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September 12, 2005
The state of the nations
This week will see the largest-ever summit of heads of State and government. They will be addressing the failure to reach the Millenium Development Goals of development and poverty reduction.
The league table
The Human Development Report 2005 is once more a call to action. This report places countries of the world in a league table according to development as measured by life expectancy, educational attainment and income.
As usual, Africa is gathering the crumbs at the foot of the table. Burkina Faso is third from bottom again, 175th of 177 countries measured. Only Sierra Leone and Niger are below it. Norway and Iceland are top, with the US in 10th place, and the UK in 15th.
Some interesting comparisons:
| Indicator | United States | United Kingdom | Burkina Faso |
| GDP per capita | $37562 | $27147 | $1174 |
| Below $1/ day (%) | - | - | 44.9 |
| Life expectancy at birth (years) | 77.4 | 78.4 | 47.5 |
| Infant mortality (/1,000 live births) | 7 | 5 | 107 |
| Births per woman (fertility rate) | 2.0 | 1.7 | 6.7 |
| Literacy rate (% ages 15+) | 99 | 99 | 12.8 |
| Undernourished people (%) | - | - | 19 |
| HIV prevalence (% ages 15-49) | 0.6 | 0.1 | 4.2 |
| Doctors (per 100,000 people) | 549 | 166 | 4 |
| Access to clean water (%) | 100 | 100 | 51 |
Burkina has been improving - in the last 30 years life expectancy is up from 43.9 to 47.4 years, and infant mortality is down from 163 per 1000 to "only" 107. However, the figures are still not acceptable. How many of us would be happy with the expectation of living only 47 years? (It would leave me two years to go.) Or how happy would you be if your newborn child had a 1 in 10 probability of dying?
There is a clear moral, ethical, and biblical responsibility to address such issues. The goals are attainable. The decisions made at the G8 summit will have some impact, but more is needed. At one level the question is whether there is the political will to address the structural changes necessary.
At another, more fundamental level the question is whether we ourselves care enough to make a difference? Are we prepared to pay the cost of justice and compassion? Are we prepared to make our own hard choices? To live more simply, to pay more, to give more - to care more? To deny ourselves for the good of others?
Tags: burkina faso africa aid burkina development hdi un summit human development report un poverty
Posted by Keith at September 12, 2005 08:07 AM
Comments
If more people felt the way you do, the world would be much better off my friend :O)
Posted by: trish at October 1, 2005 03:02 AM
