Regional integration in developing countries: A comparative matrix of trade, health and education and lessons for Africa

Abstract

This report has been commissioned to informed the UNDP Report Regional Integration and Human Development: A Pathway for Africa. It is directed at reviewing regional integration experiences in Latin America and Asia in order to establish the ways in which regional policies in the areas of trade, health and education have produced consequences for the advancement of human development. The report provides an analysis of three regional agreements Mercado Común del Sur (Mercosur), Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) . These three agreements were chosen as they represent different regional arrangements with levels of institutionalization tackling common economic and social problems. Member states in each of these agreements face diverse dilemmas of social inclusion, equality, citizenship and economic competitiveness, problems that are pressing in contemporary Sub-Saharan nations. Regional agreements through the introduction and enforcement of public policies and the creation of regional consensus have the potential to mitigate some of the obstacles that impede human development. Moreover, regional integration should be seen as a means of public action where resources are pooled together to extend regional public policy to areas of relevance for human development such as health, education, and housing. As a consequence, regionalism may become a new site for public policy decisions led by state-led regional governance efforts that overcome traditional state-bounded provisions of social rights. This is an issue of great relevance for societies that struggle with high levels of poverty, exclusion and inequality. This report aims to identify some of the regional policies that facilitate and support human development to draw some lessons from the economic and social agendas in Mercosur, CAN and ASEAN.

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ORCID for Pia Riggirozzi: orcid.org/0000-0001-5809-890X

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