'If only the poor could eat reports'

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Asian giant China flaunted its progress in poverty alleviation in a report that highlighted the "flawless" collaboration between its government and social elements, self-reliance and coordinated development programs.

The report, read out by Chinese Minister of State Council Leading Group, Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, Liu Jian, said the number of people living in poverty had been reduced from 250 million to 26.1 million between 1978 and 2004, with the poverty incidence rate declining from 30 percent to less than 3 percent.

Indonesia appeared anxious to gain similar recognition. So a report delivered by Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu said her government had prioritized poverty reduction by ensuring sustainable natural resources management and promoting the development of rural areas.

A total of 25 countries conveyed reports on their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) meeting here on Wednesday, the first stage of a three-day Regional Ministerial Meeting on the MDGs in Asia and Pacific as a preparation for September's World Summit in New York.

Glowing figures filled the reports, as well as high-octane confidence and calls for the regional pooling of resources and cooperation to achieve all of the goals.

"But are the delegations taking this seriously? Report after report. It's like they are only concerned with figures but not the root issues. If only the poor could eat reports," Hira Jhamtani from the Malaysia-based Third World Network (TWN) said.

She said none of the delegations had tried in their reports to seek the answers to long-standing, yet fundamental, questions, such as the basic causes of poverty, the chances of creating a fairer world trading system, or the sustainability of the progress achieved to date.

Hira argued that goal eight of the MDGs -- developing a global partnership for development -- would not be dealt with at all during the conference.

"They say that this goal is just for the developed countries to ponder. But that's wrong. This goal is in fact the key to achieving the other seven goals. They don't talk about creating concrete, equal partnerships among all nations or corporate responsibility to help preserve the environment," she said.

Roy Cabonegro from the Philippines' Social Watch organization shared the frustration, saying the issues of poverty and trade injustice could not be resolved without properly revising the prevailing development paradigm, which he claimed only benefited the well-off countries.

There were other questions hanging over the reports, said the activists, as they mostly depicted the macro conditions in a country.

Coordinator of the Civil Society Network for the MDGs in Indonesia, Titik Hartini, said a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report showed that countries in the Asia-Pacific region were doing well with the first three goals, but not with the next four.

There is no mention at all of goal eight, she added.

"There are questions that are still being left unanswered despite these macro figures, including the sustainability of the progress achieved to date. Please note that this report portrays the macro position. So, if the well-off countries in the region are not doing well with goals four to seven, what do you think is happening in the poor ones?" she said. More stories on Page 3