UN Sustainable Development Goals criteria
Source: https://www.solactive.com/solactive-sustainable-development-goals-world-indices/what-are-the-sdgs/
The World's Largest Lesson Introduced by Malala Yousafzai
What are the SDGs?
'We The People' for The Global Goals
Follow the link below for information about all SDGs targets and progress.
Validity and reliability of development indicators and indices
The human development index (HDI)
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev
What is human development?
In 1990 the first Human Development Report introduced a new approach for advancing human wellbeing. Human development – or the human development approach - is about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices.
People: human development focuses on improving the lives people lead rather than assuming that economic growth will lead, automatically, to greater wellbeing for all. Income growth is seen as a means to development, rather than an end in itself.
Opportunities: human development is about giving people more freedom to live lives they value. In effect this means developing people’s abilities and giving them a chance to use them. For example, educating a girl would build her skills, but it is of little use if she is denied access to jobs, or does not have the right skills for the local labour market. Three foundations for human development are to live a long, healthy and creative life, to be knowledgeable, and to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living. Many other things are important too, especially in helping to create the right conditions for human development, and some of these are in the table below. Once the basics of human development are achieved, they open up opportunities for progress in other aspects of life.
Choice: human development is, fundamentally, about more choice. It is about providing people with opportunities, not insisting that they make use of them. No one can guarantee human happiness, and the choices people make are their own concern. The process of development – human development - should at least create an environment for people, individually and collectively, to develop to their full potential and to have a reasonable chance of leading productive and creative lives that they value.
As the international community moves toward implementing and monitoring the 2030 agenda, the human development approach remains useful to articulating the objectives of development and improving people’s well-being by ensuring an equitable, sustainable and stable planet.
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev
Data published in 2015.
Validity and reliability issues of the HDI
- First, the HDI is not a comprehensive measure of human development. It just focuses on the basic dimensions of human development and does not take into account a number of other important dimensions of human development.
- Second, it is composed of long-term human development outcomes. Thus it does not reflect the input efforts in terms of policies nor can it measure short-term human development achievements.
- Third, it shares all the limitations of composite measures. But it is important to keep it simple with minimum variables to ensure its acceptability, understanding and predictability.
- Fourth, the HDI is an average measure and thus masks a series of disparities and inequalities within countries. Disaggregation of the HDI in terms of gender, regions, races and ethnic groups can unmask the HDI and can be and has been used widely for policy formulation.
- Fifth, income enters into the HDI not in its own right, but as a proxy for resources needed to have a decent standard of living. The issue with regard to income is how it is transformed into the health and education dimensions of the HDI. Thus between income and the other two dimensions of the HDI, the issue is that of transformation, and not of substitution.
Gender inequality index (GII)
The GII is an inequality index. It measures gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development—reproductive health, measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment, measured by proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with at least some secondary education; and economic status, expressed as labour market participation and measured by labour force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years and older. The GII is built on the same framework as the IHDI—to better expose differences in the distribution of achievements between women and men. It measures the human development costs of gender inequality. Thus the higher the GII value the more disparities between females and males and the more loss to human development.
The GII sheds new light on the position of women in 159 countries; it yields insights in gender gaps in major areas of human development. The component indicators highlight areas in need of critical policy intervention and it stimulates proactive thinking and public policy to overcome systematic disadvantages of women.
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
Data published in 2011.
Source: http://chartsbin.com/view/4319
Follow the link below for the 2016 report.
Table 5: Gender Inequality Index
The GII sheds new light on the position of women in 159 countries; it yields insights in gender gaps in major areas of human development. The component indicators highlight areas in need of critical policy intervention and it stimulates proactive thinking and public policy to overcome systematic disadvantages of women.
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
Data published in 2011.
Source: http://chartsbin.com/view/4319
Follow the link below for the 2016 report.
Table 5: Gender Inequality Index
Validity and reliability issues of the GII
- The labor force participation rate is a reliable estimate of economic participation that, unfortunately, fails to capture the informal and care economy sectors in which women are typically overrepresented.
- The GII combines both well-being and empowerment indicators into a single measure. For the sake of conceptual clarity, it might have been advisable to construct composite indices with either well-being or empowerment variables separately.
- In order to reach gender parity, the share of women in the parliament should equal the share of women in the corresponding population. Therefore, in a country where the share of women was larger than the share of men, a 50-50 parliamentary partition among men and women would under-represent the latter.
Empowering women and indigenous or minority groups
Follow the links below for information about the following case studies:
Women’s empowerment in Colombia - PROGRESS DESPITE ADVERSITY Women’s empowerment and conflict in Colombia
Low-impact rainforest eco-venture created and sustained 100% by indigenous people from Bolivia´s Madidi National Park - Madidi Jungle Ecolodge
Closing the development gap in Nepal
Follow the link bellow for information about four development strategies and their progress in Nepal.
