Life Index
Combines life expectancy, infant mortality rate and literacy rate
Devised by M.D. Morris in mid 70s
Measured on a 1-100 scale (100 being best)
In 1960 53%world population lived in countries with PQLI averages of less than 50
By 1995 only 11%
From 1960 1995 1.7 billion to 584 million

 

Composite Quality of Life Indices

 

UN Indices:

HDI    Human Development Index
HPI     Human Poverty Index
IHDI   Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index
GII     Gender Inequality Index
MPI   Multidimensional Poverty Index


 

 

The Causes of Global Poverty

 

Debt

Many of the poorest countries have on-going conflict which makes it very difficult for them to develop and get out of poverty.
E.g. The DR of Congo, Djibouti, Nigeria, Sudan and Afghanistan all have on-going conflicts. They also have the lowest HDI and MDPI in the world.
Corruption is both a cause and result of poverty. Sudan, Afghanistan and the DR of Congo rank very low in the CPI.

 


 
Environmental Factors

 
Changes in global climate, long term drought, natural disasters and flooding have all contributed to disrupting food supplies, agricultural and industrial production in the developing world and affected living space.

 
 

Ways forward to address Poverty

 STUDENT TASKS ~
 
Research and Make Notes on:

(1) The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)

TASK 1 - Make Notes from the Fact Sheet


 TASK 2  Produce a 2 page Case Study on Debt Cancellation in Uganda - use the following as a basis for your research.
(2) The Millennium Development Goals

TASK 3  - USE the links below to summarise each MDG

The 8 MDGs were set by the United Nations with a deadline of 2015. These 8 goals all aim to reduce global poverty in poorer nations of the world. As the 2015 deadline looms closer, there is much discussion over their achievement, the future beyond 2015, their successes and failures.
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, set targets to:


MDG 1 Eradicate Extreme HungerMDG 2 Achieve Universal Primary EducationMDG 3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme HungerMDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary EducationMDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
MDG 4 Reduce Child MortalityMDG 5 Improve Maternal HealthMDG 6 Combat HIV AIDS Malaria and Other Diseases
MDG 4: Reduce Child MortalityMDG 5: Improve Maternal HealthMDG 6: Combat HIV AIDS Malaria and Other Diseases
MDG 7 Ensure Environmental SustainabilityMDG 8 Develop a Global Partnership for Development 
MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability



TASK 4  Have a read of the information on the following  website and make notes:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/millennium-development-goals
 

       Progress with the MDG
      http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/report-2013/2013_progress_english.pdf



TASK 5   USE the following link to produce a summary CASE STUDY
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg1/