Transcript Document 7351701

Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Democracy
and Corruption
The Environment
High levels of corruption can reduce the
money spent on vital public services. A
democracy can help reduce corruption as
people have more say over who is in
government.
Debt
Many of the countries in the
developing world owe so much money
to wealthier countries that they
have little to spend on health,
education and food.
Education
Climate Change,
deforestation, lack of clean
water and pollution can have
a big impact on poverty.
Main
Factors
that Cause
Global
Poverty:
Key Areas
Without a good
education it is difficult
for people to get jobs
and bring themselves
out of poverty.
Gender
Inequality
Women may not have the
freedom to be educated or to
earn a living for themselves,
which can leave them
vulnerable to poverty.
Globalisation
Poorer countries often
manufacture the goods that
are consumed in richer
countries. This can bring
countries out of poverty, or
make people poorer still.
Peace and
Stability
War and instability throws many
people into poverty and can destroy
their homes and lives.
Disease and
Healthcare
Diseases such as HIV/AIDS,
Malaria, and Sleeping Sickness keep
many people in poverty
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
The Environment
People’s health and well-being is greatly affected
by their environment.
Climate Change is already having a huge impact
on some nations. It is causing more extreme
weather events (such as the recent cyclone in
Burma), which destroy people’s homes and
crops. It is also changing weather patterns,
resulting in droughtand starvation.
In some parts of the world, deforestation (cutting
down forests) and desertification (deserts
expanding where people could previously grow
food) are increasing. The world is also running low
on key resources..water, oil, water and land.
For more info…
Water: http://www.wateraid.org/uk/
World Food Programme: http://www.wfp.org/english/
Climate Change: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/
Climate Change: http://www.undp.org/energy/climate.htm
Tasks
POLLUTION
In many parts of the world, particularly in rapidly
developing countries such as India, China and Brazil,
economic growth has led to huge problems with pollution.
Rivers are poisoned by factory output, air is unclean.
Often the polluting factories are making goods that are
for people in the West (e.g. clothes or trainers). The
pollution can make workers and residents ill, but without
the factories there might be fewer jobs…
WATER
What are
biofuels?
Is there a
World Food
Shortage?
Many people in the world have no access to
good, clean drinking water. Water
shortages can be made worse by climate
change and desertification. A lack of clean
water can cause disease, which can lead to
poverty. Some people walk miles to get
clean water. This means they waste time
that could be spent earning a living.
1. Explain in 40 words or with a diagram why we need to cut down factory emissions.
2. Try to produce a set of UN rules to make countries slow down their resource
consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Are your rules fair to both poor and wealthy
countries? What should happen if a country doesn’t follow the rules?
3. What could the UN do to help get clean, safe water to isolated rural communities? Should
access to clean water be a human right?
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Education
Many people throughout the world do not have access to a free Primary School
education, even though this is a Millennium Development Goal.
Even when education is free it may not be
compulsory, and some parents may not
send their children to school.
This is especially a problem for girls, who
often are not sent to school but kept
home to help around the house or sent to
earn money for the family while the boys
are sent to school.
Lack of education can set people up for a
lifetime of poverty from which they never
escape.
For more info…
http://www.campaignforeducation.org/
http://www.oxfam.org/en/programs/campaigns/education/
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/
http://www.unicef.org/
Two million new
teachers are needed
today to provide
children with a decent
education – and 15
million will be needed by
2015 to achieve
education for all
How many
children don’t
go to school?
Should more money
be spent on
primary, secondary
or university
education ?
In the UK, 99% of people
can read and write. In
Burkina Faso this figure is
only 23.6%
Why the Problem?
In many countries, teachers are
paid very poor salaries.
There is also a lack of good
universities in some poorer
countries.
Fees, uniforms and books can
amount to more than many
parents can afford.
Communities may not have the
money to build or run a school –
or children may simply live too
far from one.
