Millenium Development Goals

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INTERNATIONAL INEQUALITIES

CONTENTS PAGE

 

1. Action plan……………………………………………………………………3-4

1.2. Introduction…………………………………………………………………5

2.1 dependency theory…………………………………………………………..6-8

2.2 Development theory

2.3 Comparison and analysis

3. The millennium development goals…………………………………………..9-12

3.1 The eight millennium targets

4. India…………………………………………………………………………..13-14

4.2 Poverty monitoring and statistical strengthening

5. Sudan…………………………………………………………………………15-16

5.1 Face of poverty

6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………17-24

6.1 Recommendations (India)

6.2 Sudan

6.3 Appendix 1

6.4 Appendix 2

7. Referencing…………………………………………………………………..25-26

8. Bibliography………………………………………………………………….27

9. Literature review……………………………………………………………..28

ACTION PLAN

1.INTRODUCTION

Six years ago, leaders from every country agreed on a vision for the future – a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment; a world in which developed and developing countries worked in partnership for the betterment of all .This report will critically evaluate the effectiveness of the eight millennium targets that were set in 1995 by united states.

It will also give an introduction, analysis and comparison of

  • Development theory  and
  • Dependency theory.

It will later then compare one developed country (India) and undeveloped (Sudan) and include credible statistical, social and economic data.

2.1 DEPENDENCY THEORY

Dependency theory states that the poverty of the countries in the margin is the result of how they are integrated into the world system, whereas  economists argue that they are not 'fully' integrated.

The grounds of dependency theory are:

  • Poor nations provide natural resources, cheap labor, a destination for obsolete technology, and markets to the wealthy nations, without which the latter could not have the standard of living they enjoy.
  • First World nations actively, but not necessarily consciously, perpetuate a state of dependency through various policies and initiatives. This state of dependency is multifaceted, involving , , ,  and , ,  and all aspects of  development.
  • Attempts by the dependent nations to resist the influences of dependency often result in  and/or military invasion and control. Many dependency theorists advocate social revolution to effect change in economic disparity.

2.2 DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Development theory is an assembly of theories about how change in society is best to be achieved. distinguished development theories include

  • ,
  • ,
  • ,
  •  ,
  • .

However, these theories are very different, and have their origins in many social sciences, though economics has conquered the importance of the other social sciences in development theory

2.3 COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS

Dependency theory has been criticized by free-market economists as  and , who believe it will lead to:

  • Corruption. State-owned industries tend to have a much higher rate of corruption than privately owned companies.
  • Lack of competition. By subsidizing in-country industries and preventing outside imports, these companies may have less incentive to improve their products, to try and become more efficient in their processes, to please customers, or to research new innovations.

Proponents of dependency theory claim that the theory of  breaks down when capital - including both physical capital like machines and financial capital - is highly mobile, as it is under the conditions of . For this reason, it is claimed that dependency theory can offer new insights into a world of highly mobile multinational corporations.

This is countered, however, by the argument that the conditions of globalization make comparative advantage all the more sound. Two of the key assumptions of comparative advantage - zero transportation costs and zero communication cost - are arguably more realistic in the contemporary global marketplace than in earlier times. Whilst zero communication costs are supported by the , it would appear, however, that the theory of the tendency to zero transport costs is a temporary feature of . Furthermore, the assumption of free trade models only ever includes two  - namely the globalisation of  and , but not . Currently the free movement of labour is being restricted world-wide with increasing various forms of .

Dependency theory suggests that alternative uses of resources are preferable to the resource usage patterns imposed by dominant states. There is no clear definition of what these preferred patterns might be, but some criteria are invoked. For example, one of the dominant state practices most often criticized by dependency theorists is export agriculture. The criticism is that many poor economies experience rather high rates of malnutrition even though they produce great amounts of food for export. Many dependency theorists would argue that those agricultural lands should be used for domestic food production in order to reduce the rates of malnutrition.

If one accepts the analysis of dependency theory, then the questions of how poor economies develop become quite different from the traditional questions concerning comparative advantage, capital accumulation, and import/export strategies.

Since the market only rewards productivity, dependency theorists discount aggregate measures of economic growth such as the GDP or trade indices. Dependency theorists do not deny that economic activity occurs within a dependent state. They do make a very important distinction, however, between economic growth and economic development. For example, there is a greater concern within the dependency framework for whether the economic activity is actually benefitting the nation as a whole. Therefore, far greater attention is paid to indices such as life expectancy, literacy, infant mortality, education, and the like. Dependency theorists clearly emphasize social indicators far more than economic indicators.

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 Dependent states, therefore, should attempt to pursue policies of self-reliance. Contrary to the neo-classical models endorsed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, greater integration into the global economy is not necessarily a good choice for poor countries. The failures of these policies are clear, and the failures suggest that autarky is not a good choice. Rather a policy of self-reliance should be interpreted as endorsing a policy of controlled interactions with the world economy: poor countries should only endorse interactions on terms that promise to improve the social and economic welfare of the larger citizenry.

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