By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : Nepali state-run newspaper The Rising Nepal on Sunday published an editorial, ” SAARC Initiatives In Poverty Reduction”, composed by Mukunda Prasad Acharya.
The SAARC was established with the aim of promoting the welfare of the people of the region through accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development. It has been pursuing collaboration in the area of agriculture and rural development, health and population activities, women, youth and children, education and environment among others. In this way, the objectives of the SAARC are to promote the welfare of the people of this region through the fulfillment of the SAARC Development Goals (SDG), the author said.
“The SAARC Development Goals are clear and achievable if they are implemented with full commitment by the member states. The South Asian region has enormous development potential. Yet, in many ways, its ability to address the problem of poverty has been limited,” Acharya argued.
“Creating opportunities to reduce poverty is a key issue,” Acharya believed, “It has been recognized that without sustainable growth, we would be following a road that leads to the redistribution of poverty. Our efforts, therefore, should be aimed at broadening and deepening the development process in ways that enlarge the basis of achieving a high rate of economic growth with a combination of mutually reinforcing factors.”
“The poor in our region not only have few income opportunities, they also lack access to basic human needs such as education, health, clean drinking water, sanitation and a clean environment. Limited access to these facilities limits their ability to secure gainful employment, and earn a respectable social status. The problem tends to worsen when institutions of governance tend to ignore the true dimensions of poverty, and in the process do very little to address the issue.
“The most important target of this development framework is to reduce the percentage of the population living below the food poverty line by one half by 2015 as set out by the Millennium Development Goals. This can be accomplished through increased economic opportunities for the poor, implementation of policies regarding their empowerment, improved access to physical and social assets and social safety nets for those who are too weak to participate in the market-based growth process.
“The SAARC Development Goals in conjunction with the Millennium Development Goals would support our efforts and serve as a general backdrop for providing opportunities for poverty reduction in the region. The SAARC Development Goals are a step in the right direction,” Acharya said in his editorial.
However, there is no massive awareness about the SDGs even among the conscious segment of the society, the author said, “The lack of awareness about regional and global goals is also because of the failure of the policymakers and officials to use the media as a tool.”
“Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the major tool of modern media, is one of the driving forces of globalization and an important tool to reduce poverty and promote socio-economic development. Today the new tasks of governments, the business sector and the civil society are (a) to make full use of the opportunities provided by globalization and the regional integration process, (b) to exploit the rapid growth of ICT for the new knowledge-based economy, which has become an engine of growth in the developed market economies,” Acharya suggested.
“More than a decade has passed since the SAARC leaders approved the vision for poverty alleviation in the region, but the progress made so far does not seem to be encouraging. A wider mass still remains below the absolute poverty line. It demands that a new approach in development be adopted. Furthermore, a renewed commitment for collective approach would be a driving force for this,” the author talked in the “vision” section, “The leaders who have gathered in Colombo this week should make firm commitments for the fruitful and timely achievements of the main over-arching goal of poverty alleviation.”