1. Explain in 50 words why children should be entitled to a free education.
2. Find out what the literacy rate is in the country you are representing (you should
be able to find the statistics at: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ under “Basic
indicators” or “Statistics”). Write a strategy for improving literacy rates in your
country – if they are very good (100%), write down how you would maintain them!
3. How would you encourage more people to train as teachers? Write a short job advert.
Tasks
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Gender Inequality
In some countries girls are given fewer
opportunities for education than boys.
They also may not have freedoms to
choose the kind of work to do, whether
and whom to marry. They might have
restricted rights to own property or to
move about freely.
This means that women can be dependent
upon men, and cannot earn a living for
themselves. This leaves them very
vulnerable, and they can easily fall into
poverty.
For more info…
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/
lifeonthemargins/stories/women.aspx
http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/
www.unifem.org
When women are poor, their children also suffer. Women and
girls make up 70% of the world’s poor.
Women make up
less than 17%
of the world’s
members of
parliament.
Are women’s
brains different
to men’s?
How big a
problem is
domestic
violence in the
West?
Does it
matter?
“Violence against women and
girls continues unabated in every
continent, country and culture.
It takes a devastating toll on
women’s lives, on their families,
and on society as a whole. Most
societies prohibit such violence
— yet the reality is that too
often, it is covered up or tacitly
condoned.”
UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-Moon, 8 March 2007
1. Explain in 40 words why women may have more difficulties getting ahead in society
Tasks
than men. What kind of role could the UN play in helping them overcome these
difficulties? Give three or four specific ideas.
2. Should women get special funding and assistance to help them achieve equality with
men? How might you convince people that this is a good idea?
3. Write a short speech trying to encourage women to stand up to violence against them.
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Disease and Healthcare
Between them, HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other illnesses contribute
hugely to the problems of world poverty. With proper healthcare
many of these diseases could be kept in control or even wiped out.
However, in many parts of the world the standard of healthcare is
very poor and millions die unnecessarily from even minor illnesses.
MALARIA
Malaria is widespread in the developing world and is
transmitted by mosquito bites. It can make people
ill for many years, and even kill them. While
medicines exist to combat malaria, the parasite
quickly adapts, becoming immune. Millions of pounds
are being spent to find a vaccine or cure, but with
climate change malaria may spread to new places!
Malaria can be partly controlled by simple
techniques such as mosquito nets over beds and the
draining of swamps in which mosquitoes breed.
For more info…
One person dies
of AIDS every
15 seconds.
6,000 every day,
2.1 million every
year.
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/hiv/index.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/13/outlook.development
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.unaids.org/en/
HIV/AIDS
AIDS is a disease which comes from
infection with the HIV virus. HIV is spread
through certain forms of sexual contact,
needle sharing and blood transfusions. In
some nations as many as ¼ of the population is
infected with HIV. AIDS can be slowed down
by medicines but these are not widely
available in poorer countries. When AIDS
hits a community it can lose its teachers,
doctors and farmers. Many children are left
as orphans with no place to turn to for
support.
A lack of education can make diseases and
epidemics much worse as people do not know
how to protect themselves.
Which
diseases cause
the most
deaths?
Casefile: education
Just 1 in 5 married women in Bangladesh
had heard of AIDS; in Sudan only 5
percent of women knew condom use could
prevent HIV infection.
1. Write down ten ways to prevent diseases spreading and put them roughly in order
of how much they cost.
2. Should drugs companies be allowed to charge high prices for lifesaving AIDS drugs?
Give two points for and two points against keeping the prices of medicine high.
3. In the USA, more infants die under 1 year old than in Cuba and Cyprus. Explain how the
private healthcare system in the USA may contribute to a higher infant mortality rate.
Tasks
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Peace and Stability
International wars, civil wars and other conflicts destroy lives. Millions can
be killed and injured. During times of war people’s homes and crops are
destroyed. Children may not be able to go school. In addition
infrastructure such as water treatment plants, electrical plants, telephone
services, roads and bridges can be destroyed. This can disrupt local
economies making it hard for people to buy and sell the things they need
to survive.
