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)