Instability, elections hinder poverty reduction<\/p>\n
Stevie Emilia, Shanghai<\/p>\n
Current instability and the upcoming presidential elections in
\nIndonesia constitute the main hindrance to the national target of
\nhalving the poverty rate, economists here said.<\/p>\n
On the second day of a World Bank conference on poverty here
\non Thursday Mohamad Ikhsan of the University of Indonesia raised
\nfears regarding the increase in the number of disadvantaged
\npeople including those in conflict areas.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is among 189 countries which agreed in 2000 to the
\nMillennium Goals, which include halving the number of people
\nliving under the poverty line by 2015.<\/p>\n
\"Although some areas are rapidly progressing, there are
\nconflict areas such as in Aceh and other areas like East Nusa
\nTenggara where the number of poor people has increased,\" the
\neconomist said. Special efforts and attention are needed to
\nensure balanced progress in every area, he added.<\/p>\n
Former chief economics minister Saleh Afiff pointed to the
\nineffectiveness of the Cabinet particularly with ministers
\nresigning to join the country's presidential election in July,
\nwith a likely runoff in September.<\/p>\n
\"We won't even be able to reach the mid-term target because
\nwith the election, the Cabinet -- although they are not
\ndeliberately putting everything on hold -- don't have the courage
\nto do anything. Even the (former coordinating minister for
\npeople's welfare) Jusuf Kalla is campaigning (as running mate to
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono) so it will be very difficult for us to
\nreach the target,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"How can we reach the (millennium) goals if there is now a
\nvacuum in our government?\" Saleh said.<\/p>\n
Mohamad Ikhsan said the country \"is not working toward
\nimprovement.\" Low budget is commonly cited as a hindrance to
\nimprove maternal health and fighting HIV\/AIDS, for instance.<\/p>\n
\"Some local governments just maintain what they have instead
\nof speeding up the process and allocating more funds. In the end,
\npeople who are largely still dependent on government programs are
\nleft behind,\" he said.<\/p>\n
World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn said at the closing
\nof the event that while there was no single blueprint to reduce
\npoverty, the conference had revealed that large-scale poverty
\nreduction depended on several key factors.<\/p>\n
He cited \"sustained political commitment and visionary
\nleadership, with continuity over time\" and \"transparency and
\naccountability to cut corruption\".<\/p>\n
The conference adopted the Shanghai Agenda for Poverty
\nReduction which encourages rich countries in particular to
\nintensify assistance to countries that have not benefited from
\nthe recent global wave of progress in economic and social
\ndevelopment.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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