DEVELOPMENT &

UNDERDEVELOPMENT

PROF. RONA DHEL C. ALINGASA

Faculty, Division of Development Communication
College of Communication, West Visayas State University
Source:
www.cnnphilippines.com
The 3rd World Legacy
• Poverty – no food to eat, no proper clothing, cannot
purchase medicine, no safe & comfortable shelter,
unable to get an education because of lack of money,
unable to support family’s basic needs, eternally in
debt
• Unemployment – do not earn a living
• Underemployment – the job requires skills that are
way below what the person is trained for
• High population growth
• Inequality – people are not equally provided with the
opportunity to develop and realize their full potential
The 3rd World Legacy
• Environmental degradation and loss of arable land –
natural resources/ ecosystems are degraded at an
alarming rate and polluted; agricultural lands are
rapidly being transformed into industrial parks and
residential subdivisions
• Malnutrition – people suffer vitamin deficiencies
because of improper food intake or no food at all
• Ethnic Conflict – wars between cultures, clash of
civilizations
Initiatives to Solve Societal Problems

• UN Millennium Development Goals

• UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Development Communication
UN MDGs

Signed in September 2000, UN MDGs are 8 goals that UN Member States have
agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015.
 UN SDGs

The 17 SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
They are set up in 2015 and intended to be achieved by 2030.
Vicious Cycle of Poverty
… no sustained economic growth is possible because each specific
advance is rapidly checked by some counter-tendency in the social
system. The most important of such countertendencies is excessive
population growth. Any significant economic progress tends to
prolong life by reducing famine and pestilence. When death rates
decrease more rapidly than birth rates – often, indeed, while birth
rates are increasing – then rapid population growth occurs. In poor
countries, population growth tends to “lead” economic growth by
setting rates of increase that must be attained so that the society
can stay at its existing levels of poverty. No surpluses can be
generated, hence no “leap forward” is possible.
Vicious Cycle of Poverty

How can a
person
break the
vicious cycle
of poverty?
Problems associated with Underdevelopment:
• are pervasive
• are interrelated
• come in clusters
• have an innate tendency to recur
The Problematique Map

The not enough cash problematique map showing causality why someone
has no enough income.
The Problematique Map

The not enough cash problematique map showing continuity of causes why
someone has no enough income.
 The Problematique Map

Bolder box – condition under study

Boxes with arrows pointing towards them – subordinate influential factors/ symptoms of the root
causes
Blocks with no arrows pointing towards them – super-ordinate influential factors/ root causes
 What is
Development?
 “ Development is one of the main priorities of the
United Nations. Development is a
multidimensional undertaking to achieve a
higher quality of life for all people. Economic
development, social development and environmental
protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing
components of sustainable development.”
- UN Development Agenda, 2007 -
References
Ongkiko, I. & Flor, A. (1998). Introduction to development communication. Quezon
City: UPOU.
www.un.org
www.who.int
Activity 1: Experience Report
• Group Activity - Divide the class in 6 groups
• Monitor news/ issues reported in the tri-media about
societal problems in Western Visayas that contribute to
underdevelopment.
• Choose one problem only to feature in your report.
Compare this problem with your personal observations
as well as your concept of development.
• What solutions can best solve the problem?

Schedule of Report/Sharing: Sept. 5/7, 2023 – f2f