26 03 cooperation and development_emanuela colombo

Cooperation and Development:
evolution and key elements
Prof. Emanuela Colombo,
Rector’s Delegate for Cooperation and Development
Unesco Chair in Eneegy for Sustainable Development
Department of Energy - Politecnico di Milano
Ingegneria Senza Frontiere – Milano

Summary

• Cooperation and Development in a glance
• Strengths and weaknesses of the economic factor
• The evolution of the concept of development
• International guidelines for a new cooperation

Thanks to Prof. Gianni Vaggi, development economist
Pro Rector for the International Relationship,Università di Pavia
Thanks to Prof Felice Rizzi, humanist
Unesco Chair for Human Rights, Università di Brescia

Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

What is attracting your attention?
What do we like?
What we do not like?
What does it tell?


Cooperation and Development in glance

• Co-operation

• Relationship with the “other” 1950-1960
• The other does not exist
• The other exists but is not important
• The other has the right to self-determination
• "I know how to help you" (welfare)

1970
 “Can I help you?”
 “Let’s Cooperate!”
1980
 “How could we cooperate?”
 “We are on the same boat”
• “I walk with you” (inculturation)
• “Could I walk with you?”



• Co-operation

Fish

To Teach
Fishing?

Is fishing an
asset?



From 1500 to 1900
The conquest of America (1500-1600) and colonizations

From the two world wars to the end of colonialism
1945 To promote the growth of less developed areas:
• essential for GLOBAL development (peace and prosperity)
• specific responsibility for the international community (and political tool)

• 1948, «piano Marshall» to support Europe for:
• Reconstraction, Increase currency reserves in Europe,
• An instrument of American Policy

• 1960 Declaration of independence to colonial countries and peoples (UN)
• The sunset of colonialism does NOT lead to coincided with autonomy and
development of the colonized countries


The following years….
Cooperation is not only constituted by actions aimed at increasing
economic opportunities but is a complex process that aims to initiate a change
in policy and economy which would be systematic and structural

Cooperation

Economic New
changes Development
models

Evolves the cultural thought, born a collective consciousness, the cooperation for
development become a discipline of study with a multidisciplinary perspective

Summary

• Cooperation and Development in a glance


Strengths and weaknesses of the economic factor

Weakness…..
Do not overestimate the economic growth
Who grows and accordingly to which indicator?

First paradox: the inequalities
The purpose of the economy is the growth of global
wealth, which, however, leads to an increase in inequality:

Second paradox: the resources
Poverty is not a consequence of lack of resources
but their maldistribution

Third paradox: Happiness
Happiness and income are significantly correlated. There is
a threshold limit of income


Strengths…..
Do not underestimate the strength of economic change in many cases can
answer to the problem of unemployment,
What is the state of the world today?
Can we still speak of rich and poor countries?
Who grows and for which indicator?

Prodotto Nazionale Lordo*
Soglia di Indice di Popolazione
pro capite annuo
reddito Sviluppo
Popolazione Tasso annuale Tasso annuale
pro capite Umano 2009 2009
Urbana (previsioni al 2035) (previsioni al 2035)
milioni di $/anno
$/anno % %min %max %min %max
abitanti pro capite

Paesi a Basso Reddito < 995 0.32 846 28.7 0.6 2.2 509 2.7 5.5
Paesi a Medio Reddito 0.56 4813 48 0.1 1.3 3397 3 9.5
Paesi a Alto Reddito >12196 0.81 1117 78 -0.2 0.9 37990 1.0 2.7

Mondo 6775 50.3 8732
*World Bank Atlas method



Economy yes, but not only…..
Today’s scenary is more complex than 30 years ago

- New players in the markets and new political and economic dynamics
- Huge internal disparity in many countires
- The socio-economic crisis hits the industrialized countries
- Internal Outbreakes for the socio-political problems (MENA countries)
- humanitarian crisis for structural deficiencies (horn of Africa)


Summary

Cooperation and Development in a glance


The evolution of the concept of development

• Why development? From War to Cooperation
• In 1948, at the base of cooperation there is peace, which can only exist if there
is democracy and guaranteed the human rights.
Human Rights
• First generation rights (individual): civil and political
• Second-generation rights (individual): social, economic and cultural
• Third generation rights (individual and society): development
• In 1948 we see the declaration of human rights:
- Universal: everyone's business
- Positive: integrates them in the legal systems offering effective guarantees
• .... injustice, oppression and misery of some countries
today, are a sign that the statements were in part
unexpected: there is no law without development



• During ‘50 and ‘60: growth’s economy

• The postwar years were characterized by reconstruction in Europe
• Marshall Plan: injection of capitals, economic cooperation has generated
growth and wellness: the model seems to work!

