Disparities in Wealth and Development

Disparities in Wealth and Development

The eight Millennium Development Goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger:
MDG is trying to cut the number of people living off $1 in half. Overall poverty rates fell from 46% in 1990 to 27% in 2005 in developing regions, and progress in many developing countries is being sustained.

2. Achieve universal primary education:
MDG is trying to increase the number of educated people in the world. They state that they think this goal will not be met anytime soon and it is a long path they must go down to achieve such a goal.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women:
MDG is trying to increase the social and political status of women and give them equal opportunities in developing countries such as India and other developing countries.

4. Reduce child mortality:
MDG is trying to decrease the number of babies dying per 1000 born. So far they have made some progress and brought down the worlds mortality rate by 28% but are saying that it is not falling fast enough and they need to make changes to help it to fall faster.

5. Improve maternal health:
MDG is trying to decrease the number of maternal deaths as the number is “unacceptably high.” More than 350,000 women die annually from complications during pregnancy or childbirth, 99% in developing countries.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases:
MDG is trying to decrease the number of deaths related to these diseases. Every day over 7,400 people are infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS related complications. HIV remains the leading cause of death among reproductive-age women worldwide. Malaria kills a child in the world every 45 seconds. Close to 90% of malaria related deaths occur in Africa where it accounts for a fifth of child mortality.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability:
MDG is trying to encourage sustainable development. Official development assistance stands at 0.31% of the combined national income of developed countries, still far short of the 0.7 per cent UN target. Only five donor countries have reached or exceeded the target.

8. Global Partnership for development:
MDG is trying to unite the world and help them develop through unity.

Lee's Laws

Push: The push factors that cause people to migrate in an LEDC nation to the cities of these countries can be a multitude of things. For example people could not be making enough money at their current jobs and therefore will search for work in the cities via having more job opportunities. Education can also drive people to be pushed to move / migrate to the cities to open options for the future. Also a life in the city makes luxuries easily accessible thus improving living conditions / standard of living. Pull: The pull factors that attract people into cities are the enormous amount of work that people can find while in a city. People will also come to be pulled into cities because schools will generally be located near highly populated areas in this case, cities. Civil unrest can also cause people to be drawn into cities for protection as they feel that migrating to a safer place is best for their wellbeing, for example while there was war in-between Russia and Georgia people living near the border would move to nearby cities.

Shanty Towns:
A shanty town also called a squatter settlement is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic. They are sometimes illegal or unauthorized. Shanty towns, which are usually built on the outskirts of cities often, do not have proper sanitation, electricity or telephone services. Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth. In extreme cases, shanty towns have populations approaching that of a city. In 2005, one billion people, one-sixth of the world's population were living in shanty towns.

Orangi Town is the largest shanty town in the world and it is located in China. People do face many problems while living in shanty towns. One of the main problems is with their health as their living conditions are awful and unsanitary. Shanty towns are usually made out of scavenged, salvaged materials and cheap materials. People who live in shanty towns also experience high crime rates as they are living in extreme poverty. For example the Brazilian military have to keep the peace in the Favelas of Brazil. Inhabitance of shanty towns also face pressure from the government because they are illegal and the government has the authority to extradite the inhabitance of shanty towns and can clear out their towns which can sometimes lead to deaths and leave thousands on more homeless than they were before.

Research and explain [specific examples] some different methods which have been introduced to improve the quality of life in squatter settlements.
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