Experts discuss poverty eradication

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Although the Southeast Asian region has achieved progress, its economic growth has not been accompanied by an even distribution of income, according to the representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to Indonesia.

"Although the ASEAN region has achieved significant progress, poverty is still part of people's lives," Frits Loebus said during the opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) experts meeting on rural development and poverty eradication here Wednesday night.

All ASEAN members, except Thailand and Singapore, have sent representatives to the three-day meeting.

Loebus was quoted by Antara as saying that 7 percent of the world's poor live in the ASEAN region, which ironically is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions in the world.

The uneven distribution of income has prevented these people from enjoying the fruits of development, he said.

The disparity of development is also seen between cities and rural areas in the region. "Social progress can not be achieved if there is still (an economic) gap," he said.

Loebus said the UNDP welcomes the ASEAN governments' good intention to eradicate poverty. They have even given their respective poverty eradication programs top priority, he said.

"We support them. UNDP now gives top priority to the poverty eradication programs of ASEAN member countries," he said, adding that the elimination of poverty in the ASEAN region will contribute to the realization of the ASEAN Vision 2020.

Fifty delegates are attending the meeting which discusses poverty eradication efforts in the region. The meeting concludes today.

Assistant to the Indonesian State Minister of National Development Planning, Mubyarto, said the ASEAN Expert Group Meeting (EGM) was a follow-up of the Inaugural Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last October.

"It was agreed that a stronger cooperation among ASEAN countries was needed so that each of the member countries could eradicate poverty in its own country as soon as possible," said Mubyarto, who is also chairman of the ASEAN EGM's steering committee.

An expert group meeting was therefore established to discuss and define possible programs or projects.

Indonesia has been recognized as one of the countries which has been successful in its poverty eradication programs, Mubyarto said. The UNDP award given to Indonesia last September was proof, he said.

"(Many nations) admitted it and therefore wanted to have a close look at how Indonesia conducts the program," Mubyarto said.

Among Indonesia's poverty eradication programs is the IDT program (the president's instruction program for underdeveloped villages) which the EGM delegates will observe during the meeting.

"We will visit some villages in Kulonprogo Regency (today) to observe the grassroots development projects carried out through the IDT program," he said.

"This is a program which is carried out from the grassroots. It's a program for empowering people," Mubyarto said, adding that empowerment is the key to rural development and poverty eradication.

In Indonesia, the rural development and poverty eradication programs are carried out under four ministries: the offices of the State Minister of National Development Planning and State Minister of Population and the ministries of social services and home affairs.

Assistant to the State Minister of Population Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, who also attended the meeting, said his office had launched a special program for those who could not be helped through the IDT.

The program, called Kukesra (credit for prosperous family business), is provided for families which are prasejahtera (literally "preprosperous" or poor) or sejahtera 1 (one level above the poverty line).

The credit, which was also given as commitment to Washington's Micro Credit Summit, applied a very low rate of interest, Prijono said.

"We have given it to about 10.5 million families and therefore there are between 1.5 and two million other families to distribute the credit to," Prijono said. (swa/23)