The Problems of Measuring Development Aims To look

The Problems of Measuring Development Aims: To look at types of measurement To evaluate the differences To get a sense of policy differentiation To be able to take an objective perspective on measurement

Measuring Development l l l Why do we need to measure? What are the methods? Do they work? What are the Goals? Are they working? Are there alternatives?

Measurement? l l Traditional economics uses Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the indicator of economic growth- and hence development. This traditional perspective is too narrow because development is more than just growth and GDP is purely an economic indicator.

GDP and GNP l GDP – Gross Domestic Product: The Total value of all goods and services produced in an economy in a given period, usually one year. GNP – Gross National Product: The total value of all goods and services produced in an economy in a given year plus all incomes received from abroad minus all payments sent abroad.

GDP as a Measurement? l l ‘Beyond the GDP’ EC videoshot 9 minutes http: //ec. europa. eu/avservices/video_pr od_en. cfm? type=detail&prodid=4239&src=1

Health as a Measurement

Food Security

PQLI l PQLI – Physical Quality of Life Index: Measures left expectancy, infant mortality rates and literacy levels. These are measured on a scale of to 0 to 100 – 0 being the worst performance in each category in 1950 and 100 being the best performance expected for the year 2000. The indices are then averaged.

HPI l HPI – Human Poverty Index: The human poverty index measures deprivation on basic human development and is made up of four indicators. There are the percentage of people expected to die before the age of 40, the percentage of adults who are illiterate, the percentage of people without access to safe water and to health services and the percentage of underweight children under the age of 5.

United Nations l HDI – Human Development Index: This is one of the most comprehensive calculations of poverty. It used by the UNDP in their annual human development reports. It uses three equally weighted dimensions of human development – life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate and purchasing power. Ireland currently ranks at No 4 among the 175 countries documented by this year's Human Development Index. Sierra Leone comes last, but note some countries are not listed, like Somalia, Liberia, and East Timor who could fall even lower.

Measuring the Richest l l According to the UN, in 2002, the countries with the highest HDI were as follows: 1. Norway 2. Sweden 3. Canada 4. Belgium 5. Australia 6. United States 7. Iceland 8. Netherlands 9. Japan 10. Finland

Measuring the Poorest l l By contrast, the countries with the worst HDI in 2002 were: 1. Sierra Leone 2. Niger 3. Burundi 4. Mozambique 5. Burkina Faso 6. Ethiopia 7. Guinea-Bissau 8. Chad 9. Central African Republic 10. Mali

Out of 1. 00 – levels of Development

Goals for Development l “The Millennium Development Goals present the world with daunting challenges. Unless there is radical improvement, too many countries will miss the targets—with disastrous consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable of their citizens…. For the first time there is genuine consensus among rich and poor countries that poverty is the world’s problem…. the solutions to hunger, disease, poverty and lack of education are well known. What is needed is for efforts to be properly resourced, and for services to be distributed more fairly and efficiently. ” http: //mdgs. un. org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress 2008/MDG_R eport_2008_En. pdf

The 8 Goals l l l There are eight MDG (Goals) in all, divided into 18 specific, measurable targets. The eights targets are as follows: 1. To eradicate extreme poverty and Hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality 5. Improve maternal health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop a global partnership for development Target 2015

Useful Websites l l l http: //www. un. org/millenniumg oals http: //hdr. undp. org/reports/def ault. cfm http: //www. worldbank. org/data /intconference. html http: //www. oecd. org/site/0, 286 5, en_21571361_31834434_1_ 1_1_1_1, 00. html http: //www. developmentgoals. org/index. html http: //www. undp. org/dpa/choic es/