ARE WE IMPROVING

QUALITY OF LIFE?How can we find out if aid in developing countries is improving quality of life and global development? We can look at the goals that the aid was meant to achieve and evaluate data to see whether or not the goals were reached.

EVALUATING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSYou read about the eight Millennium Development Goals in Figure 8.4. The outcomes of these goals are not just a result of the work of the UN and its member countries. The outcomes are also affected by economic, political, environmental, social, and cultural factors. But looking at each target, and comparing the goal and the results, helps us to evaluate how effective the development aid was. You can see four of the Millennium Development Goals and examples of data for various indicators in Figure 8.9.

Were these four Millennium Development Goals reached? Some of the targets were met, such as improving access to safe drinking water and making technology more available. However, not all targets were reached. Poverty and gender inequality are still barriers to higher levels of education, the global death rate of women in childbirth did not drop by 75 percent, and the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation did not drop by 50 percent. Based on the data, we know that development efforts are not working as well as they could be in all countries.

MAKING AID MORE EFFECTIVEIn the past, donor countries or organizations decided how recipient countries or organizations should use their help. Sometimes donor countries only aimed for short-term solutions instead of trying to make sustainable changes. For example, giving food to developing countries instead of working with farmers to improve farming methods does not have long-term benefits. This means it is not a sustainable change.

Sometimes donors only helped in ways that also benefited themselves. For example, in some development projects, the recipient country or NGO could not buy and use its own local materials. It had to purchase materials from the donor country or business. This led to the donor country making money from the development project.

Sometimes donations were wasted or misspent by either the NGO or the recipient country, or both. The people who were supposed to benefit from the aid did not.

FIGURE 8.9 Examples of progress data for several targets within four of the eight Millennium Development Goals

2014

3 5

8

▪ There is global equality in primary education for boys and girls.

▪ There is gender inequality in many countries at higher levels of education.

▪ Poverty is still a major barrier to secondary education for women.

▪ Political participation of women has increased since 1995.

▪ Between 1990 and 2012, the percentage of people without access to basic sanitation fell from 51% to 36%. The target was a drop of 50%. In 2012, there were 2.5 billion people in developing countries without access to basic sanitation.

▪ Between 1990 and 2012, the percentage of people without access to safe drinking water globally fell from 24% to 10%.

Number of Women That Died in Childbirth

Global Internet Use, 2014Access to Safe Drinking Water

% of Women in National Parliament

▪ The death rate of women in childbirth in 2013 was 14 times higher in developing countries than in more developed countries. ▪ Between 1990 and 2013, the global death rate of women in childbirth dropped by almost 50%. The target was a drop of 75%.

▪ Annual aid to developing countries has increased since 1990. In 2012, it reached US$125.6 billion.

▪ Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Internet users in developing regions doubled. However, of the 4 billion people who do not use Internet, 90% live in developing countries.

Tracking Progress of Four Millennium Development Goals

Promote gender equality

7Ensure a sustainable

environmentWork in partnership

for global development

Improve the healthof mothers

11.3% 18% 21.8%1995

1990 2012

2008150 000

50 000

250 000

350 000

450 000

550 000

1990 2013

289 0

00

523 0

00

People who DOuse Internet

76% of people with access tosafe drinking water24% of people without access tosafe drinking water

90% of people with access tosafe drinking water10% of people without access tosafe drinking water

76%

24%

90%

10%

= target is met

People who DO NOTuse Internet

billion

43

billion

Why might it be important that

people realize some improvements in quality

of life are a result of the Millennium

Development Goals?

234 UNIT 2: Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life CHAPTER 8: Taking Action for Global Development 235NEL NEL

EVALUATING AID ORGANIZATIONSHow effective are individual aid organizations at achieving their goals to improve quality of life? Let’s look at two different organizations and evaluate whether they have met their goals.

GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS, AND MALARIABy 2000, HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria were killing about 6 million people worldwide every year. In 2002, an international organization was formed. It was called the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The Global Fund provides indirect aid. It helps to create partnerships between governments, the private sector, individual donors, and people affected by these diseases. The Global Fund sends money to programs that are managed by local experts in over 140 countries. The programs work to reduce the spread of these diseases.

The Global Fund evaluates the results of the programs it supports. These programs had achieved the following results by mid-2014:• Distributed a total of 410 million mosquito nets to prevent the spread of

malaria (Figure 8.11). This was an increase of 14 percent from the end of 2013.

• Provided HIV drugs to about 6.6 million people. This was an increase of eight percent from the end of 2013.

• Treated about 11.9 million people with tuberculosis. This was an increase of six percent from the end of 2013. By 2014, deaths due to HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria had

decreased to 3 million yearly worldwide.

NEW GUIDELINESIn 2005, donor countries and organizations from around the world met in Paris, France, to create guidelines to make development aid more effective. In 2008 and 2011, they revised and improved them. Here are a few examples of the new guidelines: • Recipients choose their own development goals. • Donors and recipients work together as partners. Recipients describe

their goals to the donors. Donors provide help based on these goals. • Donors help the people in recipient countries acquire the skills and

knowledge they need to achieve their goals (Figure 8.10). • Recipients aim to use the systems in their own countries to deliver the

aid. For example, they use their own trucks and roads to deliver materials, their own media to distribute information, and their own medical staff to provide vaccinations.

