UNIT 7: INEQUALITY AND COOPERATION

AN UNEQUAL WORLD

According to the United Nations, one in five of the worlds population lacks the
things neccesary for an accepable standard of living. In contrast to this, the 100
richest people in the world have total assets equivalent to those of the 3.5 billion
poorest people.
The most common way of measuring the wealth of an area is o calclate its per
capita GDP. His is done by dividing the gross domestic product (GDP) b th number of
inhabitants. However, this does not reflect the real distribution of wealth, as a
minority of the population may hold a large part of its assets.
A country achievesfull development when its entire population i sable to meet its
basic needs. However, there are very few countries in the world that meet this
condition.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) created a Human
Development Index (HDI) to measure peoples quality of life, base don three criteria:
income level, Access to education and life expctancy at birth.
COOPERATING AGAINST INEQUALITY
Todays free market economic model is base don the law of supply and demand.
Companies compete with each othr to obtain higher profits. This has generated
unprecedented economic growth. However, it has also led to an increase in
inequality on a global level, as well as within each state.
After the Second World War, various international organisations, states, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and prvate foundations began working to
lessen the differences between rich and poor countries through international
cooperation. Their aim was to create a global development alliance.
The General Assembly of the United Nations established the ercentage of GDP
which the wealthiest nations should allocate to developing countries: 0.7%.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF HUNGER

CAUSES OF HUNGER IN THE WORLD
The world produces enough food to feed the entire global population. Therefore, we
must look for other causes of hunger:
- Human causes. The unequal distribution of wealth is the result of the world s
dominant socioeconomic system. It is aggravated by armed conflicts,
population movements, corrupt political systems and poor economc
decisions by institutions and government leaders.
- Natural causes: droughts, frost, insect plagues and natural disasters such as
floods and earhquakes. In the last developed countries, these aggravate th
problem of hunger.

SOLVING THE HUNGER PROBLEM

The main goal in the fight against hunger is to reduce by at least half the number of
people living in extreme poverty, who live on less than $1.25 a day and experience
hunger.
According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), it is
necessary to adopt a two-pronged strategy to fight hunger:
- Increase production in poor countries.
- Provide the most affected families with immediate Access to food through
aid programmes.
3

HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION

UNEQUAL ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
Health is a basic right. To a large extent , it depends on the quality of medical care
and the living conditions in our surrounding area. Today, one third of the global
population does not have Access to essential medicies. Poverty is the reason for
inadequate healthcare in many regions of the planet, although there are other
causes.
-

Healthcare workers

There are not enough workers. They also lack job security and have limited
resources. The least developed countries cannot allocate many resources to
public health.
-

Pharmaceutical multinationals
They protect their medicines with patents, which make it imposible to
produce similar drugs at a lower cost for a long period of time.

International organisations
They have limited fubds available to deal with healthcare emergencies,
leavin little money for prevention programmes, primary care and
infrastructural development.

EDUCATION, A KEY TO DEVELOPMENT

Education is a right acknowledged throughout the world. It enables citizens to better
defend their rights and take advantage of all the opportunities available to them.
Learning is an essential foundation for the development of countries and
theirinhabitants. From a socioeconomic perspective, there is a relationshhip of
cause and effect between higher levels of education and better quality of life.
4

WORK AND HOUSING

THE WORLD OF WORK
Work is the main source of income that allows families around the world to support
themselves. Working conditions vary depending on the countrys level of
development.
-

Least developed countries

The job market is made up of workers who have to struggle to survive. There
are almost no legal means of guaranteeing social protection for workers.
Children are frequently subjected to forced labour. Women and young people
have little job security and work for low pay.
-

Emerging economies
The job market is made up of workers earning very low wages with few social

rights.
Many employees work for multinational companies, which try to reduce
labour costs and create new consumer markets.
-

Developed countries
o

The primary job market is made up of skilled workers with an

extensive networkof contacts. Ti offers well-paid, high quality jobs,
stability and social insurance.
The secondary job market is made up of young people, many of them
immigrants, with few skills. It offers little job security. There is high
unemployment in times of economic crisis.

THE RIGHT TO HOUSING

The term decent housing refers to housing in which a family can live with enough
space and under suitable conditions in terms of safety, lighting, ventilation,
infrastructure and facilities. This right is recognised in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
Access to decent housing varies considerably among countries, base don two
factors:
- Model of economic growth. In some countries, urban planning is more
focused on benefiting the common good, whereas others give priority to
rights such as owning prvate properly and collecting mortgage debt owed to
Banks.
- Level of development. This level depends on the type of country:
o In developing countries, rural exodus has increased the population in
deprived areas of cities, which have many low quality buildings.
These are grouped together in a chaotic way, forming
poor
neighbourhoods which lack many urban facilities or infrastructures.
o In developed countries, public protection systems do not consider
Access to decent housing very important. It becomes a consumer
good, which not everybody can afford.
5

SECURITY AND CONFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD

VIOLENCE AROUND THE WORLD
Public security affects our freedom and safety. This issue has a strong geographic
factor: the world is full of places where there is very little violnce, but there are
many others where it is more common.
This is directly related to the unequal distribution of wealth.

Crime is usually much more common in large cities, especially in countries

that have a corrupt legal system and security forces, or where possession of
firearms is permitted.
War and armed conflicts are usually the resul of political and economic
causes, often hidden behind ethnic or religious reasons.

A civil war is an armed conflict between the government and an opposing group
within that country. These countries are usually governed by what are called failed
states, weak governments that are incapable of guaranteeing basic public services
and maintaining peace and order within their borders.
Terrorism is violence against innocent civilians with the goal of causing public terror
and achieving political aims. This is the type of rmed conflicto that has increased
the most in recent years. Most terrorist attaks take place in South Asia, the Middle
East and North Africa, although they can affect any country in the world.
Wars between states may be between just two states or take place on an
international scale, involving several countries. They have decreased since the end
of the Cold War (1991). An open war between two powers with nuclear weapons
would result in total destruction on both sides. For this reason, conflicts between
states are now relatively rare.