natural environment; unexploded landmines can make land
permanently unusable.
Poverty is both a cause and an outcome of conflict.
Development economist Paul Collier found that low-income
countries are much more prone to civil wars than wealthier
countries. “Halve the starting income of a country and you
double the risk of civil war,” he concludes.22 Moreover, he
argues that the rate of economic growth is another marker for
conflict: higher growth rates decrease the risk of a country falling
into war. Finally, Collier has identified a third factor strongly
associated with conflict: dependence on primary commodity
exports as an economic driver.23
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a combination
of factors—including a history of colonial repression, bad
governance, a genocidal war in neighboring Rwanda, and
abundant natural resources—created an environment ripe for
conflict. The DRC has been plundered rather than developed
by kleptocratic ruler Mobutu Sese Seko and, more recently, by
warring factions seeking to take control of the country. When
Mobutu was finally deposed in 1997, the DRC ranked in the
bottom third of countries in the HDI.24 In the years since
Mobutu’s overthrow, the situation for ordinary people has
deteriorated still further. War has cost the lives of 3.9 million
people, and millions more have been internally displaced or
fled the country, creating instability in neighboring nations.25
War is devastating to human development on several fronts.
For example, the DRC has the highest rate of hunger of any
country in the world. Seventy percent of the population is
undernourished.26 No surprise then that the DRC is ranked
just nine spots from the bottom of the 2007 HDI.27 Some of
the worst human rights abuses of the war have been suffered
by women.28 Gender-based violence, including rape, greatly
increases the risk to women’s health. The maternal mortality rate
has increased in the DRC, a problem that is further exacerbated
by the country’s extremely limited health infrastructure.
Wars not only disrupt normal economic activity: they are
also extremely expensive. Collier estimates that the average
civil war costs a country (and its neighbors) around $64
billion. He puts the total cost of all wars over the past decade
at approximately $1 trillion, money that might have otherwise
been spent promoting economic and human development.29
Collier also argues that conflict is a trap that countries fall into
and find difficult to escape. Wars reduce economic growth rates
and increase poverty, thereby increasing the risk of continuing
or slipping back into conflict.
Improvements in human well-being form the basis for
sustainable economic development, and in turn, economic
growth and poverty alleviation lessen the likelihood of conflict.
Progress in human development and a peaceful and stable
environment are mutually reinforcing.
Sierra Leone is a good example of how peace and development
can work together. After a decade-long conflict, Sierra Leone
emerged from civil war in 2002. The conflict left the country
www.bread.org
with the lowest levels of human development in the world,
including a shattered healthcare system.30 Despite miserable
starting conditions, the country has pledged to meet the MDGs.
But meeting MDG #5 on maternal mortality, for example, will
require the country to lower the maternal mortality rate from
2,000 deaths for every 100,000 live births to 450. Sierra Leone’s
MDG progress report notes that this will require addressing
basic issues of access to health care, including “the paucity of
trained staff, poor conditions of service and high exodus rate
of medical practitioners.”31 The country has estimated that
improving human development, including basic healthcare
services, would require a $350 million investment over three
years.32 While it is impossible for Sierra Leone t o raise such a
sum on its own, so far the international community has stepped
Probability of War in Three Groups of Countries,
1980-2000
0.5
0.4
Least developed
countries
0.3
Other countries
0.2
OECD countries*
0.1
0
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
* Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Source: Why Did the Poorest Countries Fail to Catch Up?, B. Milanovic,
November 2005.
up to provide additional support. It is unclear how long this
support will continue. But without long-term development
assistance, neither sustainable improvements in human
development nor continued peace and stability are likely.
Environmental Degradation
Population growth, industrial production, mining and oil
extraction, logging, intensive farming and fishing, and a host of
other activities are placing significant pressures on the earth’s
environment. People around the world need clean air and clean
water, adequate sanitation, and a safe, healthy environment to
survive and to thrive. The connections among the MDGs and
environmental protection are many and diverse, but one of the
closest connections is between protecting the environment and
meeting MDG #1 of reducing hunger. A recent report on the
MDGs and the environment declares that “Balancing nature
and development so that social welfare does not decline over
time is at the core of environmental sustainability.”33 The
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