The work of microfinance organizations and their networks
Social entrepreneurship
The social entrepreneur aims for value in the form of large-scale, transformational benefit that accrues either to a significant segment of society or to society at large. Unlike the entrepreneurial value proposition that assumes a market that can pay for the innovation, and may even provide substantial upside for investors, the social entrepreneur’s value proposition targets an underserved, neglected, or highly disadvantaged population that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve the transformative benefit on its own. This does not mean that social entrepreneurs as a hard-and-fast rule shun profit making value propositions. Ventures created by social entrepreneurs can certainly generate income, and they can be organized as either not-for- profits or for-profits. What distinguishes social entrepreneurship is the primacy of social benefit, what Duke University professor Greg Dees in his seminal work on the field characterizes as the pursuit of “mission-related impact.”
We define social entrepreneurship as having the following three components: (1) identifying a stable but inherently unjust equilibrium that causes the exclusion, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve any transformative benefit on its own; (2) identifying an opportunity in this unjust equilibrium, developing a social value proposition, and bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude, thereby challenging the stable state’s hegemony; and (3) forging a new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group, and through imitation and the creation of a stable ecosystem around the new equilibrium ensuring a better future for the targeted group and even society at large.
Microcredit
Microcredit is the extension of small loans to enterpreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. It has proven an effective and popular measure in the ongoing struggle against poverty, enabling those without access to lending institutions to borrow at bank rates, and start small business.
The key implications of microcredit is in its name itself: 'micro'. A number of issues come to mind when 'micro' is considered: The small size of the loans made, small size of savings made, the smaller frequency of loans, shorter repayment periods and amounts, the micro/local level of activities, the community-based immidiacy of microcredit etc. Hence microcredit is not the solution, but is a menu of options and enablements, that has to be put together, a la carte, based on local conditions and needs.
Alternative trading networks such as “Fair trade”
DEFINITION OF FAIR TRADE
"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South.
Fair Trade organisations have a clear commitment to Fair Trade as the principal core of their mission. They, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade." They can be recognised by the WFTO logo.
Fair Trade is more than just trading:
It proves that greater justice in world trade is possible.
It highlights the need for change in the rules and practice of conventional trade and shows how a successful business can also put people first.
It is a tangible contribution to the fight against poverty, climate change and economic crisis.
Follow the link below for a closer up on the infographic.
TNC corporate social responsibility frameworks and global agreements
What is CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives (“Triple-Bottom-Line- Approach”), while at the same time addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders. In this sense it is important to draw a distinction between CSR, which can be a strategic business management concept, and charity, sponsorships or philanthropy. Even though the latter can also make a valuable contribution to poverty reduction, will directly enhance the reputation of a company and strengthen its brand, the concept of CSR clearly goes beyond that.
Development impacts of CSR
But apart from assessing the scale, scope and implementation of specific CSR policies and institutional arrangements, it is important to consider the wider developmental implications of CSR. There is a fairly generalised perception shared by many individuals and organizations promoting CSR, that both CSR and partnerships, in any shape or form, must be good for social development and environmental protection, and therefore, for development more generally. This assumption needs to be looked at carefully given the following characteristics and impacts of CSR:
- The CSR agenda tends to be somewhat “Northern-driven” and focuses on a fairly narrow set of issues, sectors and companies. Various social and environmental issues or business activities of concern to workers and communities in developing countries may not get much attention.
- Important gender issues often get sidelined. These relate not only to specific concerns and needs of women workers but also the participation of women in trade unions and other negotiating and political processes associated with CSR.
- Small and medium-sized firms in developing countries that form part of TNC supply chains are often expected to pay the costs of CSR. TNCs or Northern consumers may do little if anything to share these costs. Moreover, TNCs and large Northern retailers continue to impose onerous conditions on suppliers in terms of price and delivery schedules. CSR may reinforce trends involving the concentration of corporate power by squeezing small firms from supply chains and concentrating production in larger firms with greater capacity to implement CSR initiatives.
- CSR may have protectionist implications by restricting access of Southern firms to Northern markets.
- CSR and partnerships may enhance the competitive advantage of TNCs at the expense of firms in developing countries.
- The CSR agenda often ignores the bigger picture or the structural causes of underdevelopment, such as certain macro-economic policies, inequitable power structures, and injustices in North-South relations, as well as patterns of investment and economic growth that have negative social and environmental impacts.
- Many developing-country governments, constrained by international pressures associated with debt servicing and “down-sizing”, are unable to develop the type of regulatory and incentive structures that would encourage CSR.
- Voluntary CSR initiatives are often dissociated from national planning processes related to development strategy or poverty reduction and their design and implementation lack inputs from key development actors or “stakeholders”.
If CSR is to make a more significant contribution to development, its proponents face two major challenges. First, there needs to be a better integration between voluntary approaches and law or government regulation, rather than the present situation where voluntary initiatives are often seen as an alternative to legal instruments. Second, the CSR agenda needs to become more “South-centred”. For this to happen, the relevant actors will have to start by addressing some difficult questions.
Source: http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/newsview.nsf/(httpNews)/B163470112831808C1256DA90041ECC5
Follow the link below for an evaluation of the impact of CSR practices on human development in Nigeria.
Synthesis and evaluation
Use the content from this post to plan an answer for the following question:
‘Explain how actions to support human development involve spatial interactions from local to global scales’. 18 marks. Students write the essay as homework.
Use markscheme on page 56 from the new syllabus guide (AO3)
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