Conference to fight poverty

YOGYAKARTA: Some 600 participants from various organizations that deal with poverty confirmed they would attend a key conference from March 25 until March 27 in Yogyakarta to agree on a common strategy in their efforts to alleviate poverty, an official said.

Among the expected participants were regents and mayors from across the country, the chairmen of regional Poverty Alleviation Committees (KPKs), academicians, businessmen, bankers and delegates from international donor institutions, said the secretary of the KPK in Jakarta, Gunawan Sumodiningrat on Saturday.

"The meeting will be focused on creating a common understanding among the different institutions at the central and regional levels with regard to the strategies and policies to alleviate poverty," Gunawan said.

The KPK is part of the government's commitment to better tackle poverty in return for receiving loans from foreign creditor nations under the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI).

According to the World Bank's estimate, more than 30 million Indonesians, some 14 percent of the population, live below the absolute poverty line, defined as earning less than US$1 a day. -- JP