Democracy, Human Rights, and Human Development Paul Bacon SILS Spring 2010.

Democracy,Democracy,Human Rights, and Human Rights, and Human Human DevelopmentDevelopment

Paul BaconSILS

Spring 2010

What we have done so farWhat we have done so far

• We studied two types of human rights, both mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights– Civil and political rights

• Also specified in International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights

– Social and economic rights• Also specified in International Covenant of

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

What next?What next?• We have used the Freedom House survey to

measure and study respect and abuse of civil and political rights.

• We now turn to economic and social rights.• To do so, we will look at the Human

Development Report 2002.

• http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/

What is the Human Development Report What is the Human Development Report (HDR)?(HDR)?

• Published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• Very reliable source of information on economic and social rights.

• We use the 2002 report because it examines connections between democracy and development.

http://www.undp.org/

Review of UDHRReview of UDHR

• Economic and social rights mentioned in UDHR:– 16. The right to marry, and found a family.– 16. The protection and assistance of families.– 22. The right to social security, and the realization of

economic, social and cultural rights.– 23. The right to work.– 23. The right to just and favorable conditions of work.– 25. The right to an adequate standard of living for self

and family, including food, housing, clothing and medical care.

– 26. The right to education.

Review of CovenantReview of Covenant

• In addition to those in UDHR, three other rights are mentioned in International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.– The protection of and assistance to

children. – Freedom from hunger. – Compulsory primary education.

Contents of HDR 2002Contents of HDR 2002

• Chapter I of the report offers a comprehensive survey of the state and progress of human development.

• It first looks at global trends in political participation and democracy.

• It then considers the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• Finally the chapter assesses progress towards these goals.

What are the MDGs?What are the MDGs?

• Eights goals to be achieved by 2015.• Adopted by UN General Assembly in

2000 in the form of the United Nations Millennium Declaration– heads of state and government recognized

‘their collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level’.

The Eight Millennium Goals The Eight Millennium Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.2. Achieve universal primary education.3. Achieve gender equality and empower women.4. Reduce child mortality.5. Improve maternal health.6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.7. Ensure environmental sustainability.8. Develop a global partnership for development.

• We examine 1-6 today.

Features of the MDGsFeatures of the MDGs

• MDGs set quantifiable targets for each goal (except goal 8 – Global Partnership)

• HDR 2002 shows progress towards the goals for each country. Countries are divided into three categories;

– Achieved the goal, or on track.– Lagging far behind, or slipping back.– No data (which often implicitly means lagging

behind).• MDGs only apply to non-OECD countries, in

other words, they apply to developing (or poor) countries.

Progress towards MDGsProgress towards MDGs

• The progress towards MDGs is not very positive.

• The promotion of economic and social rights is less successful than the promotion of civil and political rights.

• Many countries made substantial progress towards the goals, but many are also unlikely to achieve the goals.

Progress towards MDGsProgress towards MDGs

• 55 countries are on track to achieve three quarters of the MDGs or more.

• 31 countries are on track to achieve one half to three-quarters of the MDGs.

• 33 countries are on track to achieve less than half of the MDGs.

Goal 1 - Eradicating Extreme Poverty and HungerGoal 1 - Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Target 1a: halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day.

• In 1999,– 2.8 billion people lived on less than $2 each day.– 1.2 billion people lived on less than $1 each day.

• This also means:– 45% of the global population lived on less than

¥216 each day.– Roughly 1 in 5 people in the world lived on less

than ¥108 each day.


• The % of people living on less than $1 per day:– 29% (1990) to 22.7% (1999).– Significantly decline in percentage terms

• Actual number of people in this situation – 1,276 million to 1,151 million – Did not decline much, due to

rapid population growth• In Sub-Saharan Africa,

– 242 million to 300 million – The number increased!

Sub-Saharan Africa >>


Per capita income and income distribution1. Between 1975 and 2000, all but two regions experienced

an increase in per capita income.2. East Asia/Pacific and the OECD countries experienced

the most growth.

3. The per capita income of Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Eastern Europe and CIS actually fell between 1975 and 2000.


Income Inequality• In 73 countries where data is available,

income inequality within the country:– increased in 48 countries.– did not change in 16 countries.– fell in 9 countries.


• Target 1b: Halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger. – In 1997-99, there were an estimated 815 million

undernourished people in the world. – 57 countries have halved hunger, or are on track to do so by

2015.