Causes of Underdevelopment

• low capital accumulation and inefficient deployment of resources: a vicious
circle emerges between savings and growth
• need the assistance from developed countries to inject capital.
• based on the economics of growth: objective is a growth rate of GNP.
• Since the mid-50s have the first criticism of the model



• The ‘70: the primary needs
• It expands the idea of development
• Differences in the growth are marked, aggregate data are variable
• South-East Asia grow significantly
• Africa grow modestly
• A positive performance in terms of GNP may be accompanied by
unemployment, persistent poverty

• The theory of basic needs reverses the order of priorities
• Achievement of a minimum standard of living for the poorest
• Moving capitals to social services and basic goods.
• Unfavorable reception in the developing countries
• World Bank redefines the concept of poverty



• The ‘80: the market as a model
• Further turning point of the idea of development
• The market set prices and procedures for the allocation of resources
• Protectionist policies are damaging to the development

• Emerge the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank:
• Condition the granting of loans, both public and private
• Internal Imbalances (high inflation) and external dependence (high deficits in the
balance of payments),
• liberalization and privatization process
• Strenghts: the importance of the control of monetary variables, external
imbalances, private company role, integration in an international context
• Weakness: it produced purely economic vision of human and social reality

• Development cooperation has not yet an own and specific identification



• The ‘90: Human and sustainable development
• In 1987 the ONU report «Our common future», (Bruntland report) present the idea
of sustainable development. It emerge the environmental aspect but even bigger is
the attention to the temporal dimension: equal rights for different generation, and also
the passing of the baton between generations.

• In 1990 UNDP publish the first Report on Human Development and present the HDI
Human Development Index that includes the economic dimension, the level of
education and the health as fundamental elements for human development.

• In 2000 the UN, with the World Bank, IMF International Monetary Found and OECD
launch the objectives of the millennium, Millenium Development Goals- MDGs,
ranging from poverty to education, to health, to environment, gender and the
definition of development widens further. Goals such as improvements to be achieved
in 2015.



• The ‘90: human and sustainable development
• We talk about Sustainable Human Development as a process of gradual
broadening of the choice of persons (UNDP).

Human development, it become necessary to :
• improve human capacities in the cultural and professional, taking into account
first and foremost health (development of the people)
• stimulate economic growth and equitable distribution of wealth (development
for the people)
• guarantee each individual the opportunity to participate in the development
(development by the people)

Sustainable development must integrate three dimensions (space and time):
• economic system
• environmental system
• Social system (socio-political)



• TODAY: development as freedom
What more is there in the idea of development today?
Amartya Sen, asserts that poverty is mainly exclusion;
• from basic needs: food, health, housing, and more.
• inability to develop own skills, to grow as individuals, to take future in own hands

… therefore development is freedom and needs
• be authentic (some call it integral, holistic )
• Be focus on all dimension of the dignity of the human person
• address “all” mankind (space and time),
• Promote empowerment (liberation exclusion)
• Foster ownership (participation, make your own, freedom not to depend on aid ...!)

=>> Development as freedom: developing countries take control of their destiny ...

Are the players of cooperation ready: Governmental (bilateral and multilateral), Non
governmental, decentralised cooperation but also universities , private sectors…)


The new Cooperation for Development

In cooperation and development: it's time to to work WITH.
• Only in this way, cooperation will be:
• instrument of emancipation OF people.
• instrument of dialogue BETWEEN people and nations

• Thus having an impact on Cooperation projects
• They must promote a new MODEL of partnership
• the ownership and local involvement
• Empowerment of the individual and institutional capacities;
• Confidence between actors

• They must promote the growth FOR the people
• Respect of the other (person or organization) and his point of view;
• Overcome prejudices dictated by "ignorance.“


... and so?

• The cooperation has a final GOAL
human development Cooperation
• Space (here and elsewhere)
• Time (now and in the future)
• Human promotion
Economic New
• Sustainable for the society changes Development
models

as freedom
• ontological affirmation of the dignity of all human beings
• Cooperation can benefit from a number of TOOLS
• The market, economic growth
• primary education, secondary, professional ....
• fundamental rights (freedom, life ....) and instrumental (access to resources!)
• Projects (and NOT vice versa)
• But also ....................................??????????????


... and so?

• The Scientific Research helps to evolve the Cooperation

cooperation (north-south) to a condition of
mutual learning: It becomes an instrument for
the development
Economic New
changes Development
• Technology , Innovation and «technology models

transfer» Should now be at the service of
development

Today these dimensions must be reinterpreted in the light of human, social and
individual responsibility, and integrated with an ethical evaluation of choices and
solutions .

The “transfer” becomes a collective construction and innovation a leverage to
overcome also other frontiers than Technological state of the art


Contesto 24
10 golden rules

Do not think that you are the first nor the only one,
Do not believe that everyone is waiting for you
Do not believe that the problems are simple
Do not think that you can do it in a hurry
Do not think that you can avoid making …. mistakes
Do not believe that the goodwill is enough
Do not believe that the technology alone is enough
Do not believe that there is only ONE supreme good
Do not believe that there is only one South of the World
Never assume that local partners are all saint or corrupted

Search ... your way to the truth,
be analytical and systematic, honest and consistent, open and solid


26 03 cooperation and development_emanuela colombo

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