‘Countries at Very Low Levels of Economic Development Face Such Huge Challenges That They Cannot Hope to Address Them Without Assistance from the Rest of the World.’ to What Extent Do You Agree with This View?
There are some countries in this world with a GDP less than $750, with populations earning less than $1 a day, life expectancies barely reaching past 40 years old and devastatingly poor levels of health care, school enrolment and adult literacy rates. These are the defining indicators of people living in low developing countries (LDC’s). Populations living in poverty and the majority with an income too small to accommodate their basic needs and the resources in the national economy, even when equally distributed are not enough to provide a sustainable living for the population. Of the 50 countries recognised as LDC’s, 33 are found in Africa, south of the Sahara with 374 million living on an income of less than $2 a day. It seems that without a doubt these countries need assistance from the rest of the world in order to develop, but the type of assistance in order to enable this development more effectively is still being carefully speculated. While governments and non- governmental organisations continue to give more and more aid to these countries, it seems perhaps aid isn’t the only solution to and we should look at examples such as the Asian tigers to comprehend how encouraging trade and foreign investment is the real answer to helping these LDC’s address their problems.
The huge problems that these countries face show us that assistance from the rest of the world to allow LDC’s to even begin a process of development is necessary. Poor economic policies in the past that have left them economically isolated from the rest of the world, only further encouraged by bad governance and corruption have led to the poor situations that these countries now face. Only worsened by problems such as drought, desertification, civil war- which has killed more through famine and hunger than through actual conflict- and weak economies. Without any significant global position in the trading world, developing countries, mainly in Africa, are in desperate need of assistance.
The huge problems that these countries face show us that assistance from the rest of the world to allow LDC’s to even begin a process of development is necessary. Poor economic policies in the past that have left them economically isolated from the rest of the world, only further encouraged by bad governance and corruption have led to the poor situations that these countries now face. Only worsened by problems such as drought, desertification, civil war- which has killed more through famine and hunger than through actual conflict- and weak economies. Without any significant global position in the trading world, developing countries, mainly in Africa, are in desperate need of assistance.