Poor civil society attendance at poverty reduction talks

from Stabroek

The poverty reduction consultations on governance and security and on health at two separate venues in the city on Monday were poorly attended and saw very little participation by civil society.

The donor community and the government dominated the gatherings.

At the scheduled start of the governance meeting at the Umana Yana there were 16 representatives of the donor community; four senior government functionaries: Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, Minister of Foreign Trade and Inter-national Cooperation Henry Jeffrey, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall and Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira; four members of the media and one civil society participant from the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).

During the meeting, one opposition political activist and a businessman arrived and towards the end of the consultation the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand showed up. There were two facilitators.

Stabroek News also visited the consultation on health held at the nearby Red House. There, too, there were more government functionaries and members of the donor community and the media.

The two consultations on governance and security and on health were part of the discussions on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) 'Working to Reduce Poverty.' A third consultation was held at the same time at the Buddy's International Hotel and reports from the donors at that meeting were that it was also "very sparsely attended."

One donor voiced the opinion that the meetings should have been cancelled and greater effort made to involve more civil society participants at a later date.

In his presentation to the consultation on 'Governance and Security,' Dr Luncheon reflected on the achievements and the challenges of the first part of the PRSP which dealt mainly with public administration, financial administration, corporate governance and political administration.

According to the base document for the consultation, significant progress was achieved in governance and security with the government embarking on a number of programmes including strengthening fiduciary oversight, justice reform, a citizens security project and local government reform. Progress was also highlighted in dealing with border controversies and security.

Discretionary powers

On limiting the use of discretionary powers the document noted that provision was being made to develop specific recommendations in respect of limiting the use of discretionary powers such as rights of ministers and the President to override and give exemptions to laws and the case for removing some of them; clarifying independent powers of commissioners that are not subject to higher authorities; transparency of processes for taking agency decisions to higher authority; rationalization of functions where there are overlapping jurisdictions between agencies and ministers to clarify lines of accountability such as utility regulation, licensing and competition.

Other provisions in progress for limiting the use of discretionary powers include strengthening the capacity of agency boards to develop a code of principles, standards and good practices for the conduct of board members and a programme to train board members in good governance practice; develop and promulgate proper principles for setting fees and charges; strengthening the rights of review and appeal of the discretionary decisions of agencies and making them transparent; reviewing and rationalizing rights to impose penalties; and reviewing rights to grant exemptions from laws administered by the agencies.

On disclosure of public assets, it was noted that provision was in train for the Office of the Auditor General to be nominated as the liaison agency for the Integrity Commission; and provision was also in progress for the reform of the Integrity Commission.

The Integrity Commission has not functioned for sometime now.

Even though the Citizens Security Programme (CSP) being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank was down for discussion there was no representative from the Guyana Police Force or the disciplined services. (Miranda La Rose)

Only 'minimal' success from poverty reduction papers -PM

from Stabroek News

The success rate of the poverty reduction strategy papers over the last five years has been minimal with no significant reduction in moderate and extreme poverty levels countrywide.

It is against this backdrop that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, at the opening of consultations yesterday, charged the participants, for the 2008-2012 paper, to find out why there have been such poor results and to make recommendations about what can be done to correct shortcomings. The Region Four round kick-started the process which will continue in all ten regions over the next two weeks.

Hinds told the participants that the results in two poverty status surveys conducted in 1999 and 2006, following the implementation of the first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), have been marginal. He said the 1999 report showed that the national moderate poverty level was 36% and extreme poverty levels stood at 19%.

At the end of 2006 when another assessment was done, Hinds said, the implementation of the programmes set out in the paper had only showed marginal reduction in the poverty levels. The moderate poverty level only declined by 3% and to 33% and extreme poverty, by 1% to 18%. "I am not knowledgeable of the procedure of measuring the levels, but on the surface, the improvement is marginal," the prime minister told the gathering. "We have to see what has been accomplished so far and why results have not been better and what could be done to see more reduction in poverty levels," he added.

Hinds also disclosed that higher levels of poverty were found in Regions One, Seven and Nine. He said too that the other regions had experienced some degree of poverty reduction. The prime minister said that the assessment showed that 75% of Amerindian communities were considered poor.

Meanwhile, Hinds said his government has implemented economic policies and reforms in many sectors and has maintained a sound macroeconomic framework although economic growth has not been very significant. He also said that though the government has invested heavily in the education and health sectors, their returns would not be seen in the short term but as the programme progresses. He posited a similar view as regards infrastructure.

However the prime minister also said that citizens have a role to play in the growth and development of the country. He said that the government had implemented many programmes sector-wide as it works to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 target. He said too the PRSP is the people's document for development.

Region Four Chairman Clement Corlette chaired the proceedings. The audience later formed informal groups to continue discussions. The Government Information agency (GINA) said this final round of consultations is to further address issues related to implementation of the second PRSP and subsequent developments.

GINA quoted Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, as saying that consultations on specific thematic areas would also be held. They are expected to address areas such as rural development, gender, governance, security, social protection and health.

It had been reported too that many of the issues and recommendations from the public consultations held in 2001 had been incorporated into the PRSP and in addition the consultations have assisted in the sequencing of programmes and re-allocation of resources. The next round of consultations will take place over the weekend in several areas in all ten regions.

The consultations were held at the Ocean View International Conference Centre.

Regional poverty and hunger alarm Jagdeo

from Jamaica Gleaner News

Guyana's President, Bharrat Jagdeo, has expressed alarm at the growth in poverty and hunger in the region even as the food import bill climbs.

Although he provided no statistics, Jagdeo told participants at a one-day agriculture summit held at the International Convention Centre, Liliendall, east of Guyana's capital, that the twin challenge of hunger and poverty "is a big problem" at the regional level.

"The food import bill is horrendous and agriculture in the region will not have a resurgence unless governments put more money to help beat the endemic problems faced by regional territories," he said.

More competitive

The Caribbean food import bill has climbed from about US$1 billion a decade ago to some US$3.6 billion today, Caribbean Community Secretary-General, Dr. Edwin Carrington, revealed earlier this year.

On Saturday, Jagdeo called for the region's agriculture sector to be made "more competitive" to deal with the challenges.

As the lead spokesperson for the Caribbean agriculture sector, Jagdeo said he held talks with the international financial institutions, including the World Bank, which have signalled their willingness to fund developments of the sector.

Unprecedented challenges

But the invitation "must come from the governments," Jagdeo said.

Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud, said the local sector, and that of the rest of the Caribbean, face unprecedented challenges which demand increased focus geared towards the expansion of the non-traditional sub-sector "into one that is sustainable and competitive."

For Guyana, the diversification plan must not only be market-oriented, but it is "mandatory to secure and maintain market access regionally and internationally," Persaud said.

Recommendations emerging from Saturday's meeting include creating and capturing more value-added benefits through processing of local products, establishing market-led strategies for agriculture diversification, and supporting the availability and flow of financing to all parts of the supply chain for existing and new products, a summit document said.