Governments which should be spending money to take care of their
citizens, instead buy weapons.
IDENTITY AND VIOLENCE
Amartya Sen has written a book called “Identity and
Violence” which argues that a huge number of
conflicts are caused by people being influenced and
controlled into thinking that one part of their
identity (e.g. their ‘race’) is all that matters. He
says we must remember that we are all humans with
multiple identities that can change over time.
For more info…
Where in the
world are
conflicts are
happening at
the moment?
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/conflict/index.aspx
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childrenofconflict/
http://www.landmineaction.org/
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Imagine you bought a beautiful house and spent
lots of time decorating it just as you like it. You
really love this house. Then another person says
“this is my house, it was taken from me by force;
it had been in my family for 20 generations!”.
Who do you think should get to
keep the house? This is an analogy for the
conflict situation in the Middle East. In brief,
Palestinians who have lived on the land for many
generations and Israelis who were ‘given’ the
land back as Jewish refugees in 1948 (after
World War II) are still fighting over this land.
Some of the land is considered holy to
Christians, Muslims and Jews (whose ancestors
lived there in biblical times, until they were
conquered and exiled). 64% of Palestinians now
live below the poverty line. Thousands of Israeli
and Palestinian people have died in this conflict.
The USA has spent – or plans to spend – $435
billion in Iraq since the conflict began in 2003.
That is more money than it would cost (roughly)
to fight AIDS, successfully, for 20 years.
1. Is the country you are representing peaceful? If there is conflict in your country
or in neighbouring countries has it contributed to poverty in your country?
Tasks
Does it give aid to countries in conflict?
2. Make a list of your different current personal identities and imagine how a
government could manipulate you to think one was more important than another. Can the
UN do anything to help prevent this happening?
3. Write a memo to the UN Secretary General explaining what you think should be done about
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Globalisation
Globalisation is the slow process through which all the countries of the world have become interconnected
as trading partners. Most of us today wear cheap clothing made in Bangladesh, China or Taiwan – not in the
UK. This is because we live in a globalised economy.
 Good effects of globalisation 
• We in the West can buy things more cheaply
• The whole world economy is more efficient.
• People in developing countries have access to
jobs (in clothing factories, for example) that
they might not otherwise.
FREE TRADE
• People working in factories in the developing world
may have few basic rights and be very poorly paid
• They may work very long days in dangerous
conditions without any holiday, or sick leave.
How might
•They may be children.
buying Fair
•They may be abused.
Trade products
There has also been a movement towards Free Trade. Free
Trade means that governments are not allowed to place taxes
(called tariffs) on items that are being imported from other
countries. This is good for consumers because it means that we
can buy things made in other countries without paying extra
cost.
What
does the
For more info…
WTO
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/trade/index.aspx
do?
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/whatwewant/trade.shtml
Tasks
 Bad effects of globalisation 
…BUT IS FREE TRADE FAIR?
help?
Sometimes people in poor countries, such as farmers,
cannot sell goods as cheaply as those imported from other
parts of the world. This can make whole communities very
poor. Also rich countries’ governments give their farmers
extra money (called subsidies), so their farmers can sell
products more cheaply. This causes more poverty in poor
countries, due to the free trade system. The Trade Not
Aid campaign was part of Make Poverty History and said
that international trading rules should change to be more
favourable to poorer countries.
1. What kind of trade rules would the country you are representing want the UN to
enforce? Would it want to maintain free trade between countries or not?
2. Examine the effects of globalisation on your daily life. Would you be happy to give
up fashionable cheap clothes, shoes and mobiles for the sake of workers in the sweatshops?
3. Explain in 50 words the connections between globalisation, free trade and poverty.
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Debt
Many of the countries in the developing world are paying so much interest back to wealthier countries
they borrowed money from that they have little to spend on health, education and food.
GETTING INTO DEBT
Imagine you earn £10 a week and have £100 in savings. You
would like to buy a computer, which costs £600. The bank
agree to lend you £500 at 15% interest per year, so you
borrow the money and buy the computer.
