Who cares for our poor?<\/p>\n
It is unfortunate, if not incomprehensible, that Indonesia
\npaid scant attention to last week's UN Conference on Financing
\nfor Development in the Mexican city of Monterrey. This is an
\nimportant issue in which Indonesia wants to make its voice heard.
\nNot only did President Megawati stay away, she also failed to
\ndispatch an official of significant stature to join the more than
\n50 other heads of state in Monterrey.<\/p>\n
The \"Monterrey Consensus\" calls on wealthy nations to work
\ntowards allocating at least 0.7 percent of their gross national
\nproduct for foreign aid, the promotion of investment in poor
\ncountries and to allow access to goods from developing countries.
\nThe poor countries were urged to promote good governance and
\ndemocratic processes as they work to meet their challenges,
\nparticularly in tackling poverty. The consensus tallies with the
\nUN Millennium Goal of halving the number of poor people by 2015.<\/p>\n
Where was Indonesia while all these key deliberations among
\ngovernment leaders took place in Monterrey? The low-key
\nrepresentation suggests that the administration in Jakarta was
\naloof to the theme. Yet, foreign aid and how it is spent is
\nimportant to us, more so these past four years in the midst of
\nthe economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is one of the world's largest recipients of foreign
\naid, to the tune of between $3 billion and $4 billion a year. It
\nwas the subject of a massive international bailout in 1998, and
\ngiven the near state of bankruptcy, it will continue to count on
\nthe generosity of wealthy nations to help it stay afloat.<\/p>\n
While Indonesia does not fall into the World Bank's
\nclassification of poorest countries, the absolute number of
\npeople in abject poverty dwarfs even some of the poorest
\ncountries in Africa simply because of the huge population.<\/p>\n
The 15.2 percent of people classified by the government as
\nliving below the poverty line translates into 33 million. The 7.8
\npercent of people who live on less than $1 a day (the
\ninternational measurement of poverty) translates into 17 million.
\nAnd, 58 percent of the population, or 127 million, live on less
\nthan $2 a day and are therefore considered as \"near poor\", making
\nthem highly vulnerable to another economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's weak representation in Monterrey mirrors the
\nprevailing attitude within the government towards the problem of
\npoverty. The issue is not even on its radar screen. In the
\nongoing struggle to bring the economy back on its recovery path,
\npoverty reduction is treated more as an after-thought, on the
\nassumption that it would be taken care of automatically once the
\neconomy picks up again.<\/p>\n
How long can the government really neglect the problem of
\npoverty the way it has been doing all this time? Looking at some
\nof the demands by aid donor countries in Monterrey, it won't be
\nlong before they require that Indonesia get serious on its
\npoverty reduction campaign.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/who-cares-for-our-poor-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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