• Donors and recipients develop tools for measuring what they are doing. For example, they can create a step-by-step plan. They can monitor their progress. They can compare where they started with where they are now. They can modify their next steps, if need be.

• When the project is complete, donors and recipients both summarize the results.

• Recipients are responsible for the money they use. They account for how it was spent. This makes corruption less likely.

FIGURE 8.10 Young people receive training as carpenters as part of a skills development program in Bogotá, Colombia.

I wonder how the skills these workers learn will help their communities?

FIGURE 8.11 A community healthcare worker in Rwanda shows a neighbour how to use a mosquito net to protect against malaria. She was trained through a program supported by the Global Fund.

I wonder how much this man’s chances of getting malaria have been reduced by having a mosquito net?

What are the benefits of increasing the role of recipient

countries in managing development aid?

236 UNIT 2: Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life CHAPTER 8: Taking Action for Global Development 237NEL NEL

HEROES IN ACTION

1. EVALUATE AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS According to the

evidence in this chapter, was the world successful

in meeting the Millennium Development Goals?

Create and display a banner, or create a blog or

a vlog, to share your opinion.

2. COMMUNICATE Which two development goals

do you think the Canadian government should

focus on? Write a letter to a member of the

federal government expressing your opinion and

providing evidence to support it.

3. INTERRELATIONSHIPS In what ways is safe water

both a quality of life goal and an economic

benefit? Create an ideas web to show

your answer.

4. INTERPRET AND ANALYZE Explain why aid is most

effective when it is focused on goals set by

the recipients.

5. EVALUATE AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS Evaluate

the effectiveness of the Global Fund and

SOPAR-Bala Vikasa based on the new guidelines

listed on page 236.

CHECK-IN

A CALL TO ACTION 1. How could you use performance art

to educate others about a problem in

your community?

2. How can you learn about the lives of

children and youth who live on the

streets in your community or in other

communities around the world? Where

might you find more information?

An estimated 150 000 children and

youth were living on the streets in the

sub-Saharan African country of Zambia

in 2006. Thousands of Zambian youth

continue to live on the streets for many

reasons. Some are orphans because their

parents died of diseases. Others have

families that are too poor to take care of

them. Many have to beg

for food or take part

in illegal activities in

order to survive. Their

quality of life is very

low. Barefeet Theatre

works to empower these

children and youth to

transform their lives.

Barefeet Theatre was formed in 2006

by several artists, one visiting from Ireland

and the others from Zambia. “We are all

artists, and many of us share a background

of having lived on the streets,” said Tobias

Tembo, co-founder.

The artists offer many workshops,

including acrobatics (Figure 8.12) and

musical theatre. The workshops use play

and creativity to teach children and youth

under the age of 18 about issues concerning

health, violence, children’s rights, and the

environment. The children and youth get

a chance to express themselves, develop

self-confidence, and learn

new skills.

Beyond their workshops,

Barefeet helps children

connect with local children’s

centres. The centres offer

counselling, support for

returning to school, and

assistance in finding a place

to live. Barefeet also has a performance

company which entertains audiences

around the world. It raises money to

support its activities in Zambia.

Chembe Mwanza is just one of the

2000 children and youth in Zambia that

Barefeet has helped. After participating in

workshops, he has gone on to become a

workshop facilitator and performer himself.

Chembe inspires others to join the

movement by telling them his story. He

says, “We were together some time back

on the streets. But now I have worked hard,

I have come off the streets, and I am in

school.… If I can do it, you can also do it!”

BAREFEET THEATRE IN ZAMBIA

SOPAR-BALA VIKASASOPAR-Bala Vikasa (SBV) is a nonprofit organization which combines SOPAR, which is a Canadian NGO, and Bala Vikasa, which is an Indian NGO. It works to create sustainable development in India. It provides the tools and resources that people, especially women, in poor communities need to help themselves.

When a village contacts SBV for support in areas such as farming, women’s rights, water safety, or sanitation, SBV assesses the request. If it is approved, SBV helps the community to create a development committee that will be responsible for the project. It contributes a proportion of the labour for the project and provides financial support, training, and knowledge.

By 2014, the NGO had helped to train 10 000 community leaders. It helped to build 6000 wells, 620 water purification plants (Figure 8.13), and over 20 000 family toilets. It helped 15 000 women entrepreneurs get economic support for their businesses.

SBV also encourages Canadian youth to get involved in international issues. For example, many people in rural areas of developing countries walk hours each day to access water. Every year, on World Water Day, SBV encourages Canadians to be global citizens and participate in Walk for Water. This action shows their awareness of inequality in water access around the world.

“WE ARE ALL ARTISTS, AND MANY OF US SHARE

A BACKGROUND OF HAVING LIVED ON THE STREETS.”

FIGURE 8.12 Barefeet Theatre performance with acrobatics

FIGURE 8.13 The water from the village where this woman lives is not safe to drink. The villagers asked SOPAR-Bala Vikasa to help them set up a water purification plant. The machine was installed in 2014.

I wonder why it is mainly females who are responsible for bringing home water in rural communities?

238 UNIT 2: Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life CHAPTER 8: Taking Action for Global Development 239NEL NEL