Solution
Robert answered on
Dec 22 2021
Table of Contents
Contents
Page
1. Introduction
2
1.1. Description and History of Haiti
2
1.2. Three Benchmark Countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda
3
1.2.1. Kenya
3
1.2.2. Ethiopia
4
1.2.3. Uganda
5
2. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
6
2.1. Main Variables in the MDGs
9
2.2 MDGs and Integral Human Development (IHD)
10
2.2.1. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and IHD
11
2.2.2. Concept of IHD
12
2.2.3. MDGs through IHD Lens
13
3. MDG through IHD Lens for the Chosen Countries
14
3.1. Economic Conditions of Haiti through MDG Lens
14
3.2. Economic Conditions of the Benchmark Countries through MDG Lens
16
3.2.1. Kenya
16
3.2.2. Ethiopia
16
3.2.3. Uganda
17
3.3. MDG Targets
17
4. Internal Ba
iers
18
5. External Ba
iers
20
6. Government Policy, Aids, and NGOs
21
7. Policy Recommendations
25
References
Figures 1-6
28-33
Economic Development
1. Introduction
1.1. Description and History of Haiti
Haiti, also known as the Republic of Haiti, is a Cari
ean country. It is located in the western part of the island of Hispaniola and shares its border with the Dominican Republic. The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometers and has a cu
ent population of 9,801,664 (in 2013). It is the most densely populated countries in the world with the population density of over 300 people per square kilometer (326.60 people per-square km) in 2010. It is the first independent black-led republican country of Latin America and Cari
ean. It got its independence in 1804 following a successful slave revolution.
Haiti is the poorest country in America with a per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1,300 in 2012. On the basis of its per-capita GDP, Haiti has 206th rank in the world. Haiti has a free market that is associated with low labor cost, high unemployment rate (more than two-thirds of the population has no formal job), extreme poverty (80% of the population is below poverty line), and tariff-free access to exports from the US. United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) is among the 10 lowest HDIs. In 2011, Haiti’s HDI was 0.454, which placed it in the rank of 158th in the world.
The main occupation of Haitians is agriculture, where two-fifth (38.1%) of the population depends upon small-scale subsistence farming. Haiti faces high inflation (8.3% in 2012, inflation rate was 28.3% in 2004), lack of investment, and high trade-deficit ($185.64 million in 2012) as compared to its counterparts. For fiscal stability, Government of Haiti depends largely on the international economic assistance and remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange in Haiti.
Haiti has experienced several sets of divergent social and political changes. It has faced both modernism and traditionalism. It has experienced both colonialism and western intervention. Its history dates back to the a
ival of the famous European navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492. Haiti was originally (pre-Columbia) inhabited by Taino, indigenous people of the Bahamas, later it became the colonies of Spanish and French. After the a
ival of the Europeans, the indigenous population of Haiti suffered near-extinction. Only a small fraction of Tainos were able to survive. In 1520s, Spanish interest on Haiti gradually started fading as more lucrative gold and silver deposits were found in Mexico and South America. In 1625 Spanish left Haiti and French colonialism begun in the same year.
Under the encouragement of Louis XIV, (monarch in the house of Bou
on, who later ruled France), planters begun to grow tobacco, indigo, cotton, and cacao in Haiti, which prompted the importation of African slaves. Gradually, the growth in the slave population (500,000 in 1789) outnumbered the white (32,000 in 1789) population in the region. To regularize slavery, Louis XIV enacted the Code Noir in 1685, which allowed certain human rights to the slaves and responsibilities to the masters, such as to provide slaves with food, clothing, and basic necessities. The Code Noir also sanctioned corporeal punishment, allowing the masters to apply
utal methods on the slaves. Rising to this
utality, the slaves in the northern region of the colony staged a revolt in 1791 that marked the Haitian revolution. Finally, in 1804, the Haitian revolution culminated into the elimination of slavery and led to the foundation of the Haitian Republic.
After Haiti got its independence from the French government in 1804, Haiti was ranked as the world’s richest and most productive country. In earlier years, Haiti was not open to international economy, and thus, foreign countries were unwilling to invest in Haiti. Much of the capital stock of Haiti was drained out due to its obligation of 150 million francs payment to France.
The end of the revolution marked the end of colonialism in the island; however, the social conflict that was developed under slavery continued to affect the people of Haiti for the years to come. Even in the 21st century, the effect of colonialism and slavery still persists. The chain of events that started with colonialism and slavery directed Haiti towards dictatorial government, civil contentions, and regional violence, all of which affect both the social and the economic prospects of the country.
