Notes

Development means change for the better. It is a process by which countries achieve social, economical, political and sustainable progress and change. This could be better education, greater income equality or transparent political systems. We can group countries in terms of development by using economical groupings of HIC, MIC and LIC. High income countries (HIC) are countries with a GNI per capita of above US$ of $12,746. Medium income countries (MIC) or Newly Emerging Economies are countries with a GNI per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $12,745. Low income countries (LIC) are countries with a GNI per capita of $1,045 or less. The development gap is the standard of living between the poorest and the richest countries in the world - the majority of the world lives between that gap. Development indicators are ways we can determine how developed a country is for example life expectancy, GDP per capita, mean number of years in school and birth rate. The factors as to why there are development gaps are physical, historic and economic. Gender equality means the equal rights and responsibilities of men and women as well as equal opportunities available to them. Women are paid less because the political laws related to their needs are not taken seriously in government. Laws discriminate against women because in certain countries the husband decides what work their wives do because of gender discriminations and stereotyping certain jobs are seen as unsuitable for women. Microfinance is used to describe financial services such as loans that are given to small businesses or individuals who are unable to do banking in traditional ways but the problem is that people may not be able to pay back the loans. Climate change describes long term change in the average climate conditions, such as temperature and rainfall. Climate change events that will effect development are cyclones, flooding, droughts, storm surges and sea level rises.