5.1.2 Closing the development gap
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- Ways of supporting the processes of human development
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- The multidimensional process of human development and ways to measure it: empowering women and indigenous or minority groups
- Case study or detailed examples
- Detailed illustrative examples of affirmative action to close the development gap
- Aims of this lesson
- To be able to discuss the multidimensional nature of the UN SDGs
- To have knowledge and understanding of how progress upon the SDGs is measured and reported.
- To have detailed illustrative examples of affirmative action to close the development gap focusing upon:
- Empowering women
- Empowering indigenous groups
- Empowering minority groups
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
Fiji wrestles with plans to restore Indigenous rights over world-famous surf breaks
Move to bring back customary marine rights is celebrated, but concerns remain about potential effect on tourism and lack of clarity about how it might work
The Guardian · 23 December 2025
Key terms
- Affirmative action
- Refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organisation seeking to include particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed or nationality in areas in which they are underrepresented such as education and employment.
- Development gap
- The widening difference in levels of development between the world's richest and poorest countries.
- Empower
- Make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.
- Indigenous group
- Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups who are related to the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region. Peoples are usually described as "indigenous" when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region. Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic, as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonising culture, such as dress, religion or language.
- Minority group
- A minority group, by its original definition, refers to a group of people whose practices, race, religion, ethnicity, or other characteristics are fewer in numbers than the main groups of those classifications. However, in present-day sociology, a minority group refers to a category of people who experience relative disadvantage as compared to members of a dominant social group.
- Multidimensional
- Having many different features.
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Review
- Analyse criticisms of the validity and reliability of development indicators used to measure human development. [12]
