Back to Clip Index

Though other regions of the world are overturning donor-driven agenda, South Asia still remains a "captive" of multilateral agencies losing out its policy options, a seminar was told yesterday.

The Washington Consensus and Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which was developed in the 80s, demonstrate "poverty of thinking" rather than poverty of income, experts from across the South Asian region made the observations at the seminar on "Follow-up of SAARC Summit Decisions," in the city.

In a vitriolic attack on the lending agencies, the regional experts also said that donors' "overemphasis on growth" helps lose out public policy options overriding the interests of the states.

The South Asian region has adequate resources to reach the vulnerable segment of the society, but what it lacks is prioritisation, they added, South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), a regional civil society think-tank, organised the seminar focusing on the "Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA)".

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Faunal Uddin Siddiqui attended the seminar as the chief' guest while former foreign secretary of India Prof Muchkund Dubey chaired it.

Among others, Prof Rehman Sobhan of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. (CPD), former finance minister M Syduzzaman, former Ambassadors Mohammad Zamir, MM Rezaul Karim and Waliur Rahman, Dr Rushidan Islam of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Nasrene Awal Mintoo of Women Entrepreneurs Association, Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman of ISCPA, Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke of Sri Lanka and Khawar Mumtaz of Pakistan spoke at the seminar.

The Report sets a string of core targets under a medium-term regional agenda: 1) halving the poverty incidence by 2010, 2)eradicating malnutrition and universal food security, 3) putting in place a social security system, 4) halving the number of people without safe drinking water and sanitation by 2010, 5) halving the number of people without access to primary edu­cation and 5) eliminating all forms of trafficking and child labour.

Referring to donor-driven policy prescriptions adopted by the countries of South Asia, he said, while Latin America and South East Asia are over-turning the Washington Consensus, this region has become a captive of it.

“You (governments) are unemploying public sector, de-subsidising agriculture and liberalising trade in line with Washington-consensus," CPD chief told the seminar, calling for a regional macro-economic policy paradigm.

The policies of multilateral agencies show poverty of thinking rather than poverty of income, he opined.

Former foreign secretary echoed the view of Prof Sobhan saying donors are commoditising education, not seeing it as a right. "And they are trying to do this under Washington Consensus," he said. About anti-poverty programmes, Prof Dubey said that South Asia has adequate resources to reach the vulnerable groups, but what is needed is to set priorities. Home to one-fourth of the world population, South Asia is one of the poorest regions of the world with 37 per cent people living on below $1 a day. World Bank and IMF-driven poverty programmes give too much emphasis on growth which Dubey said override, interests of the states. Bangladesh must-improve its goner-malice to reduce poverty, Dr Siddiqui said, also stressing on pro-poor growth. Our 5 per cent growth rate is quite encouraging...but we must ensure that the benefits of growth reach the poor people," he told reporters following the seminar.