Contrasts and similarities of Indonesia and Brazil’s human development condition

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Similarities
Contrast
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Brazil is found in the Latin America and has a population of approximately 190 million, reflected in 2010 statistics. Population growth rate stands at 1.02% annually comprising of various races including Portuguese, Africans, and Germans, Italians, indigenous people and those with Middle Eastern descent amongst others.

The current educational literacy stands at 90.3% of adult population, while life expectancy by the year 2010 was around 73.1 years. The level of workforce within the country was approximated at 101.7 million by the year 2009. Brazil is under Federal type of governance with three arms which include Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

Economically the overall GDP of Brazil at nominal exchange rate was estimated to be around $ 2.1 trillion by 2010, while the purchasing power parity stood at over $ 2.0 trillion. Economic growth rate was estimated to be above 7.4% in 2010. Brazil is regarded as the most populated country in Latin America with majority of the population leaving in urban centers. The population growth rate has since aided economic growth with consequent results in social, security and political areas (Bureau of western Hemisphere Affairs).

Indonesia as a developing country in South East Asia has made recognizable progress in the process of democratic and economic recovery. From mid 1960s to late 1990s Indonesian government survived under authoritarian kind of governance which saw it transform to middle-income country. However, the country is known to be multi-ethnic and religious state.

There is considerable disparity across the country between the rich and the poor as well as gender. Records show that the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) rose to 0.728 in the year 2005 while the gender development Index still remained low.

According to World Bank, Indonesian GDP growth was indicated to be at 6.3% in 2007, with inflation rate standing at 6.4% showing decline from previous years and unemployment rate standing at 9.1% also decline from previous years. High level of corruption presents one of the formidable threats to political and economic progress (BTI 2010 2-25). The influence of anti-corruption institutions has been of less impact to the society.

Similarities

Increased export rate, economic growth and social programs have contributed to improved standards of living; this could be realized by the fact that tens of millions of Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty. The current statistics shows that majority of Brazilians are now middle-class earners same as Indonesia. This could be attributed to sound economic policies, inflation control, fiscal management and moderate exchange rate.

An article published by IBGE portrayed Brazil as one of the countries who have grown richer from 1900 to 2000 but the condition on equality is at an alarming state. According to UNDP the income distribution in Brazil during 1990s despite major improvements within other sectors, hunger map indicated that about a third of Brazilian population live in poverty stricken conditions with an income of below US $ 1 per day, this situation is the same in Indonesia (The World Bank 8-12).

Brazil’s human improvement in the nineties recorded an imbalanced Human Development Index (HDI) (UNDP International Poverty Centre 2-4). This kind of inequality could be bridged up by the education sector; the government resorted to improving education level in small and medium-sized municipalities during the 1990s.

Greater percentage of inequality could be explained from the existence of large income gaps within the municipalities showing how locally rooted income inequality is. Human development in Brazil over the last ten years is a clear indication to other countries of the world that economic growth is possible despite lack of expansive economic level (The World Bank 8-12).

In both countries social protection programs have been used in helping households maintain access to essential needs and services. This has helped in maintaining social balance within the two countries in terms of food, education and energy provision. In response to economic crisis, Indonesian government embarked on providing scholarships for the children from poor rural community, this prevented further school dropouts amongst children.

Concerning rising level of energy costs, Indonesia initiated what is known as time-limited cash transfer program which assisted the population in times of rising fuel prices. Common characteristic of both countries has been the increasing involvement of both governments in economic growth issues.

Contrast

Infant mortality rate increased in Indonesia to over 3% due to financial crisis while that in Brazil remained at 2.7%. Real income shocks indicated significant risks to outcomes in educational sector for the poor due to substantial increase in inflation rate.

The 1997 economic crisis brought about significant decline in school going children amongst the poorest communities within rural areas in Indonesia. The level of percentage represented by the teenagers not attending schools doubled to 12% in mid 1990s. This is contrary to the situation in Brazil where school attendance of the girl child was dictated by the loss of a household head’s job (UNDP International Poverty Centre 2-4).

Previous researches indicate that human development and social protection within Brazil basically focused on the working class, especially those in the formal sector. This led to imbalanced development amongst the population until recent years, when the government started to focus on equitable social development. This led to development of insurance institutions for the purposes of controlling fiscal deficits amongst those with formal employment.

Before mid 1990s the Brazilian government was under the control of military and emergency governments which contributed to further deterioration on human development. However, the creation of democratic government after mid 1990s led to strong engagement and demand for social protection. The move led to initiation of highly innovative and domestically oriented programs aimed at reducing poverty level (Bureau of western Hemisphere Affairs).

Indonesia was characterized by informal kinds of social protection used in the pre-colonial societies. These processes involved famine relief programs and assisting the frustrated and destitute within the society.

The programs were characterized by poor funding and implementation process presided over by the welfare ministries. The country has been recognized by over reliance on family-based social protection, the country has been for a long time characterized by low income which was critically undermined by the 1997 financial crisis (Kakwani 5-6).

Conclusion

The effects resulting from globalization and rapid economic transformation represents very important aspect on the demand for social protection. The greater changes within the global markets lead to increased level of social and economic hazards on the less developed countries.

Great economic changes were realized within Brazil and Indonesia between 1980 and the year 2000. Brazil experienced acute and sustained economic and financial crises as well as structural development. The crises led to increased level of poverty and vulnerability within the social set-up in Brazil. These conditions led to initiation of social protection programs within these two countries, Brazil and Indonesia (The World Bank 8-12).

Works Cited

BTI 2010. Indonesia Country Report. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2009. pp 2-25.

Bureau of western Hemisphere Affairs. “Federative Republic of Brazil”. Department of State, 2010. Web.

Kakwani, Nanal. Pro- Poor Growth in Asia. Australia: University of South Wales. pp 5-6.

The World Bank. “Rising Food and Fuel Prices: Addressing the Risk to future Generations”. Human Development Network, (2008): 8-12.

UNDP International Poverty centre. “Human Development in Brazil”. In Focus Journal, (2004): 2-4.

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