Measuring Development (DP IB Geography)
Revision Note
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Development is the process of growth, or changing from one condition to another (hopefully for the better)
Human development is multi-faceted and made of many interconnected strands
Since the 1980s, countries across the world made progress in health, family size and life expectancy
However, there remained inequality between countries and
With the advent of the 21st century, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000
In 2015, they reached their expiration date, and the UN created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to focus their attention for the next 15 years
Sustainable development is regarded as meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations
Sustainable development is divided into three categories
Economic sustainability
Environmental sustainability
Social sustainability
The SDGs challenge world leaders to continue combating poverty, reducing inequality and tackling environmental degradation, including climate change
The goals are not legally binding but governments are expected to develop systems to achieve the 17 goals and 169 targets
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides support to governments to integrate the SDGs into their national development plans and policies
Whilst the SDGs are a global strategy, their application exists at a regional and local level to be effective
However, the UN noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had wiped out four years of progress towards meeting the goals and the world would meet just 12% of the SDG targets, placing the “Leave no one behind” principle at significant risk
Criticisms of SDGs
The positives of the SDGs are that they forge development priorities and indicators across all regions, nations and localities, not just those labelled as developing
An agreement was reached over all 17 goals but there are disputes over the meanings of the goals, over who should benefit and who is responsible for achieving them
Some countries, including Japan and the UK, believe that there should be fewer goals, allowing policymakers to focus on health, education, food and energy security and reducing poverty
There is no accountability mechanism in place to hold individual countries responsible for failure to integrate goals in their policies
The goals are underfunded, placing pressure on developing countries to find extra funds to meet the demands or prioritise one goal over another, thereby inadvertently increasing inequality
The lack of progress makes it difficult to sustain public and government interests and countries are failing in their commitments
Human Development Index (HDI)
The Human Development Index (HDI) was developed by the UN in 1990 and is a measure of the disparities between countries
The index takes into account four indicators of development:
Life expectancy at birth
Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years
Expected years of schooling for children at school entering the age
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (PPP $)
Each indicator is given equal weighting in the index
The index ranks countries on a score between 0 & 1
The closer to 1, the higher the level of economic development & the better the standard of living
Countries can be divided into four groups using HDI
Very High Human Development (VHHD)
High Human Development (HHD)
Medium Human Development (MHD)
Low Human Development (LHD)
HDI is scored from 0 to 1
The higher the HDI, the higher the level of development and quality of life
Norway has the highest HDI at 0.957
Niger has the lowest HDI at 0.394
Gender Inequality Index
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) measures gender inequality using three dimensions:
Reproductive health: maternal mortality ratio and adolescent fertility rates reflect healthcare infrastructure, education and societal norms relating to women's health
Empowerment is measured by looking at the share of parliamentary seats held by men and women and the ratio of women and men aged 25 and over who have achieved a secondary or higher education
The labour market is measured by women's participation in the workforce
The GII varies between 0 (when women and men are equal) and 1 (when men and women are unequal)
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