Poverty on decline in Asia: UN

Poverty on decline in Asia: UN

Karl Malakunas, Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Poverty across Asia has decreased "significantly" since 1990 but wealth disparities remain with many benefits of economic growth still not reaching the poor, the United Nations said in its latest report on the region's economies.

The UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) report for 2003 released on Friday highlighted the unequal distribution of wealth that continues to plague many countries in the region.

"Despite significant progress over time, poverty reduction continues to be a major challenge for many countries in Asia and the Pacific," the report said in its introduction to a chapter on poverty.

"Moreover, progress in reducing poverty has been uneven across and within countries."

ESCAP said the Asia Pacific region was still home to most of the world's poor people.

Based on a poverty line of living on US$1 a day, more than two thirds of the world's poor live in the Asia Pacific.

ESCAP said the incidence of poverty based on this criterion decreased from around 37 percent of the population in 1990 to 25 percent in 1999.

"(But) if the poverty line is raised to $2 a day, Asia and the Pacific becomes home to around three fourths of the world's poor," it said, putting the number of people living below that standard at two billion.

"The increase in the poverty line more than doubles the number of the poor and reveals the extent and seriousness of the poverty situation in the region."

The ESCAP report emphasized that economic growth was a necessary, but not the sole condition for poverty reduction.

"In a number of countries, even when the economies are growing there has not been a commensurate improvement in the quality of life of the poor sections of society," it said.

"Poverty persists owing to inequitable distribution of the benefits of growth. Moreover, poor governance conditions diminish the potential impact of growth on poverty."

The report pointed to the increasing government debt burdens many developing nations in Asia are suffering as another factor holding back efforts to lift people out of poverty.

It said specific, targeted policies were needed to ensure the benefits of economic growth were distributed evenly and poverty eliminated on a sustainable basis.

"The traditional approaches to development through national planning and structural adjustment have had little impact on poverty reduction in many developing countries, as the central theme of such policies had been growth and stability, and not poverty reduction."

ESCAP said most countries in the region had now developed their own poverty reduction strategy papers (PSRPs) that weaved in with the core quest for sustainable economic growth.

But it cautioned external development partners and multilateral lending institutions continued to significantly influence the PSRPs, which are meant to be "country-owned".

"PSRPs... tend to be biased towards macroeconomic stability and growth rather than pro-poor policy strategies aimed at poverty reduction," ESCAP said.

"The impact of macroeconomic stabilization policies on growth and poverty reduction needs to be properly assessed to ensure the policies adopted are the most effective for reducing poverty on a sustainable basis.

"The PSRPs could be made to reflect the country-driven approach by minimizing the pressure on member countries to adopt certain policies in order to achieve performance criteria."