Economic strategies stressed to fight poverty in South Asia

from The Rising Nepal

Secretary General of SAARC, Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji has stressed on the need of clear pro-poor policies and programmes, and determined efforts to ensure their implementation, both at national and regional levels.

He said this while inaugurating the Regional Brainstorm Workshop on SAARC Development Goals (SDGs) Monitoring and Evaluation organised by the SAARC Secretariat, in collaboration with UNDP, Tuesday.

Stating that poverty cannot be alleviated without the well-devised overall economic strategies, with balanced investments in human capital and social sectors, Secretary General Dorji laid stress on reducing the gap between the rich and the poor by extending resources to them.

The SAARC Member states are doing their utmost to tackle poverty at the national level, he said, adding that, SAARC has been trying to forge stronger regional determination to fight poverty and under-development.

Speaking on the occasion, Acting Residential Representative of UNDP Ghulam Isaczai informed about the role of UNDP for minimising poverty in South Asia.

The 13th SAARC Summit concluded in capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka, had endorsed the 22-point SAARC Development Goals in the sectors like poverty alleviation, education, health and environmental protection.

The SDGs were endorsed as recommended by the SAARC Independent Commission for Poverty Alleviation.

The five year long SDGs include eradication of hunger, poverty, halving proportion of people in poverty by 2010, ensuring adequate nutrition and dietary improvement for the poor, ensuring robust pro-poor growth process, strengthening connectivity of poorer regions and of poor as social groups, reduce social and institutional vulnerabilities of the poor, women and children, ensuring effective participation of poor and of women in anti -poverty policies and programmes.

Likewise, the SDG includes acceptable levels of forest cover, water and soil quality, air quality, conservation of bio-diversity, wetland conservation, ban on dumping of hazardous waste, including radio-active waste, and maternal and child health.

Similarly, the SDG has affordable health-care, improved hygiene and public health, access to primary/community school for all children, boys and girls, completion of primary education cycle, universal functional literacy and quality education at primary, secondary and vocational levels.

The two-day seminar was participated in by economists of eight member nations.