Instability, elections hinder poverty reduction
Instability, elections hinder poverty reduction
Stevie Emilia, Shanghai
Current instability and the upcoming presidential elections in
Indonesia constitute the main hindrance to the national target of
halving the poverty rate, economists here said.
On the second day of a World Bank conference on poverty here
on Thursday Mohamad Ikhsan of the University of Indonesia raised
fears regarding the increase in the number of disadvantaged
people including those in conflict areas.
Indonesia is among 189 countries which agreed in 2000 to the
Millennium Goals, which include halving the number of people
living under the poverty line by 2015.
"Although some areas are rapidly progressing, there are
conflict areas such as in Aceh and other areas like East Nusa
Tenggara where the number of poor people has increased," the
economist said. Special efforts and attention are needed to
ensure balanced progress in every area, he added.
Former chief economics minister Saleh Afiff pointed to the
ineffectiveness of the Cabinet particularly with ministers
resigning to join the country's presidential election in July,
with a likely runoff in September.
"We won't even be able to reach the mid-term target because
with the election, the Cabinet -- although they are not
deliberately putting everything on hold -- don't have the courage
to do anything. Even the (former coordinating minister for
people's welfare) Jusuf Kalla is campaigning (as running mate to
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) so it will be very difficult for us to
reach the target," he said.
"How can we reach the (millennium) goals if there is now a
vacuum in our government?" Saleh said.
Mohamad Ikhsan said the country "is not working toward
improvement." Low budget is commonly cited as a hindrance to
improve maternal health and fighting HIV/AIDS, for instance.
"Some local governments just maintain what they have instead
of speeding up the process and allocating more funds. In the end,
people who are largely still dependent on government programs are
left behind," he said.
World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn said at the closing
of the event that while there was no single blueprint to reduce
poverty, the conference had revealed that large-scale poverty
reduction depended on several key factors.
He cited "sustained political commitment and visionary
leadership, with continuity over time" and "transparency and
accountability to cut corruption".
The conference adopted the Shanghai Agenda for Poverty
Reduction which encourages rich countries in particular to
intensify assistance to countries that have not benefited from
the recent global wave of progress in economic and social
development.