Conference to fight poverty

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