Seminar to design up anti-poverty programs

Seminar to design up anti-poverty programs

JAKARTA (JP): Stronger social solidarity and greater public
participation should form the basis of a government plan to fight
poverty and unemployment, Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Azwar Anas said yesterday.

Azwar launched yesterday a three-day seminar which will
discuss social development in Indonesia and draw up plans which
are expected to be incorporated into the government's budget for
1996/1997.

"Stronger social integration, in the form of solidarity and
social sensitivity, and more participation by all actors of
development, are the messages in the Declaration of the Summit on
Social Development," Azwar said, referring to the meeting in
Copenhagen last March which was attended by President Soeharto.

Azwar's aide, Suyono Yahya, later added that while many people
have reaped the fruits of development, the process itself has
also led to the marginalization of some groups of people.

The Copenhagen Declaration committed the 188 countries to take
actions to stem the negative impacts of economic development.

"Human beings should be the center of development," Azwar
said.

He praised the recently announced Bali Declaration, which
expressed the commitment of several local business tycoons to
overcome the gap between the rich and the poor in Indonesia.

Suyono acknowledged that the government has not adequately
publicized the results of the Summit but said that the seminar,
involving 65 experts, should nevertheless try to draw up plans to
be included in the 1996/1997 government budget.

Signatories of the Declaration, including Indonesia, face a
1996 deadline to come up with comprehensive plans to eradicate
poverty and unemployment, Suyono said.

The office of the Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare is
in charge of implementing the Copenhagen Declaration in
Indonesia.

Seminar participants will discuss five action programs
attached to the Declaration. These include the creation of a
supportive environment, to enable public participation, the
improvement of basic services and efforts to reduce the economic
gap in reducing poverty.

The third point is targeting young entrepreneurs for easier
access to credit and information on resources and jobs.

"They need some assurances for their future, which are
essential to bolster self-confidence," Adi Sasono of the Center
for Information and Development Studies, which organizes the
seminar, said.

Another specific target is women, as the Declaration
acknowledged the "legal, social, cultural and practical
constraints of women's participation in economic activities".

The fourth point in the declaration is the provision of
opportunities, "to those who have not benefited from
development", to strengthen social integration.

The last point deals with financing programs.

All methods, Suyono said, should be "innovative and
transparent", for instance, regarding policies of credit
allocation.

The efforts in strengthening society, Adi Sasono said, "will
eventually lead to a higher bargaining position in the
international sphere". (anr)