Development opportunities
● The multidimensional process of human development and ways to measure it:
○ UN sustainable goals criteria
■ 17 goals such as: end poverty and hunger, ensure healthy lives and inclusive and
equitable education
■ Based off the millennium development goals (MDGs)
○ Validity and reliability of development indicators and indices, including the human
development index (HDI) and gender equality index (GII)
■ HDI - education, life expectancy, GDP per capita
● One of the variables may hold more influence on development than
another
● Measurement errors or change in formulas made comparisons difficult
● Does not measure environmental sustainability
● Hide inequities within countries
■ GII - longevity, knowledge and income per capita
● Hides details of the measure within them
● many women work in informal sectors (not included)
● the same variables for all countries → fair but fertility rate could be high
in a developing country due to poor health care which is NOT gender
inequality
● No standard is set - self reflection is difficult
● Pros - made comparisons easier, measures human development and
empowerment
○ Empowering women and indigenous or minority groups
■ Affirmative action: measures to discriminate positively to raise the status of
disempowered groups are known as affirmative action
■ Heavy labour, lack of access to education/investment, wage, food - women
■ Other minorities include LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex,
queer/questioning)
● Discrimination
● Restriction to same-sex marriages
● Financial disadvantage
● Harassment, physical violence
● More likely to be homeless - exposed to drugs and risky sexual
behaviour leading them to mental issues like depression
■ Indigenous people - dispossessed from their land, losing capacity to access
resources → poverty, loss of language, loss of cultural identity, health problems,
conflict
, ● Detailed illustrative examples of affirmative actions to close the development gap
○ Affirmative action to empower women in Muslim countries
○ Islam does not assign a lower status to women but assigns a different responsibility to
men and women
■ Men: security and livelihood of the family
■ Women: raising the children, domestic duties
○ Different muslim countries have varying degrees of rights with regards to marriage
■ Some countries exposed to international linkages, realising themselves caught
between tradition and change - more freedom for women
■ Some countries are still not giving women freedom - married women covering
their whole body except their eyes with their robes
○ Muslims argue that islam promoted gender equality more than any other nation or
religion
○ Clothing - hijab (symbolises a modest dress for women)
■ Symbol of Muslim identity and morality
■ Loose clothing hiding the shape of women bodies
■ Hijab is pride and distinctiveness - westerners see it as gender oppression
○ Clothing - chador
■ Comfortable clothing, able to wear other clothes underneath
■ Still seen as gender oppression by some countries
○ Clothing - burqa
■ Covers the whole body, including the eye
■ Happened when the taliban controlled afghanistan
■ In north america, it was interpreted as a violation of women’s rights
○ Some countries ban wearing these clothing
■ Is it helping the women or taking away their identity?
■ Discrimination against the women
■ Difficult to determine what “affirmative action” should actually be
○ Law cases in Pakistan
■ Testimony of one man = testimony of two women
■ To prove a woman has been raped, four men with impeccable character needs to
be have witnessed penetration
■ Few men are charged with rape
■ Women are often charged with adultery if they are raped - punishments include
imprisonment and enforced marriage to the rapist
○ Affirmative action to close the development gap for women in China
○ Position of women in China changed drastically in the past half century
○ Prolonged oppression and degradation of women
■ No political rights
■ No property, inheritance rights
■ Economically dependent on men
■ No social status
● The multidimensional process of human development and ways to measure it:
○ UN sustainable goals criteria
■ 17 goals such as: end poverty and hunger, ensure healthy lives and inclusive and
equitable education
■ Based off the millennium development goals (MDGs)
○ Validity and reliability of development indicators and indices, including the human
development index (HDI) and gender equality index (GII)
■ HDI - education, life expectancy, GDP per capita
● One of the variables may hold more influence on development than
another
● Measurement errors or change in formulas made comparisons difficult
● Does not measure environmental sustainability
● Hide inequities within countries
■ GII - longevity, knowledge and income per capita
● Hides details of the measure within them
● many women work in informal sectors (not included)
● the same variables for all countries → fair but fertility rate could be high
in a developing country due to poor health care which is NOT gender
inequality
● No standard is set - self reflection is difficult
● Pros - made comparisons easier, measures human development and
empowerment
○ Empowering women and indigenous or minority groups
■ Affirmative action: measures to discriminate positively to raise the status of
disempowered groups are known as affirmative action
■ Heavy labour, lack of access to education/investment, wage, food - women
■ Other minorities include LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex,
queer/questioning)
● Discrimination
● Restriction to same-sex marriages
● Financial disadvantage
● Harassment, physical violence
● More likely to be homeless - exposed to drugs and risky sexual
behaviour leading them to mental issues like depression
■ Indigenous people - dispossessed from their land, losing capacity to access
resources → poverty, loss of language, loss of cultural identity, health problems,
conflict
, ● Detailed illustrative examples of affirmative actions to close the development gap
○ Affirmative action to empower women in Muslim countries
○ Islam does not assign a lower status to women but assigns a different responsibility to
men and women
■ Men: security and livelihood of the family
■ Women: raising the children, domestic duties
○ Different muslim countries have varying degrees of rights with regards to marriage
■ Some countries exposed to international linkages, realising themselves caught
between tradition and change - more freedom for women
■ Some countries are still not giving women freedom - married women covering
their whole body except their eyes with their robes
○ Muslims argue that islam promoted gender equality more than any other nation or
religion
○ Clothing - hijab (symbolises a modest dress for women)
■ Symbol of Muslim identity and morality
■ Loose clothing hiding the shape of women bodies
■ Hijab is pride and distinctiveness - westerners see it as gender oppression
○ Clothing - chador
■ Comfortable clothing, able to wear other clothes underneath
■ Still seen as gender oppression by some countries
○ Clothing - burqa
■ Covers the whole body, including the eye
■ Happened when the taliban controlled afghanistan
■ In north america, it was interpreted as a violation of women’s rights
○ Some countries ban wearing these clothing
■ Is it helping the women or taking away their identity?
■ Discrimination against the women
■ Difficult to determine what “affirmative action” should actually be
○ Law cases in Pakistan
■ Testimony of one man = testimony of two women
■ To prove a woman has been raped, four men with impeccable character needs to
be have witnessed penetration
■ Few men are charged with rape
■ Women are often charged with adultery if they are raped - punishments include
imprisonment and enforced marriage to the rapist
○ Affirmative action to close the development gap for women in China
○ Position of women in China changed drastically in the past half century
○ Prolonged oppression and degradation of women
■ No political rights
■ No property, inheritance rights
■ Economically dependent on men
■ No social status