You are now £500 in debt. However, each year the bank
adds on the interest: the first year this comes to £75, so
you are now £575 in debt. The following year you will be
£661.25 in debt. After 5 years, you will owe the bank
£1005.69.
You can avoid the interest building up so high by making
regular repayments, but if you cannot afford to do this then
you may end up in very serious debt. After a few more
years you may be paying more interest
per year than the original loan was worth. What are
For more info…
Developing countries have often borrowed huge amounts of
money from wealthier countries and the World Bank, to develop
their transport systems, healthcare, schooling and other
services. Sometimes the money is spent on fighting wars
instead of public services. If a country’s government is
corrupt, much of the money borrowed may end up in people’s
pockets instead of being used to help the country develop.
the roles of
the IMF and
World Bank?
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt.asp
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/whatwewant/debt.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavily_Indebted_Poor_Countries
JUBILEE 2000
Some countries have already received ‘debt relief’ thanks to
the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Thanks to debt relief, Tanzania
has been able to hire more teachers, and build more schools.
Burkina Faso has reduced the cost of life-saving drugs and
has improved access to clean water. Uganda has more than
doubled school enrolment. However, many countries are still
struggling with crippling international debts.
The Make Poverty History campaign and the Drop
the Debt campaigns are renewed efforts to make the
wealthy countries forgive and forget the money they
are owed by poorer countries.
1. Should wealthy countries forgive the debt of poorer countries? Does the country
you are representing have heavy international debts?
2. Should poor countries be required to pay off debts accrued by corrupt rulers or
dictators? Give two points for and two points against making countries pay back these debts.
3. Imagine you are a the Prime Minister of a rich country which has forgiven the debts owed to
you by poorer countries. Write a memo to the UN Secretary General explaining whether or not
you would lend money to other countries in future, with clear reasons for your decision.
Tasks
Eradication of Poverty: MUN Global Classrooms 2008
Democracy and Corruption
Many countries suffer from high levels of corruption. Corruption is defined by Transparency
International as “misuse of entrusted power for private gain”.
In corrupt countries it can be difficult for people to
TYPES OF CORRUPTION
start a business or get services because they need to
BRIBERY (e.g. a policeman takes a personal bribe instead of
giving you a speeding ticket)
constantly bribe government officials. Corruption
EMBEZZLEMENT (e.g. a government employee uses public
means that money which should have been spent on
money to build himself a private swimming pool)
schools, roads, hospitals or aid is siphoned away.
NEPOTISM (e.g. a politician appoints his friends and
The estimated amount spent each year on bribes in
relatives to high powered positions even if other people
the world is $1 trillion (about £500 billion). The
might be more suitable for the job)
burden of corruption falls disproportionately on the
KICKBACKS (e.g. a government official awards a contract to
a company that isn’t the best bidder, in return for
bottom billion people living in extreme poverty.
money)
PATRONAGE (e.g. an ethnic group gets favoured treatment
by the government in return for political loyalty)
UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR (e.g. a doctor only prescribes
drugs made by a particular company because they might
offer him a job)
For more info…
What is
“transparency”?
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/powercorruption/index.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
http://www.transparency.org/
Tasks
DEMOCRACY
Countries that are well functioning democracies are often
less corrupt than countries that are not. This is because
people living in the country have at least some power over
their government, so that if the officials are enriching
themselves at the expense of everyone else the people can
elect a new government. Good strong democratic
institutions can go a long way toward helping eradicate
poverty. However, even in well established democracies,
corruption can be a problem.
1. Make a list of ten possible ways to reduce corruption in the public sector (public
employees include politicians, civil servants, doctors, teachers and policemen)
2. Can corruption ever be a good thing, for example if it cuts the amount of bureaucracy (paperwork)
needed to get things done? Write arguments for and against this suggestion.
3. Explain in 80 words how having a democratic government might affect a country’s poverty. If you
can, use statistics and examine the following countries: USA, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe.