Limited budget for poverty goals: Govt<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government said on Tuesday a lack of funds would prevent it
\nfrom halving the number of poor people in the country by 2015, as
\ncontained in the Millennium Development Goals.<\/p>\n
\"In the funding aspect, the government budget will remain
\nlimited. In 2004, for example, we will still face a 1 percent
\ndeficit in the gross domestic product,\" Syahrial Loetan, a senior
\nofficial at the National Development Planning Body (Bappenas),
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Syahrial was speaking at a seminar jointly held by the
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development
\nProgram (UNDP).<\/p>\n
He said budget problems would impede the government's ability
\nto fund activities and programs that could enable it to meet the
\nMillennium Development Goals.<\/p>\n
These development goals are humanitarian targets pledged by
\nleaders worldwide in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
The eight goals include halving the number of poor people by
\n2015 and the number of people suffering from hunger, ensuring all
\nboys and girls can complete primary school and reducing by two-
\nthirds the mortality rate of children under the age of five.<\/p>\n
Apart from budget woes there also are problems related to the
\nmessy implementation of regional autonomy and the security
\ninstability plaguing some regions, said Syahril.<\/p>\n
\"The implementation of regional autonomy, which has failed to
\nlive up to its original objectives, casts doubt over the ability
\nto achieve the millennium goals,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, he said the distribution of social safety
\nnet funds often missed the target partly because of the inability
\nof regional governments to implement the program properly.<\/p>\n
Communal conflicts and separatist movements across the country
\nare the other major obstacles to Indonesia's efforts to meet the
\nmillennium goals.<\/p>\n
Bo Asplund, the UNDP resident representative for Indonesia,
\nvoiced similar concerns.<\/p>\n
\"While a few provinces in Indonesia are already well on track
\nto reach the targets, many are not and will likely reach them way
\nbeyond 2015,\" Asplund said in his keynote speech.<\/p>\n
He said a number of provinces were on course to reach the
\npoverty reduction target by 2015, with Yogyakarta projected to
\nreach the target in 2004, East Java, Jambi and East Kalimantan in
\n2006 and Central Sulawesi in 2008.<\/p>\n
\"However, the 17 others, or the majority, will not obtain it
\nby 2015,\" said Asplund.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra, Aceh and West Nusa Tenggara might even reach
\nthe target in the next century, Asplund said.<\/p>\n
He said the UNDP and the Indonesian government were working
\nout a road map to help the government attain the Millennium
\nDevelopment Goals on time.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/limited-budget-for-poverty-goals-govt-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}