The Politics of Aid

Aims:

• Identify the key terms used to describe rich and poor countries.

• Examine the main problems facing poor countries

Rich and Poor Countries

Developed - Developing Rich North - Poor SouthFirst World - Third World

Indicators

• Birth rate• Death rate• Infant Mortality Rate• Life Expectancy• Population Per Doctor• Literacy Rate• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or

Gross National Income (GNI)

Indicators• Birth rate – number of births per 1,000 of the

population.• Death rate – number of deaths per 1,000 of the

population.• Infant Mortality Rate – deaths per 1,000 live

births (up to age of 1)• Life Expectancy – average age a person can

expect to live.• Population Per Doctor – number of people per

doctor.• Literacy Rate - % who can read or write.• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross National

Income (GNI) – value of goods and/or services. This measures a country’s wealth. The higher the figure the wealthier the country.

Why Can Some Countries Not Meet Their Needs?

• In the news we often hear about countries in Africa who are affected by ‘natural disasters’ which cause food shortages or FAMINE e.g

*Freak weather conditions*Crop failures*Drought*Floods

• However many developing countries face the same problems but don’t suffer from famine.

Why Can Some Countries Not Meet Their Needs?

• Some countries in Africa face many SOCIAL, POLITICAL and ECONOMIC problems which makes it difficult for them to cope when a crisis occurs.

Key Terms:

Political - To do with the government and how the country is run.

Social - To do with the quality of peoples’ lives

Economic - To do with money, jobs and the economy

Copy the summary of social, economic and

political problems in Africa from pages 12-13 of your textbook.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: HIV/AIDs

Aim:

• Examine the ‘AIDs’ crisis in Africa and the consequences for people.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: AIDS

• Africa is currently in the grip of an AIDS epidemic.

• An estimated 22 million adults and children are living with HIV

• Two-thirds of people in the world living with HIV are in Africa.

• 15 million adults have died at a young age or in early middle age (20-40 years). Roughly 0.2% of the UK

population are affected by HIV.

AIDS Orphans

• Africa has about 11.6 million AIDs orphans.

• 95% of AIDs orphans in the world live in Africa.

• Children end up being cared for by other family members, in orphanages or older children end up on the streets.

AIDs orphans are at greater risk of malnutrition, illness and abuse.

CONSEQUENCES OF

HIV/AIDS

Children are orphaned.

Grandparents or older brothers/sisters have to

care for them.

Families lose their wage earner – more likely to

face poverty

Greater pressure on

health services

Loss of key workers e.g. farmers,

teachers. This has a negative effect on

the economy

Fall in GDP/GNI

(country’s wealth)

Problems Facing Developing Countries: AIDS

Activities• Read page 5 then

complete Activities 1-3.

• Study the factfile on page 6.

• Complete Activities 1-2 on page 7.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: Debt

Aim:

• Examine how the problem of debt is preventing the development of African countries.

Debt

• By the 1970s many developing countries had borrowed money from developed countries or international organisations to help meet their needs.

• Many countries have massive debts to repay with crippling interest charges.

• This often means the wealth of a country is used to repay this debt instead of being spent on services such as health, education etc.

The World Watches…..

• In 1984 a harrowing report by the BBC News Correspondent, Michael Buerk showed the plight of millions of starving Ethiopians.

• Two pop artists – Bob Geldof and Midge Ure persuaded a host of artists to come together and record the Band Aid single ‘Do They Know Its Christmas’ in 1984.

They also organised a Live Aid concert in July 1985 at Wembley. 16 hours of live music was provided by various pop artists free of charge.

It was watched by 1.5 billion people worldwide and raised £110 million.

Make Poverty History 2005

• In 2001 the 8 most powerful countries in the world – G8 – promised to half poverty by 2015.

• In July 2005 the UK hosted the G8 summit at Gleneagles.

• With slow progress being made towards this goal there was worldwide campaign by a variety of groups who wanted an end to world poverty.

• They believed they way to do this was to deal with the problem of DEBT

This culminated in a serious of events:

• Live 8 Concerts in 10 countries • White wrist band campaign

launched by Nelson Mandela.• Click TV ads – celebrities such

as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Justine Timberlake took part to show that every 3 seconds someone dies of poverty.

• Live 8 list – an on-line petition.

The Final Result:

• The aim of all these events was to put pressure on world leaders to end poverty and cancel the debts that were crippling developing countries.

