muchen 牧辰

Week 5 Quiz

Updated 2019-06-09

Question 1

How does the UN describe Least Developed Countries (LDCs)?

The LDCs are a group of countries based on 3 criteria:

  1. Human assets
    • Secondary school enrollment (higher is better)
    • Under-nourishment (lower is better)
    • Maternal mortality (lower is better)
    • Adult literacy (higher is better)
    • Under five mortality (lower is better)
  2. Economic vulnerability
    • Population (?)
    • Remoteness (lower is better)
    • Export concentration (higher is better)
    • Victims of natural disasters (lower is better)
    • Share of agriculture and fishing in GDP (?)
    • Share of population in costal zones (?)
    • Instability of exports (lower is better)
  3. Income per capita
    • Income per capita graduation threshold: 1242 USD (2015)

Question 2

Which of the following intellectual frameworks (i.e. way-of- thinking), can be particularly useful when working on a humanitarian engineering problem?

  • Iterative thinking
  • Systems-thinking
  • Interdisciplinary thinking

Question 3

Name and describe 4 ethical frameworks that may be of use in working on a humanitarian engineering project.

The four ethical frameworks are: ethics of care, non-maleficence and beneficence, ethical pluralism, and feminism.

Ethics of Care involves the idea that certain population is more vulnerable than others, thus they need to be cared about. They are affected by our choices. Ethics of care states that there is no universal truth.

Non-maleficence means avoid needless harm, and beneficence means actions should promote the well-being of others.

Ethical pluralism acknowledges that there are many right/wrong perspectives.

Feminism is inclusivity that leads to equality in the decision making.

Question 4

Consider the Jordan water shortage problem described in Tab 6.1.4.

Imagine that, as an expert water engineer, you are a member of an international water advisory committee for Jordan’s government.

Which of the following options would you support in addressing and managing Jordan’s water shortage?

  • Build desalination plants in order to make use of the water in the Dead Sea.
  • Liberalize the water market to achieve a water price that reflects the balance between assets and demands - i.e., increase the price of water in the region.