A decade before the United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals, an anthropologist named James Ferguson wrote a book called The Anti-Politics Machine, highlighting the damaging effects of so-called “development” on Lesotho. Much of this stemmed from a lack of consideration of the real economic and political situation in Lesotho. Similar development packages are used in many “Third World” countries and indicators such as GDP growth are used without consideration of things such as government organization and political parties or the social realities of the people living within countries. The use of results-based management, i.e. the looking at of quantity-based indicators rather than the quality of development, has been an ongoing criticism of the Millennium Development Goals. (Van Norren) Although the failed Thaba-Tseka Development Project occurred in the 1970s and 80s, I believe it is important today to look at whether the Millennium Development Goals are impacting impact Lesotho positively or if they make the mistake continuing what Ferguson called the “development discourse fantasy.” This fantasy Ferguson talks about leads to unrealistic goals and puts more power in the hands of the state. (Ferguson)
The UN Millennium Development Goals are as follows: eradicate extreme hunger and poverty; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and global partnership for development. At face value, these sound like worthy goals for the world to strive toward. However, the achievement of these goals and the positive impact, if any, these have on developme...
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...wledge, or the willful ignorance of the realities of life in Lesotho that have been perpetuated since the 1970s will continue hurt the country. All of the goals are tied together and impact each other and if we do not look at the impact of assuming trade liberalization will improve quality of life and continue ignoring the need to adopt specific strategies for each country, development will continue to be a tool for maintaining the status quo.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that developing countries need to push against broad development goals with unattainable standards. Lesotho in particular needs to focus on addressing the cultural issues within the country. Pouring money into the country will not work if there is a corruption, enormous dependency on the Western world, and a lack of true equality and understanding of the wellbeing of our nation.
The eight Millennium Development Goals proposed by the UN during the Millennium General Assembly of 2000 will not be reached in Africa by 2015 if international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund continue to impose unethical and punishing economic policies through the Structural Adjustment Program (SAPs) on the poor and undeveloped countries of Africa and if the wealthy old core countries continue to break promises and hesitate to donate enough financial aid to Africa to help it recover from the destructive effects of the SAPs and the AIDS pandemic, and to also ensure gender equality and rights of women in Africa.
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
What would you say if I asked you to tell me what you think is causing the death of so many people in the horn of Africa? AIDS? Starvation? War? Would it surprise you if I told you that it all boils down to the women of Africa? Kofi Annan attempts to do just this in his essay “In Africa, Aids Has a Woman's Face.” Annan uses his work to tell us that women make up the “economic foundation of rural Africa” and the greatest way for Africa to thrive is through the women of Africa's freedom, power, and knowledge.
Against this bleak landscape, it is unsurprising that realising sustainable development continues to date to be a key priority in policy making processes these cases. In Africa, like elsewhere across the global south for instance, economic drivers of development have shaped constitutional reform processes as policy makers ...
The simplistic and highly misleading view that depicts the poorer world as passive victims at the mercy of the powerful West has meant that postwar paradigms or in-arguments “for how to conceptualize and overcome development challenges” (City of Johannesburg, 2006) have failed to achieve long-term development outcomes. For example, modernization theory (MT) stated that with investment and planning from the Industrial West, all states could follow a liner process of development where traditional sectors of the economy and rigid social structures would be abandoned and replaced by modern social organisation (Nabudere, 1997; Jolly et. al., 2004; MacKinnon & Cumbers, 2011). In other words, it was believed that once Rostow’s ‘take-off’ stage was
This chapter sheds light on this issue in the specific context of sub-Saharan Africa. This is of particular interest as African countries seek to trigger a strongly virtuous cycle of growth, which translates into genuine poverty reduction and human development.
...egarded as equal partners in development cooperation. For example, in some societies, girls are not sent to school to get an education; they either remain at home with their mothers learning how to clean, cook and make the home or in some societies, be sent off to learn trades or forced to do unskilled labor work to support the home. Subsequently, these girls will grow to become women and with very little or no skills to make a living, they will be forced to rely on their husbands, they would have no place in the bigger society and as a result, the cycle of poverty will continue.
Ranked number 68 on the Failed State Index of 2010 and 135 on the Human Development Index out of 169 countries and areas, Madagascar is considered to be at a low human development level. ( 2,4) Madagascar’s development situation is the product of a history of corrupt government and neocolonialism. Madagascar has been labeled a “developing” country because of its current conditions.
In conclusion, the author question the role of any development of any forms to reform the situation in Lesotho, mainly because it’s vague as whom should take parts in the development schemes and what plans should be prioritized as most effective and efficient for the overall welfare of the nation. He, then, concludes that everyone including the government should be included in the development programs in order to maximize the efficiency. However, he analyzes the situation as ambiguous.
We need good governance; we need the late President’s speech to come alive in our country Botswana.
United Nations Publications. Commission for Social Development: Report on the Forty-fourth Session 18 February 2005 And 8-17 February And 22 March 2006. New York: United Nations Publications, 2006. Print.
Perspective published by UNCTAD in 1998, “Africa …. failed to adjust to a more hostile external environment characterized by terms-of-trade deterioration, sharp increases in international interest...
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, was one of the most controversial books in the world at the time of its release. The book seeks to argue that European exploitation and involvement in Africa throughout history. This is the cause of current African underdevelopment, and the true path to the development is for Africa to completely sever her ties with the international capitalist economy. Rodney describes his goal in writing the book in the preface: “this book derives from a concern with the contemporary African situation. It delves into the past only because otherwise it would be impossible to understand how the present came into being and what the trends are for the near future” (vii). Rodney writes from a distinctly Marxist perspective by arguing that the inequalities inherent in European capitalism and required exploitation of certain countries in order to sustain capitalism.
As mentioned above, South Africa has been working on improving the lives of people. The Reconstruction and Development Program is one of the many that have been implemented that work on improving the life styles of people in South Africa. This is one of the strategies that has been very successful and is still standing as is. It is through this program that the lives of the many South Africans living in rural areas will be made
The first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The target by 2015 is to reduce the people living on less than half a dollar a day and reduce the people affected from hunger. In order to due this UNCEIF responded by building national capacities for primary health care, supporting good nutrition, cleaning the water, and raising awareness for a child’s wellbeing . Goal number two is to achieve primary education. The developing countries are trying to ensure that every child, both boys and girls, will have a full primary education. Millions of children are unable to read and write, which are life skills needed throughout a child’s existence. Goal three is to promote gender equality and empower woman. They wanted to eliminate the gender inequality in primary and secondary education by 2005, and by 2015 eliminate it in all levels. The fourth goal is to reduce child mortality. When a child is born into a poor environment, they have a less likely chance for survival. The fifth goal is to improve maternal health. Nearly fifty million babies are born without skilled care. In this goal by 2015 they want to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio. Goal number six is eliminate and control the spread of malaria and HIV/AIDS and other diseases. By 2015 ...