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Introduction: What Is Development?

According to the document, while half of the world lives on less than $2 per day and a quarter lives on less than $1.25, global poverty has declined in recent decades. People in the richest 20 countries earn on average 39 times more than those in the poorest 20. Development aims to address these inequities and provide better lives for those in poor countries through both economic growth and human development including health, education, and environment. The document aims to help readers understand why some countries are developed and others are not as well as describe development strategies and report on progress toward international goals.

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Coney Dela Pena Villegas
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39 views

Introduction: What Is Development?

According to the document, while half of the world lives on less than $2 per day and a quarter lives on less than $1.25, global poverty has declined in recent decades. People in the richest 20 countries earn on average 39 times more than those in the poorest 20. Development aims to address these inequities and provide better lives for those in poor countries through both economic growth and human development including health, education, and environment. The document aims to help readers understand why some countries are developed and others are not as well as describe development strategies and report on progress toward international goals.

Uploaded by

Coney Dela Pena Villegas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction: What Is Development?

According to the World Bank, as many as half of the worlds six billion inhabitants live on the
equivalent of less than $2 per day, and about one-fourth of the world lives on the equivalent of less
than $1.25 per day (Chen & Ravallion, 2008). Meanwhile, people in the 20 richest countries earn, on
average, 39 times more than people living in the
poorest 20 states (Milanovic, 2007).

At the same time, the extent of world poverty has


declined significantly during recent years. For
example, the World Bank estimates that from 1981-
2005 the percentage of people living on less than $1
per day was halved, decreasing from 52 percent to 26
percent during this period (Chen & Ravallion, 2008).

These contrasting trends highlight both the problems


and the progress associated with the process of
development. On one hand, development has
resulted in serious inequities between states, whereby large numbers of the worlds inhabitants are
mired in poverty, especially in Africa, while inhabitants of the worlds richest countries live in both
relative and absolute luxury. And yet, due to development trends, populations in poor countries are
becoming wealthier over timea process linked to globalization because countries in the developing
world can raise their standards of living by integrating with highly developed states.

The term development in international parlance therefore encompasses the need and the means by
which to provide better lives for people in poor countries. It includes not only economic growth,
although that is crucial, but also human developmentproviding for health, nutrition, education, and a
clean environment.

The following Issue in Depth is designed to help you:

understand why some countries are developed and other are not;

describe the problems development is designed to solve;

familiarize yourself with the institutions that are active in development;

explain the main strategies for fostering development;

and, report on the facts and figures of the Millennium Development Goals, the international
communitys

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