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Just Another Empty Promise, Say Asian Delegates
Delegates from Asia are describing in just one word the anti-poverty report launched by Kofi Annan Monday - “disappointing”.
The report is difficult to appreciate as it smacks of the disappointments of the past,” says Dr. Shobha Raghuram , who works for social development in India.
She points out that the report does not specifically spell out a role of non/governmental organizations but is rather lumped in together under the sector that would include private corporations and other organizations such as Foundations.
Asian representatives of non/governmental organizations at the Social Summit, say the report released by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday, is disappointing and a cause for higher vigilance. The report, touted by the UN as a A Better World for All” is spelled out by the UN as a basis for reducing poverty by 2015 through a partnership with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary |Fund. The report however has only created more concern for non/governmental organizations that say they have been pushed to be implementers rather than been given a voice to take a specific stand in gearing the social policies of their countries.
“In addition, she criticizes the report for lacking specific guidelines of how the big institutions, that will be joining the UN in social upliftment, will also be held responsible for their own mistakes. “It is well known that the big multilateral organizations are guilty of a lack of transparency. We need to see a major change in this field for example,” she explained.
Many Asian participants in a series of workshops and seminars today called out for the need to readdress the report towards making it a more serious contribution to poverty reduction.
Their criticism is all the mor esignificant as it comes against figure in the UN document that claimms Asia in the developing world, seeing progress in most areas of poverty reduction.
East Asia has seen the most significant reduction, from 28 percent in 1990 living in poverty to 15 percent in 1998.
South Asia has also seen a fall from 44 percent to 40 percent. In education, again Asia scores again with the enrolment gap between girls and boys lowest in East Asia at 93 percent from 85 percent in 1990 and 77 percent in South asia , up from 65 percent.
Still Asian activists refuse to say their countries are on the road to poverty eradication.
Sri Lankan Suananda Deshapriya who works on civil rights at home, commented on the vital need for poverty reduction to be seen as a human rights issue, a viewpoint that has been neglected by the donor community in Geneva, he says..
Jong Sung You, of South korea, who is head of the Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice, a grass root organization with more than 20,000 members, says he is bitterly disappointed over the Un report.
He explains that he views the report not as a sign of progress but once again another empty promise.
"We have to see concrete action rather than empty promises again to believe in the report," he saya. "A major contribution towards convincing the world of the sincerity of the UN partnership with multilateral organizations, he says, " would be the realization of a commitement to the Tobin tax, (a tax towards poverty reduction to be implemented in rich countries) in Geneva."
The Tobin tax, while supported by some donors such as Canada, is being resisted by the US and Japan.
You goes on to point out that IMF policies caused the Asian economic crisis, explaining that too rapid financial liberalization under the direction of the international organization, lead to the disruption of the economy causing hundreds to loose jobs and face bankruptcy.
“People blame the IMF for what happened to them,” he says. “Now do you expect them to accept the new process in social development.?”
Korea has managed to return its falling economy to pre-economic crisis levels. The nations foreign exchange reserves increased from dollars 3.8 billion in late 1977 to about dollars 68 billion today..
But the social aspects of the crisis continue to plague the country. Activists point out that unemployment continues to rise to reach 6.8 percent in 1998 and unemployed persons reached a peak in February 1999 standing at 8.7 percent with the actual number now exceeding 2 million.
A major grouse with the partnership with multilateral organizations is the continuing discrepancy in ODA disbursements from rich donors.
A pledge to increase assistance to reach 0.7 percent of the national budgets has not been realized by 5 of the main nine donors, and ngos seize on this blatant foot dragging as an important illustration of why the new report cannot work.
“The report,” says You, “ does not spell out a clear framework of how this important pledge, that was made in the seventies, has yet to be reached. Now can you expect us to go along with the latest promise?.”
Total ODA has fallen to dollars 55 billion in 1998 with donors contributing on an average of 0.2 percent of GNP, a figure that has fallen from 0.3 percent two years ago.
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Has the world lived up to its 1996 commitments..?
Solidarity 2000 starting 17th of June!
MS's big summer event Solidarity 2000 will start very soon now, with a week-long variety of debates and arrangements. The activities range from encounters between young people from Balkan, Africa and Central America to big conferences on the planet's social development and environment.
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The 1996 Copenhagen Social Summit final report in English, French and Spanish.