Global Policy Forum

"Not quite," says UNDP's Human Development Report

By Sumana Raychaudhuri

Today it is fashionable to speak of the global village -- yet the Human Development Report 1999, published by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), indicates that not everyone is a full member of this village. The benefits of globalization have largely gone to the wealthiest nations: only the rich can cross borders freely and advanced information technology is scarcely available in parts of the developing world. This is especially true for Africa. Of the 174 nations the UNDP report ranks according to its "human development index," the 22 lowest are African.

While there are nearly 70 telephone lines per 100 people in Sweden, there are just 0.8 and 0.2 per 100 citizens in Kenya and Uganda, respectively. Only 0.1 per cent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa uses the Internet, whereas more than 35 per cent of Icelanders use it. Despite such shortcomings, the report reveals how several African countries have adopted creative approaches to bridge the information and technology gaps.

Health on the Internet

For a long time, one indicator of such global disparities was the fact that doctors in Africa had very limited access to up-to-date information about combating disease. While Nairobi University Medical School Library -- a top medical school in East Africa -- subscribes to only 20 journals, a typical US medical school subscribes to roughly 5,000. The Internet can provide information at affordable rates, but even in South Africa, the best-connected African country, universities usually have a single terminal that may have to be shared by up to 1,000 people.

The Internet can provide up-to-date information on combating diseases, but few African doctors have ready access. HealthNet, an information service that connects 30 developing countries, including 22 in Africa, has found a way around this, the UNDP reports. It uses cheap computer networks based on radios and telephones and a low-earth-orbit satellite to give doctors access to medical libraries. Doctors in Central Africa used it to fight the Ebola virus outbreak in 1995, and malaria researchers in Ghana use it to keep in touch with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Like doctors, small entrepreneurs in Africa once lacked access to the Internet. Now, an organization called PEOPLink displays on the Internet pictures of crafts produced by artisans in several African countries, thus enabling them to receive orders from around the world. Tropical Whole Foods, a company in the UK selling dried fruit produced by small businesses and cooperatives in Burkina Faso, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, uses the Internet to avoid stockpiling and shortages. More such cooperative ventures are essential before African economies can participate more fully in global Internet traffic, notes the UNDP report.

Coping with trade and patent laws

Adoption of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 has left African nations at a serious disadvantage, says the report. Before TRIPS, countries like Egypt allowed pharmaceutical processes to be patented, but not the final product, making it possible to produce cheaper generic versions of patented drugs locally. Under the new agreement, all countries must alter their laws to grant a 20 year patent on both processes and products.

On the other hand, patent laws do not recognize traditional knowledge. Bio-prospectors often use the knowledge of indigenous communities to develop profitable medicines, but fail to share profits with them. Even when bio-prospectors do share profits, the royalty share can be as low as 0.1 to 4 per cent in a country like Uganda. The US Parks Service, by contrast, negotiated a 10 per cent royalty when a company wanted to bio-prospect the Yellowstone National Park.

As a remedy for these inequities, the report suggests that the WTO check trade monopolies by multinational corporations. UNDP believes the WTO voting system to be fairer than those of previous international trade bodies, giving greater bargaining power to developing countries. This could lead to enhanced global governance, which is essential if globalization is not to leave behind more than half the world. "People in all parts of the world need to join in the debate and to make clear their interests and concerns," argues the report.

Harnessing the global market

While globalization has chiefly benefited the developed world, the UNDP report points out that some African nations have been able to capitalize on it without derailing longer-term development priorities. By encouraging exports while simultaneously emphasizing human development, Botswana achieved an average annual growth in per capita income of about 6 per cent in 1980-96, notes the report, showing that globalization can be made to work even for poor countries.

Mauritius managed to attract multinational companies by offering tax incentives. At the same time, it protected its national industries through tax holidays and import protection. Together, these measures created an export boom and generated healthy growth. The report concludes that increased global interaction does benefit African nations, despite some of the current shortcomings. But they can benefit much more if the needs of the poorest countries and people are addressed through improved international governance. "The process of reinventing global governance must be broader," argues the report, "and human development can provide a framework.... It is time to change."

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.