you will need to choose from one of the 47 countries that are currently designated by the United Nations as “Least Developed Countries” (LDCs). Choose ONE country from this list: African LDCs Angola, Benin,Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia. Asian LDCs: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Yemen. Island LDCs: Comoros,Haiti,Kiribati,SaoTome and Principe, Solomon Islands,Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. Source: UN lisof LDC ‘s UN recognition of Least Developed Countries (LDC ) The list of LDC’s is reviewed every three years by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, in the light of recommendations by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP). The following three criteria are used by the CDP to determine LDC status: Per capita income(gross national income per capita) Human assets(indicators of nutrition, health, school enrollment and literacy) Economic vulnerability(indicators of natural and trade-related shocks, physical and economic exposure to shocks, and smallness and remoteness). As you have probably noticed 31 of the 47 LDC’s are located in Africa Extreme poverty is becoming more concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa “Unlike most of the rest of the world, the total number of extremely poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, from 278 million in 1990 to 413 million in 2015. In 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa was home to 27 of the world’s 28 poorest countries and had more extremely poor people than in the rest of the world combined. Nigeria is expected to pass India as the country with the most people living in extreme poverty, if it hasn’t already. While the average poverty rate for other regions was below 13% as of 2015, it stood at about 41% in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018, the factors behind the higher levels of poverty in Africa include the region’s slower growth rates, problems caused by conflict and weak institutions, and a lack of success in channeling growth into poverty reduction.” From: Year in Review: 2018 in 14 Charts (#2) Grading Criteria (you must label and address each of the 6 following required sections) ======== Section # 1. Cultural background (5 points) 1 page a. Briefly describe the nationalities, language, and religion of the country b. Discuss TWO of the country’s unique customs they practice. Section # 2. Historical/political context (5 points) 1 page a. Provide a brief history of the country (at least 4 major events that have occurred in the past 100 years or so) b. What type of government system is in place? c. Who is their current president? Section # 3. Resources and distribution of wealth (5 points) 1 page a. Describe the country’s natural resources and their main exports. b. Discuss the distribution of labor force by occupation (include % for the number of people working in Agriculture, Industry, and Services) c. How is the wealth in this nation distributed? (for example, what percentage of the wealthy population own the country’s income? Wealth Gap? Do not simply list the GINI Index) Section # 4. Human Capital Index Factors (16 points) 3-4 pages a. Watch the following videos – What is the World Bank’s Human Capital Index?  and 5 Things to Know About the 2020 Human Capital Index Update b. Discuss and list the data on the following 5 items for your country (refer to the CIA WorldFactbook list of countries) Child survival School enrollment Quality of learning Healthy growth  Adult survival c. Analyze the 5 factors and discuss how the stats from section “b” explain the living conditions in this country and how much economic potential they’re losing in the long-term by not fully investing in human capital – “the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives,” as the World Bank defines it. Other indicators to consider: Economic factors : GDP, GDP per capita, Unemployment rate, Population below poverty line, GINI coefficient, Population living below $1 a day, Real wages, Poverty Gap. Non-economic factors: literacy rates, mortality and morbidity rates, health service usage, and household infrastructure, clean water, HIV/AIDS, life expectancy. Additional resources for section 4 World Bank Human Capital Index (Full list of countries on pages 42-44) Chart of the Day: The World Bank Ranks Each County Based on Its “Human Capital” The World Bank Human Capital Project The Human Capital Report (Video) Index Mundi Country Reports Sumner, A. (2006). Economic well-being and non-economic well-being. In M. McGillivray & M. Clarke (Eds.), Understanding human well-being (pp. 54-73). NY: United Nations University Press. (see attached pdf file for article at the top of the page) Section #5. Poverty relief efforts (8 points) 1-2 pages a. Identify and describe THREE government or private/non-profit aid programs that are intended to directly or indirectly alleviate poverty within the country you are discussing (you will need to cite the program’s website). b. Does the aid program focus on building resiliency? c. Does the aid program target at the individual level, family level or community level? d. Is the program a grass-roots or top-down program? Additional resources for section 5: Classical vs Grassroots development The Importance of Grassroots Involvement Section # 6. Compare poverty alleviation efforts to those in the US (8 points)  1-2 pages a. Describe TWO poverty programs in here in the US (ideas are listed below) that the US government employs to fight poverty (you will need to cite both of them). b. Compare and contrast the 2 US poverty programs you described in section “a” with poverty alleviation efforts in the country you have selected for your profile. How are the programs similar or different in the 2 countries? c. Do the programs reflect similar or different ideologies? d. Do you think the US could learn something from any of the programs you have discussed from your profile country? US Programs to consider: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Medicaid (TANF) Children’s Health Insurance Program Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) Section 8 Housing Voucher Program Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Unemployment insurance Earned Income Tax Credit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Head Start / Early Head Start National School Lunch Program APA (3 points) I will NOT accept plagiarized papers – you must give credit where credit is due to the authors of the research you used in your paper. If you use a direct quote, put quotations marks around the quote. Always include (Author, year) when citing. If no author is given, use the first words of the article title in place of the author’s last name, then the year of publication. You must cite a minimum of 8 references in your paper and then list them in the reference page using APA style with Hanging Indents Papers need to be double spaced, 1″ margins, and Arial 12-point font. The reference page also needs to be double spaced, meaning each citation is double spaced (not single). You must label each of the SIX sections. Check out these Guidelines for Class Papers: APA tutorial Citing sources in your Reference page Purdue OWL Writing Lab: APA tips APA Citation Style Quick Guide: WSU Please refer to Optional APA Self Quizzes, found in the Guidelines for Papers link on the Course Information page of Learning Modules for help with properly citing, also refer to the Course Information page of Learning Modules for great poverty websites. APA recently came out with a 7th edition to their manual, one change is that you no longer need to use the phrase “Retrieved from” before a URL address anymore. A great APA resource for citing online sources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html Additional Resources The CIA World Factbook is a great place to start in locating data on your country The Population Reference Bureau has a feature on their site where you can generate a data comparison for 2 or more countries. Index Mundi Another helpful link: Human Development Reports Eldis: Country Profiles for Poverty The measurement of poverty: the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Country Profiles World Poverty Clock Poverty and Shared Prosperity Grading Criteria Criteria Points 1. Cultural background (1 page) 5 2. Historical/political context (1 page) 5 3. Sources and distribution of wealth (1 page) 5 4.Human Capital (3 pages) 16 5. Poverty relief efforts (1-2 pages) 8 6. Compare poverty alleviation efforts to those in the US (1-2 pages) 8 7. APA style throughout 3 TOTAL 50