Subject: PA 299 (Seminar in Governmental Management)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABLE

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable Development

Basic Assumptions:
 Presented in 1987 by the World Commission for Environment and Development in its report
entitled “Our Common Future”
 It recognizes that society is differentiated into 3 realms – economy (business as key actors),
the polity (Government as key actor), and culture (civil society as key actor) – which are
interacting and implementing components of an integral society to insure a life-enhancing
development process.

 In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro
where sustainable development became the leading concept of Agenda 21 adopted by both
industrial and developing countries as the environmental action programme for the 21 st
century.
 It has two principal components: Environmental protection and providing basic needs of
present and future generations.

Meaning of Development:
 A development process that satisfies the present generation’s needs without
endangering the possibilities of future generations of satisfying their needs and
choosing lifestyle.

Strategies:
 Agenda 21, an action program with the following components:
1. Social and economic dimensions
2. Conservation and management of resources for development (Ecogovernance) –
combating deforestation, and desertification, protection of the atmosphere,
biodiversity protection, protection of marine resources, management of solid
wastes, alternative sources of energy, solid wastes management, etc.
3. Strengthening roles of major groups
4. Means of implementation

 Adoption of the 4 Rs – “Reuse, Recycle, Repair, and Reduce”

Human Development by the UNDP in 1990

Basic Assumptions:
 Founded on the universality of human rights as adopted in the 1993 World conference
on Human Development in Vienna, Austria
 It has 3 areas: long & healthy life, education, and a decent standard of living

Meaning of Development:
 It is a process of expanding peoples’ choices, opportunities, and strengthening human
capabilities thus it focuses on people with the restoration of human dignity as the focal
point.

Strategies:
 Involves mobilization of production and creative energies of people (or, mass based
HRD), the Minimum Basic Need Approach (MBN), poverty alleviation, popular
participation, and entrepreneurship development
 Makes use of the Human Development Index (HDI) – an indicator of development used
by the UNDP to measure the level of human development of all member nations of the
UN.

G. Sustainable Human Development

 Highlighted in the 5th UNDP Report of 1994

Basic Assumptions:
 In recognition of Agenda 21, it supposes that peace, development, and protection of the
environment are interdependent and indivisible
 Closely related to social development which put the social issue on the agenda of the 1 st
World Summit on Social development in March 1995
 Focuses on fighting poverty by creating jobs and security systems
 Considers the role of women in the development process
 Peace is an important consideration and has many dimensions such as the military,
social, economic, and ecological
 The human being is also a creature of culture which must not be neglected
 Requires the linking of maximized short-term interests to long-term interests related to
survival, security, and justice
 Recognizes the need to identify the ecologically and socially imperative limits to the
present system of limit-less growth
 Not just concerned with keeping nature clean but most importantly, that sustainability is
not a question of “clean production but of lean production”
 Emphasizes on the need for an ethics of enough as contained in t he 1998 UNDP
Report
Strategies:
 Popular participation – stimulating not only individual level participation but also of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society groups
 Strengthen administrative capability in governance to fight poverty with the 20/20
agreement (allocation of 20% of development aid and 20% counterpart) to finance
priority social services projects such as basic education, clean drinking water, and basic
health services
 Strengthening alliances between government, the business sector, and civil society