– However, progress is not even. • 24 countries are far behind the

target. • The situation got worse in 15

countries. Six of these countries were from Sub-Saharan Africa.

– At this rate, it would take 60-70 years to halve the number of malnourished people in the world.

Goal 2 – Achieving Primary Universal EducationGoal 2 – Achieving Primary Universal Education

Target 2a: Ensure that children everywhere – boys and girls alike – complete a full course of education.

• Primary school enrolments rose from 80% (1990) to 84% (1998)

• 113 million of 680 million children are not in school.

• 51 countries have achieved the goal or are on track, 93 countries have no data.

• Sub-Saharan Africa contains 14 countries which are behind the target, or slipping back.

• Enrolment and completion of primary education are very different concepts.

Goal 2 – Achieving Primary Universal Goal 2 – Achieving Primary Universal EducationEducation

Literacy• Substantial

improvement in all regions.

• 10% to 20 % of the population of OECD countries are estimated to be functionally illiterate.

Goal 3 – Achieving Gender Equality and Goal 3 – Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women Empowering Women

Target 3a: Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education by 2015.

• There is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality.– 64% of illiterate adults are women.– 60% of children not enrolled in primary school are

women.

Goal 3 – Achieving Gender Equality and Goal 3 – Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering WomenEmpowering Women

• 90 countries achieved the goal or on track for gender equality in primary education.

• 81 countries achieved this goal in secondary education.

Other Types of Sex Discrimination Other Types of Sex Discrimination

• Womens average wages are only 75% of those which men earn.

• Domestic violence against women is common.

• Female infants are much more likely to be killed or aborted. – There are 100 million “missing” women.– 50 million are missing from India.– A study found that 7999 of 8000 aborted kids at

Bombay clinic were female.• In 43 countries, gender disparity in literacy

rates is wider than 15%.

Goal 4 – Reducing Child MortalityGoal 4 – Reducing Child Mortality

Target 4a: Reduce infant and under-five mortality rates by two-thirds.

• 11 million children die from preventable causes each year (or 30,000 children per day).

• By 2006, this figure had dropped to 9.7 million (26,500 children per day)

• Lack of nutrition, sanitation, maternal health and education are major causes.

• All regions reduced their mortality rate.

• 85 countries are on track.• In Sub-Saharan Africa, 34

of 44 countries are far behind or slipping back.

Goal 4 – Reducing Child MortalityGoal 4 – Reducing Child Mortality

• Immunization rates increased significantly in the 1980s, and leveled off in the 1990s at around 75%.

• Recently, the percentage of children immunized in Sub-Saharan Africa has fallen below 50%.

• A girl born in Japan has a 50% chance of seeing the 22nd century, but a child born in Afghanistan has a 1 in 4 chance of dying before the age of 5.

Goal 5 – Improving Maternal HealthGoal 5 – Improving Maternal HealthTarget 5a: reduce maternal mortality rates by three-quarters.• More than 500,000 women die as a result of

pregnancy or childbirth each year. - 1 in 13 in Sub-Saharan Africa - 1 in 4085 in OECD countries

By 2005, these figures were: - 1 in 22 for Sub-Saharan Africa - 1 in 7,300 in OECD countries - (1 in 7 in Niger) - 1 in 17,400 in Sweden

Goal 5 – Improving maternal healthGoal 5 – Improving maternal health

• Only 29% of births are attended by skilled personnel in South Asia

• 37% in Sub-Saharan Africa. • There is not enough data on this issue

to assess progress towards goal 5a.

Goal 6 – Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Goal 6 – Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other DiseasesOther Diseases

Target 6a: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

• By the end of the year 2000 almost 22 million people had died of AIDS. More than 40 million people are living with AIDS, 75% of whom are living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Anti-retroviral drugs are too expensive. They cost $300 each year, which is well over half of the GDP per capita of Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Botswana is the country worst affected by HIV/AIDS.– More than 1/3 of

adults are affected by HIV/AIDS

– Life expectancy is 36 years

Goal 6 – Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Goal 6 – Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other DiseasesOther Diseases

Target 6b: Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

• 300 million people are infected with malaria (90% of them Sub-Saharan Africa), and 1 million die each year.

• 60 million people are infected with tuberculosis (TB), and 2 million die each year.

Democracy, Human Rights, and Human Development Paul Bacon SILS Spring 2010.

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