Why are some countries LEDCs while others are MEDCs?
The wealth of a country is measured by its gross national product per capita, i.e. it’s GNP per person. Te GNP per capita is the total value of goods produced and services provide by a country in a year, divided by the total number of people living in that country. To make comparisons between countries easier, GNP is given in US dollars (US$)
*TONNES OF COAL EQIVELENT PER PERSON PER YEAR ▲
Measures of World Development (1993)
In LEDCs if there is war or a natural disaster such as an earthquake. There can be a lot of damage caused and lives lost. A poor country will not have the money or the equipment to cope with these matters so they require the help of other rich countries such as the USA or the UK.
However, if a country like USA suffers such damage they have the money and equipment to cope with a situation of such complexity.
Also the same with debt;
Most LEDCs have to borrow money from the banks of developed countries to survive and begin to develop. However, these banks charge interest, so that a less developed county can find it self paying more than they earn in a foreign currency. In the early seventies, for example, chile borrowed 3.9 billion dollars, by 1982; it paid back 12.8 billion dollars in interest and still owed money.
Effects of Poverty:-
Poverty in a country or place can cause the following factors to occur:-
- Crime
- Illness
- Alcoholism
- Death/bad health
- No Education
Poverty can cause crime to occur because if somebody is poor and has no job or way of earning money then he/she may rob off people or can go crazy and do criminal damage.
Poverty also obviously causes illnesses and diseases and because of this people can die.
Alcoholism can also be introduced due to the stress of poverty on a person who cannot take it anymore.
Due to poverty many people may die to lack of pure water and foods this can also damage health and is a cause of poverty.
Poverty can also have an effect on education, due to poverty; one cannot educate himself due to bad health conditions for example.
Causes of Poverty:-
- Education
- Wealth
- Discrimination
- Health & old age
There can be many causes for poverty to occur in a country or place.
The factors listed above can be the main causes of poverty.
If there is no education for a person, there will be no job, no money and therefore result in poverty.
Health is an important factor in poverty because, health can be the difference between life and death, if a person dies due to a serious health condition this is also classified as poverty and should be helped by treatment; however, this is very rear in a poor country that is why there is poverty in poor countries.
People who are old are often left by their children and so they suffer due to lack of food and drink and can also die due to a serious health condition.
How can we Deal With This?
Basic needs of the poor:-
- Clean water
- Education
- Health
- Shelter
- Work
- Food
To help the situation we must help the poor people by supplying them with the above factors. They should at least have clean water to drink so they can live. Education can help, if we give young children education, maybe they can become doctors and help the community and this can also help prevent poverty. Everybody should have a shelter or home to live in, this can reduce poverty also. Work should also be given to poor people and they should receive money for that so that they can supply their family with food and good health. This can also reduce poverty.
What can be done to help these poor countries?
We can help these poor countries by getting the richer countries i.e. USA and U.K to help them by sorting a family plan, debt reduction, international tax and trade. By reducing some the prices the poor countries pay for these, at the moment the richer countries charge more than double the price for some of these recourses. If we can reduce some of these prices we can reduce poverty and help to industrialise the countries quicker and easier and as a result help the world to be a better place.
Another way we can help these countries is by giving them aids. There are three main types of aid:-
- Bilateral aid
- Multilateral aid
- NGO’s
Bilateral aid:-
This type of aid is between two countries. Recourses are given by a rich donor country to a poor recipient country. In reality this aid is not given but is often tied.
This means that the donor imposes conditions upon the recipient country.
Multilateral aid:-
This is when the richer countries give money to international organisations such as the World Bank these organisations then redistribute the money to the poorer countries.
NGO’s:-
The World Bank defines NGOs as "private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development" (Operational Directive 14.70). In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organisation, which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-base. organisations, which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalised over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics.
In conclusion world poverty has been reviewed and is now known to be a very complex issue. Overall I think that poverty is made worse by the richer countries like USA or UK not helping but making things worse by deciding to go to war in the middle-east where most of the poverty is. This can only make matters worse. Aiding companies must try to help as much as possible by donating money to help. The richer countries can help by giving them money to make the world free from poverty.