I have chosen 3 benchmark countries from Africa, on the basis of their comparable per-capita GDP with Haiti. The 3 benchmark countries are Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
1.2. Three Benchmark Countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda
1.2.1. Kenya
Kenya, also known as the Republic of Kenya is a country from East Africa. The capital of Kenya is Nairobi. Kenya is bisected by the equator, with Ethiopia and Sudan in the north, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, Somalia to the northeast, and Indian Ocean to the southeast. The total area of Kenya is 581,309 square kilometers and has a cu
ent population of about 43.5 million in early 2013. The name Kenya originates from Mount Kenya which is the second highest mountain in Africa.
Kenya is considered as the largest and most advanced economy in east and central Africa. However, Kenya is a poor developing economy with a low Human Development Index of 0.519. In terms of HDI Kenya ranks at 145 out of 186 which is one of the lowest in the world. Almost half of the Kenyan population also lives in absolute poverty. The per capita GDP in terms of purchasing power parity at 2011 was $1,746. Kenya employs almost 75 percent of its population in the agricultural sector however it is still very underdeveloped and largely inefficient.
Kenya has mostly followed a liberal market regime with little government intervention in the oil sector. However, recently government has enacted some legislation which provides it with the power to control prices of essential commodities like maize flour, kerosene and cooking oil. Kenya has over the last few years shown much promise by providing strong performance especially in the sectors like tourism, higher education and telecommunications. It has also performed well in the agriculture sector with a healthy performance in tea sector. As a result Kenya’s economy grew by more than 7% in 2007.
Historians believe that Kenyan civilization is as long as human history has existed. The first inhabitants of present-day Kenya were hunter-gatherer groups. Because of its proximity to Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian and Persian began their settlements along the costal parts of Kenya around the 8th century. These settlers developed many of the modern day cities of the Kenya.
The western colonization of Kenya began with the German invasion in 1985. The British colonization followed in 1888 with the a
ival of the Imperial British East Africa Company. An important part of Kenya’s colonization rule was the building of the railways network.
During this time British
ought a lot of Indian people to Kenya in order to provide the skilled labor force required for construction of the railways. They and most of their descendants later remained in Kenya and formed the core of several distinct Indian communities. During the early part of the 20th century, the interior central highlands were settled by British and other European farmers, who became wealthy farming coffee and tea.
Kenya became independent in 1963 and the Republic of Kenya came into existence on 12 December 1964 under its first president Jomo Kenyatta.
1.2.2. Ethiopia
Ethiopia is also known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and it shares its boundary with countries like Sudan, Kenya and Somalia. The total area of Ethiopia is 1,100,000 square kilometers and it has population of over 91,000,000. Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populated nation on the African continent. The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa
Ethiopia showed a remarkable achievement by having more than 10% GDP growth rate from 2004 to 2009 and thereby becoming one of the fastest growing economies of the world. However recently the growth rate has decelerated and the economy is cu
ently facing challenges in terms of high inflation rate and large balance of payment deficits. Inflation rate was as high as 40% in August 2012 because of bad monetary policy and a significant increase in the wage payment to its civil servants in 2011.
Even though Ethiopia has shown remarkable growth performance it is still one of the poorest economies of the world in terms of per capita GDP. In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) the per capita GDP of Ethiopia was around $ 1,200 in 2012.The economy is plagued with several structural problems. Although agriculture accounts for almost 40% of its GDP and generates 80 % of its employment, the productivity in this sector is abysmal and is subject to frequent droughts. Ethiopia is often ironically refe
ed to as the "water tower" of Eastern Africa because of the many (14 major) rivers that pour off the high tableland, including the Nile. It also has the greatest water reserves in Africa, but few i
igation systems in place to use it. Just 1% is used for power production and 1.5% for i
igation.
The Ethiopian constitution defines the right to own land as belonging only to "the state and the people", but citizens may lease land (up to 99 years), and are unable to mortgage or sell. Renting of land for a maximum of twenty years is allowed and this is expected to ensure that land goes to the most productive user.