• The G8 leaders agreed to provide an extra £28.8 billion to boost aid and cancel the debts of the poorest nations.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: Civil War and Armed

Conflict

Aim:

• Examine the effects of civil war and armed conflict on African countries.

Conflict in Africa• In recent years many

African countries have experienced conflict and continue to suffer from the consequences.

• This includes countries such as Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• Often countries get involved in a war with another country.

• However, civil war – when different groups of people in the same country are fighting one another – is just as damaging.

Effects of Civil

War and Armed

Conflict

Children kidnapped and used as child

soldiers

People forced to flee their homes and become refugees

Sexual Abuse and Violence Against

Women and Girls – spread of HIV

Roads destroyed – food supplies

disrupted

Land cannot be farmed due to attacks and landmines

‘Scorched earth tactics’

Aid convoys hijacked.

Loss of life. Many orphans

created

• Many developing countries have the right climate to grow crops such as tobacco, coffee and cocoa.

• They then sell or export these ‘cash’ crops to rich countries to make money.

• However this can mean there is less land to grow food.

• If the prices of these cash crops fall or there is a poor harvest, less money will be made to repay debts.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: Farming

Export: when a country sells goods or services to another country.

• Farming methods can also be outdated.

• Land might be over cultivated and this can lead to smaller harvests.

• Some countries need to grow crops which are drought resistant or capable of producing a high yield (huge amounts).

• Many women work on the land in African countries – they are less likely to be educated and aware of new methods.

Problems Facing Developing Countries: Farming

Key Problems: Health And Education

Aims:

• Identify the reasons for poor health in African countries.

• Identify the effects of poor education on African countries.

How Do We Know That A Country Has a Poor Standard of

Health?• Low life expectancy• High infant mortality• Existence of killer diseases

e.g. measles• High rates of HIV/AIDs• Poor access to

doctors/medical treatment (primary health care).

What Are the Solutions to Poor Health?

• Access to primary health care in the local area (i.e. doctor/nurses).

• Immunisation against killer diseases

• Education programmes to prevent disease e.g. HIV

• Tackle food shortages – improve peoples’ immune system.

• Improve basic sanitation e.g. running water/toilets to prevent spread of disease.

Note

Many of the problems faced by African countries are interlinked. This means solving problems in one area will have a positive effect on another area e.g. improvements in education will mean

that people can be educated about how to prevent certain diseases.

Multi-Lateral Aid - UN

Aims:

• Identify the aims of the United Nations and its Specialised Agencies.

Multi-lateral Aid – The UN

• The UN was set up in 1945 by 50 countries.

• Its aim is to encourage countries in the world to work together to improve the conditions of people in the world.

• Today over 127 countries are members of the UN.

• The UN works through SPECIALISED AGENCIES to help developing countries.

UN Agencies – Current Examples

UNICEF - Malawi• Project to treat 3,500 children with

malnutrition each month.• Medical training for health

workers/medicines provided.• Feeding programme for under 5s and

pregnant mothers.• School feeding programme for

500,000 primary children.

UN Agencies – Current Examples

UNICEF - Uganda• Campaign to encourage 1.3 million

children to attend school.• Provided 13,000 teachers, writing

materials, sports equipment.• Also provides hygiene supplies e.g.

soap, toothpaste.

UN Agencies – Current Examples

World Health Organisation (WHO) – Guinea• Set up health care centres in local

communities.• Children can be immunised against

killer diseases/given vitamins.• Gives people access to a doctor and

basic health care.

UN Specialised Agencies

UN Agency Aims Examples of How It Helps

Examples of Countries

UN Specialised Agencies

Use pages 21-26 of ‘Alliances and the Developing World’ to complete your

table on UN Specialised Agencies.

UN Agencies in Action

UN Agencies – Current Examples

UNICEF - Ethiopia• Training for health workers to treat

malnourished children.• Vaccination against meningitis.

FAO - Namibia• Green Revolution – developing new

varieties of plants e.g. maize that will produce a good crop with little rainfall

• Helping farmers to grow, store and market wild fruit trees to provide an income.

UN Agencies – Current Examples

UNESCO – Rwanda and Angola• Provided school supplies in countries

which have been affected by civil war.

WHO – Guinea• Set up health care centres to provide

basic health care and immunisation.

The World Food Programme

• The agency most involved in the fight against hunger.

• Responds swiftly to humanitarian crises where there are urgent food shortages e.g. Zimbabwe

• Also works to encourage countries to become self-reliant and be able to grow enough food for their people. This helps to achieve long term food security