Thailand ready for big summit (2)<\/p>\n
By Vitit Muntarbhorn<\/p>\n
This is the second installment of a two-part article on social
\ndevelopment issues in Thailand.<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: What should be Thailand's expectations from the
\nWorld Social Development Summit and from itself in preventing and
\nremedying the consequences of poverty and the lack of equity?<\/p>\n
Thailand should demand the following from the international
\ncommunity at the world summit:<\/p>\n
1. Social development, especially poverty alleviation and
\nmeasures to tackle the lack of equity, should be established as a
\nhigh priority for action at the international and national levels.
\nThis should be targeted towards specific timeframes, with
\neffective budgetary allocations, to realize clearly defined goals
\nin the short, medium and long term, for example five, 10 and 15-
\n20 year timeframes. The framework for such action should take the
\nform of international and national plans or programs of action,
\nreflecting the key concerns of poverty alleviation, equity,
\nexpansion of productive employment and social cohesion, with
\nmeasurable targets for monitoring and evaluation.<\/p>\n
2. The international and national communities should strategize
\nto overcome the patterns of unbalanced development and the lack of
\nequity which hamper the progress of many countries, especially
\ndeveloping countries. This calls for international and national
\nrestructuring and concomitant budgets so as to promote social
\ndevelopment as part of sustainable, human and humane development and
\nas part of an expected sense of global community and solidarity.<\/p>\n
3. All countries should foster the promotion and protection of
\nhuman rights, including the rights to development and the right to
\nsocial security, in keeping with international standards.<\/p>\n
4. States, national and international organizations should
\nadvocate concretely that the success of economic development does
\nnot necessarily guarantee social development. Action is thus
\nrequired at both the international and national levels to ensure
\nthat there is a balance between economic development and social
\ndevelopment and that the benefits of growth are shared equitably
\nbetween all strata of society.<\/p>\n
5. The global community should propagate the message that
\nsocial development has both material and non-material dimensions.
\nThe latter calls for greater promotion of spiritual, moral and
\nethical development as part of basic human needs and aspirations.<\/p>\n
6. International and national measures should be adopted to
\nreflect the fact that social development requires multi-faceted,
\ninter-sectoral and integrated action targeted at human development.
\nIn this context, poverty alleviation and measures to counter the
\nlack of equity require joint efforts between not only States but
\nalso between States and non-State actors, including nongovernmental
\norganizations, community groupings, the mass media, the business
\nsector, families and concerned individuals.<\/p>\n
7. The World Summit should propel a vision oriented towards the
\ncentrality of \"societies\" rather than \"economies\". In this
\nperspective, there is a need to foster and regenerate communities,
\norganizations, families and individuals who can offer social
\nprotection with and for each other and who can provide social safety
\nnets for those in need.<\/p>\n
As for Thailand's expectations of itself for improved
\nperformance in the next decade and millennium, the following
\nconcerns are particularly pertinent:<\/p>\n
1. The Thai government should adopt more effective anti-poverty
\nstrategies both nationally and locally. One the one hand, this calls
\nfor multi-pronged action to alleviate and eradicate poverty
\nespecially in rural areas and slum communities. On the other hand,
\nit advocates the need for greater equity to ensure that wealth and
\nresources are shared equitably by all members of the community and
\nthat they are deconcentrated from the hands of an elite.<\/p>\n
2. The Thai government should aim for greater
\ndecentralization of power and resources so that the localities,
\nespecially those in rural areas, can participate fully in initiating
\nand implementing anti-poverty programs.<\/p>\n
3. The Thai government should respond more effectively to the
\nbasic needs of the poor and promote more income generating
\nactivities in the localities so as to provide the inhabitants with
\nthe socio-economic means to remain there rather than be pressured to
\nmigrate to other areas in search of a viable livelihood.<\/p>\n
4. The Thai government should reform the tax base so that it
\ncan facilitate income distribution and resource allocations to help
\nthose in need.<\/p>\n
5. The Thai government should foster action to prevent families
\nfrom disintegrating and should assist needy families by promoting
\nadequate means of livelihood and a national and local fund to help
\ndisadvantaged families, as well as access to education, training,
\ncredit, technology, cooperative and occupational opportunities.<\/p>\n
6. The Thai government should enhance access to primary,
\nsecondary, tertiary and other types of education, both formal and
\nnon-formal. Action is required to counter the phenomenon of dropouts
\nfrom primary education. This may include more scholarships to help
\nchildren in need and subsidies for impoverished families so that
\nthey will facilitate children's access to education.<\/p>\n
7. The Thai government should improve implementation of
\nnational and local plans for the preservation of natural resources
\nand to ensure greater accountability of those who damage the
\nenvironment, as well as greater community participation in
\nprotecting the environment.<\/p>\n
8. The Thai government should adopt more concrete measures to
\nlessen the disparity between urban and rural areas. In part, this
\ncan be done by providing more incentives for rural
\nindustrialization, such as by means of small and medium-scale
\nindustries in rural areas and self-employment opportunities
\nthrough more training, access to credit and technology and the
\nformation of cooperative groupings to market products and
\ngenerate income.<\/p>\n
9. The Thai government should accelerate land reform to
\nredistribute land to those in need. This is dependent upon
\ntransparency and accountability of the process so as to prevent
\nunscrupulous elements from profiteering from land reform.<\/p>\n
10. The Thai government should provide more social development
\nincentives, as contra-distinguished from economic development and
\ninvestment incentives, to stimulate action in favor of human
\ndevelopment. This can take the form of more tax relief and other
\nprivileges accorded to non-governmental organizations and
\ncommunity groupings working in the area of social development.
\nThe authorities should also increase budgetary allocations in he
\narea of social development, and foster greater local,
\nnongovernmental and community participation in this process.<\/p>\n
Vitit Muntarbhorn is Professor at the Faculty of Law,
\nChulalongkorn University. He is Executive Director of Child
\nRights Asianet and a contributing editor of The Nation.<\/p>",
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