Ethiopia is considered as one of the earliest human civilizations in human history and it is believed that the Homo-sapiens first set to Middle East and other parts of the world from this region. The modern Ethiopia was ruled by the Zagwe dynasty from 1137 to 1270. The cu
ent form of Ethiopia began its journey under Emperor Menelik II from 1889 to1913. Ethiopia was under the occupation of Italy from 1936 to 1941. It became independent with the help of the British forces during World War II in 1941. Ethiopia was hit by a series of famines in 1980s which left one million people dead. In 1994, the country adopted a constitution which paved the way for its first multiparty election in 1995.
1.2.3. Uganda
Uganda is also known as the Republic of Uganda is located in the eastern part of Africa and it is land locked by its neighbors in the region. Uganda shares its border with countries like Kenya, South Sudan, Congo and Uganda. The total area of Uganda is 236,040 square kilometers and has a cu
ent population of about 35, 873,253 in 2012. The origin of the name of Uganda came from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala
Uganda’s economy has been subject to several devastating economic policies and it is considered as one of the poorest economies of the world. The per capita GDP of Uganda stands at $ $1,341 in terms of PPP in 2011. Recently Uganda has followed economic reforms and has been able to achieve a growth rate of 7% in 200r despite the global economic crisis.
Uganda has abundant supply of natural resources which comprises of fertile soil, regular rainfall. It also has a significant amount of copper and cobalt deposits. Uganda has also untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. Agriculture accounts for about half of the GDP in Uganda while coffee as the main exporting commodity.
Even though Uganda has been able to achieve a modest amount of economic growth but has not been match that up with equivalent poverty reduction. Uganda is also characterized by a large amount of its diaspora living in US and UK which significantly contributes to Uganda’s economic growth through remittances and other investment. World Bank report indicates that during 2010- 2011 Uganda received $694 million in remittances from Ugandans a
oad, the highest foreign exchange earner for the country.
The Ugandans were primarily hunter and gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago. Arabs were the first movers to Uganda in early 1830s. British explores followed in 1860s in search of resources. Uganda became the colony of the British East Africa Company in 1888. The building of railroad required skilled labors which the British
ought from India and some of them remained in East Africa even after the completion of the rail road. The geographical state of Uganda came into existence in 19914 with the integration of several other te
itories. Uganda gained its independence from Britain in 1962 and the first election was held in that itself with Milton Obote becoming the first Prime Minister of independent Uganda.
2. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
For a country to achieve sustainable development, it is important to give its citizens the basic human rights. The Millennium Declaration of 2000 identified the link between human rights, good governance, and development. Millennium development Goals were established with a clear objective of human well-being, dignity, equality, and meeting basic standards of living obtained through human rights. The aim of the Millennium Development Goal is to improve economic and social conditions of the world’s poorest countries to encourage development in those countries.
Following the United Nations Millennium Declaration, eight international development goals were identified in the Millennium summit of the United Nations in 2000 as the Millennium Development goals. The eight development goals are as following:
· To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
· Achieve primary education for all.
· Empowerment of women and encouraging gender equality.
· To improve maternal health.
· Reduce child mortality rates.
· Ensuring environmental sustainability.
· Preventing diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
· To develop a global partnership for development.
Poverty is a state of human beings in which they have little or no means to sustain their survival, such as little or no food, clothing, shelter, education, and healthcare. A country’s development is not possible without meeting the basic needs of its people. United Nations Economic and Social Council Report 1999 suggests eradication of poverty would be possible through empowerment of women, by promoting gender equality though elimination of discrimination against women and girls, by providing productive employment to all, by eradicating hunger and malnutrition in both children and adults, sufficient supply of clean environment and fresh water, promoting good health of the citizens, providing basic education for all, global alliance with governments, United Nations, International financial institutions, regional organizations, tie ups between civil society and private sector, more social expenditure, good governance and powerful administration are the prerequisites to effectively fight poverty, and thus, ensuring achievement of a country’s sustainable development. Therefore, the eight goals as laid out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration Millennium are important.
In summary the Millennium Development Goals is important because:
· The Millennium Development Goals ascertain and work upon the inter-connection between poverty, health, education, and the environment.
· The goals are time driven and are also measurable with quantifiable indicators.
· The goals are adopted by all the nations of the world to address and eradicate the problems in the basic achievements of the human kind and to foster a better world for tomo
ow.
