Asia lacks protection from economic shocks, disasters
Asia lacks protection from economic shocks, disasters
MANILA (AP): Asian countries could see economic growth and
political stability undermined by their failure to develop
programs to shield the poor from economic and natural disasters,
Asian Development Bank officials said on Thursday.
"The region does not have adequate protection systems to
reduce the impact of shocks on its population," said Karti
Sandilya, manager of ADB's poverty reduction office.
"As a result, risks will continue to have devastating
implications for poverty, inequality and the prospects of long-
term growth," he said.
Sandilya and other ADB officials spoke at a news conference at
the end of a four-day regional conference on poverty hosted by
the Manila-based bank.
The Asia-Pacific region is home to close to 900 million people
- two-third's of the world's poor - who live on less than a
dollar a day. The ADB has made the war against poverty its top
concern.
A financial crisis in 1997 ravaged many Asian economies,
swelling the ranks of the poor and exposing them to further
suffering.
Despite that, many Asian countries have failed to set up
adequate social protection programs, partly because of limited
funds, although financial shocks, poverty and joblessness remain
a threat. Natural disasters also happen frequently, said ADB
economist Isabel Ortiz.
One concern is that about 40 percent of the region's people
are under age 19 and many face joblessness unless sufficient
economic activity is generated, Sandilya said.
The ADB said it is finalizing a social protection strategy to
reduce risks for the most vulnerable, including the unemployed,
women, children, the elderly and disaster victims.
Ortiz said the proposed strategy, which could be finalized
later this year, would help countries develop effective programs
to cushion the risks of unemployment, health problems and
disability. Help in setting up social funds and preparing for
disasters also would be provided.
Despite many challenges, it appears Asia can halve extreme
poverty by its target year of 2015, Sandilya said. About 28
percent of the people in East Asia, for example, were considered
poor in 1990, but that was cut to 15 percent in 1998, with
projections for 4 percent by 2008, Sandilya said.
Progress in South Asia is slower but is also on track, he
said. About 44 percent of South Asian people were poor in 1990.
The region was able to reduce that by 4 percentage points by
1998, with another cut of 14 percentage points projected by 2008,
according to Sandilya.
An international target of halving poverty worldwide by 2015
is unreachable if Asia cannot solve its poverty problems, ADB
officials said.