B1. Application: Global Inequalities in Quality of Life
Specific Expectations
B1.1
analyse some interrelationships among factors that can contribute to quality of life (e.g., lack of access to clean water leads to an increase in water-borne diseases and to high death rates overall as well as high infant mortality rates; a country that has equal access to education for all will have higher literacy rates and will most likely have higher employment rates, a lower fertility rate and birth rate, and better maternal health)
- What role does access to natural resources play in quality of life? What factors can affect people’s access to resources?
- What is the relationship between land/resources and wealth/power? How has the forced removal of indigenous populations from land with many resources to land with few resources contributed to an inequitable distribution of wealth?
- What is the relationship between deforestation and the migration of independent subsistence farmers to urban centres? What impact has this migration had on farmers? In what ways can it affect quality of life more broadly within a country?
B1.2
analyse how various factors have affected the economies of specific developed and developing countries around the world (e.g., with reference to foreign ownership of natural resources in Nigeria or Indonesia; colonial legacy in South Africa or Haiti; the debt load in Honduras or the United States; government expenditures in France or Mali), and explain the interrelationship between these factors and quality of life in some of these countries (e.g., war in Sudan has consumed economic resources and has led to a refugee crisis and extremely poor quality of life in refugee camps in Darfur; expenditures on education, health care, and social services in Norway have contributed to that country’s ranking at the top of the Human Development Index [HDI])
- What are the levels of expenditures on health care and education in Chile? How have these expenditures contributed to Chileans’ quality of life?
- What political decisions have been made in Greece in response to its foreign debt? What impact have these decisions had on the quality of life in that country?
B1.3
assess the effectiveness of various programs and policies aimed at improving the quality of life in various countries (e.g., with reference to governmental and non-governmental programs to provide clean water, improve literacy rates, provide drugs for people with HIV/AIDS, reduce the spread of malaria, reduce violence against women, reduce child labour or the use of child soldiers, promote fair trade, or develop alternative income programs)
- How has the Water for Life initiative in Tanzania and Thailand helped improve the quality of life for people in those countries?
- What are some programs that have proved effective in reducing the spread of malaria? Do these programs have any shortcomings?
- How effective have education programs in Ecuador and Kenya been in improving the quality of life for some people in those countries?
- Why do some groups advocate providing livestock rather than direct food aid to people in developing countries?
B1.4
assess the effectiveness of media in improving the quality of life in some countries/regions around the world (e.g., with reference to the success of various print or television advertisements for aid organizations; the use of celebrity spokespeople; journalists raising awareness of natural disasters, refugees, famine in different parts of the world; the broadcast of fundraisers such as Live Aid; the production of songs or music videos by Northern Lights or Band Aid)
- Have large international fundraising events been successful in improving the quality of life for people in Ethiopia or Haiti?
- Why does the United Nations sometimes appoint celebrities as goodwill ambassadors?
- What types of commercials for aid agencies have been successful at getting public attention for specific causes?