The Millennium Development Goal focus mainly on improving the basis standards of living by (A) increasing human capital, (B) improving infrastructure, and (C) increasing social, economic and political rights.Â
(A) Human capital is considered as an important source of an economy’s development. Both health and education come under the realm of human capital. The objectives chosen with the human capital development focus on the following:
1. Increasing the level of nutrition among children and adults.
2. Access to health care for all and decreasing the following:
· Child mortality rate: child mortality is also known as under-5 mortality, refers to the death of children under 5 years of age. According to the United Nations report 2012, about 6.9 million children less than 5 years of age died in 2011. The percentage of child mortality was even higher in 2009 (8.1 million) and 2010 (7.6 million). According to The United Nations Children’s Fund report 2011, the leading causes of child mortality are diseases like dia
hea, measles, acute respiratory infections, malaria, and malnutrition. The rate of child mortality is more in the low income countries, such as most countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Reduction in child mortality is the fourth of the United Nation’s Millennium Development goals.
· Prevent HIV/AIDS: It is immune deficiency decease in human beings caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The disease affects the economy of both human beings and countries. Due higher rates of death (more than 34 million live with HIV/AIDS, of whom 3.3 million are children under age 15 years of age, Statistics Worldwide 2012) and a resulting drop in the human capital, the GDP of the most affected countries have dropped. Lack of proper nutrition, healthcare and medicine, large number of people die from HIV/AIDS each year. AIDS has reduced the taxable population of the countries affected by the disease, through reduction in the number of young adults, and thus decreases the availability of resources necessary for public expenditure in health services and education. AIDS also lead to both loss of income and increase in the healthcare spending.
· Eradicate the diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and malaria: T and malaria are considered as one of the leading causes of death in developing countries. In 2011, 1.4 million people died from TB, which is also one of the top killers of the women population of a country, as women are more likely to get infected from TB. According to the World Malaria report 2011, malaria killed around 1.2 million people in 2010 and the death rate from malaria is high among adults and older children.
· Improve reproductive health: Improvement in reproductive health is also related to economic development. As unintended pregnancies not only cost high to the tax-payers through obstetric costs and neonatal care, but also drain out family’s resources to the point that parents cannot provide basic necessities of life to their children, leading to multi-generational poverty. It contributes to school drop outs, illiteracy, and an excess of workers competing for unskilled labor jobs. Other than this, untreated reproductive health can also lead to absenteeism and lost wages.
3. Increase access to education: High rates of education are needed to achieve high levels of economic growth. Economic theory predicts that poor countries can grow faster than rich countries, as the former can still adopt cutting edge technologies, which the latter has already tested. However, technology transfer requires increasing the stock of human capital. Studies on economic development have stressed the importance of fundamental economic institutions and the role of cognitive development.
(B) The improvement in infrastructure focus on increasing:
1. Access to safe drinking water.
2. Access to energy and modern information or communication technology: This helps in the overall development of an economy through innovation, connectivity, and transformation.
3. Amplify farm outputs through sustainable practices; improving transportation infrastructure; and preserving the environment.
(C) Increase in social, economic, and political rights focus on:
1. Empowering women: Duflo (2011) suggests that women’s empowerment and economic development are closely inte
elated. On the one hand, if development can itself
ing women’s empowerment. On the other hand, empowering women will
ing changes in decision-making, which will have direct impact on development.
2. Reducing violence.
3. Increasing political voice.
4. Ensuring equal access to public services.
5. Increasing security of property rights.
2.1. Main Variables in the MDGs
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunge
The indicators of progress for the eradication of poverty and hunger are: (a) proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day, (b) poverty gap ratio, (c) share of poorest quintile in the national consumption, (d) prevalence of underweight children under five years of age, (e) proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption, (f) growth rate of GDP per person employed, (g) employment-to-population ratio, (h) proportion of employed people living below $1 (PPP) per day, (i) proportion of own account and contributing, (j) family workers in total employment.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
The indicators for monitoring progress are: (a) net enrolment in primary education, (b) proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach last grade of primary, (c) literacy rates of 15-24 year-olds, women and men.
Goal 3: To promote gender equality and empower women
The indicators are: (a) ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education, (b) the share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector, (c) proportion of seats held by women in national parliament.
Goal 4: Reduction of child mortality
The indicators are: (a) under-five mortality rate Infant mortality rate, (b) proportion of 1-year old children immunized against measles.
Goal 5: Improvement in maternal health
Indicators for maternal health are: (a) maternal mortality ratio, (b) proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel, (c) contraceptive prevalence rate, (d) adolescent birth rate, (e) antenatal care coverage (at least one visit and at least four visits), (f) unmet need for family planning.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Indicators for reduction in the diseases are: (a) HIV prevalence among population aged 15-24...