Govt urged to review poverty policy paper
Govt urged to review poverty policy paper
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several non-governmental organizations (NGO) grouped under the
Indonesian Antipoverty Movement (Gapri) demanded on Thursday that
the government invite wider public participation in producing the
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
"If the government does not review the PRSP, we will quit the
government-sanctioned team which has been working to draw up the
paper," Gapri coordinator Muchtar Abas said.
Muchtar said the PRSP, which has been worked on since March
last year as part of the post-International Monetary Fund (IMF)
program, had denied the public, especially the poor the
opportunity to participate in its drafting.
He said government officials had refused to invite wider
public participation, saying that it would only slow the
drafting. Indonesia has to implement the paper through a
presidential decree in May at the latest.
"We don't want the government to misuse us to legitimize the
draft. The government has failed to involve the public," he said.
Gapri consists of, among others, the Indonesian NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (INFID), the Antipoverty Independent
Commission (KIKIS), Oxfam GB and the Indonesian Network for
Transparency and Accountability (JARI).
The NGOs have asked the government to heed their Participatory
Poverty Assessment proposal, which is aimed at boosting public
participation and understanding the needs of the poor across the
country.
The government estimates the number of people living below the
poverty line at 30 million but NGO data reveals that there are at
least 100 million people classified as poor based on the World
Bank's criteria. The bank classifies the poor as those who earn
US$2 or less per day.
Binny Buchori from INFID agreed with Muchtar, saying the PRSP
was a carbon copy of the old scheme introduced by the previous
government, which discouraged public participation and had proven
to be a failure.
"The current PRSP is doomed to fail also because the
government still views the poor as an object," Binny said.
She said some NGOs activists had been invited to join the
government team working on the paper, but were not permitted to
criticize the draft.
The team is dominated by government officials from the
Ministry of People's Welfare and the Office of the Coordinating
Minister for the Economy, Binny said.
Apart from its lack of public participation, Binny said the
PRSP was not transparent as it did not reveal its donors.
"It's still unclear who is the donor and how much money is
involved. Financial support for the team is also unclear," she
said.
In 2002, the government allocated a total of Rp 2.96 trillion
for poverty eradication programs, which were managed by 10
ministries and other government institutions.
The government disbursed an additional Rp 4.4 trillion for the
poor in all provinces affected by fuel price hikes last year.
But according to a recent survey conducted by researchers from
several universities, most of the funds did not reach the poor.
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several non-governmental organizations (NGO) grouped under the
Indonesian Antipoverty Movement (Gapri) demanded on Thursday that
the government invite wider public participation in producing the
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
"If the government does not review the PRSP, we will quit the
government-sanctioned team which has been working to draw up the
paper," Gapri coordinator Muchtar Abas said.
Muchtar said the PRSP, which has been worked on since March
last year as part of the post-International Monetary Fund (IMF)
program, had denied the public, especially the poor the
opportunity to participate in its drafting.
He said government officials had refused to invite wider
public participation, saying that it would only slow the
drafting. Indonesia has to implement the paper through a
presidential decree in May at the latest.
"We don't want the government to misuse us to legitimize the
draft. The government has failed to involve the public," he said.
Gapri consists of, among others, the Indonesian NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (INFID), the Antipoverty Independent
Commission (KIKIS), Oxfam GB and the Indonesian Network for
Transparency and Accountability (JARI).
The NGOs have asked the government to heed their Participatory
Poverty Assessment proposal, which is aimed at boosting public
participation and understanding the needs of the poor across the
country.
The government estimates the number of people living below the
poverty line at 30 million but NGO data reveals that there are at
least 100 million people classified as poor based on the World
Bank's criteria. The bank classifies the poor as those who earn
US$2 or less per day.
Binny Buchori from INFID agreed with Muchtar, saying the PRSP
was a carbon copy of the old scheme introduced by the previous
government, which discouraged public participation and had proven
to be a failure.
"The current PRSP is doomed to fail also because the
government still views the poor as an object," Binny said.
She said some NGOs activists had been invited to join the
government team working on the paper, but were not permitted to
criticize the draft.
The team is dominated by government officials from the
Ministry of People's Welfare and the Office of the Coordinating
Minister for the Economy, Binny said.
Apart from its lack of public participation, Binny said the
PRSP was not transparent as it did not reveal its donors.
"It's still unclear who is the donor and how much money is
involved. Financial support for the team is also unclear," she
said.
In 2002, the government allocated a total of Rp 2.96 trillion
for poverty eradication programs, which were managed by 10
ministries and other government institutions.
The government disbursed an additional Rp 4.4 trillion for the
poor in all provinces affected by fuel price hikes last year.
But according to a recent survey conducted by researchers from
several universities, most of the funds did not reach the poor.