Halving extreme poverty should be the govt's priority: UN official
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
FE Report
The goal of halving extreme poverty should be among the government's priorities as Bangladesh struggles to dilute the effects of global crisis, a top UN envoy said Tuesday.
"It's more than the right thing to do," Nafis Sadiq, special envoy of the United Nations (UN) secretary general, told an international symposium in the city, dedicated to population and development.
"Yet, in the face of all its many challenges,
Bangladesh must find a way to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), if not by 2015 then as soon as possible thereafter," she said.
However severe it becomes, the UN envoy noted that the present crisis should be "a reason to put the MDGs first, not to put them on the back burner" until things are better.
The reduction in the number of ultra-poor by half by 2015 is among the MDGs, set by the United Nations.
Her comments came as the World Bank issued a warning that that the global crisis would slow down the pace of poverty reduction in Bangladesh, leading to an additional 2.4 million poor in 2010.
The Bank said that even the extreme poverty rate is projected to be 1.1 percentage point higher, due to the global crisis in 2010.
"… There can be no development, no peace, no world order that will sustain our grandchildren and their pervasive poverty children, unless the world as a whole can find a solution to extreme poverty," Ms. Sadiq told the symposium, organised by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
"Closing the gap between the richest and the poorest people in the world is essential, if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the global crisis," she added.
She said a comprehensive approach to poverty starts with the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) agenda, and in particular, with women's empowerment and gender equality.
The UN envoy also voiced her concern over reduced aid for family planning services, saying the international community reneged on its promises held out 15 years ago.
ICPD was held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in 1994 when the international community reshaped the global agenda for limiting the population growth and put emphasis on reproductive health.
Ms. Sadiq, a former head of the UNFPA, praised Bangladesh's efforts to take "a holistic approach" to women's empowerment and gender equality, including integrating family planning services with micro-finance schemes and literacy programme.
"It has also shown how those connections work in the real world, and how targetted policies can make the most effective use of limited resources," the Pakistani-born UN official said.
She said climate change is having "a powerful and visible" effect on basic resources and the quality of life in Bangladesh, which is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet.
Coherent adaptation to climate change calls for careful consideration of population growth and movement, she said, adding women play a central role in both of these key aspects.
She, however, said one unexpected outcome of ICPD has been to reduce the proportion of overseas assistance going to family planning.
"Population assistance overall, including HIV and AIDS prevention, has increased; but family planning has not kept pace," she said.
The goal of halving extreme poverty should be among the government's priorities as Bangladesh struggles to dilute the effects of global crisis, a top UN envoy said Tuesday.
"It's more than the right thing to do," Nafis Sadiq, special envoy of the United Nations (UN) secretary general, told an international symposium in the city, dedicated to population and development.
"Yet, in the face of all its many challenges,
Bangladesh must find a way to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), if not by 2015 then as soon as possible thereafter," she said.
However severe it becomes, the UN envoy noted that the present crisis should be "a reason to put the MDGs first, not to put them on the back burner" until things are better.
The reduction in the number of ultra-poor by half by 2015 is among the MDGs, set by the United Nations.
Her comments came as the World Bank issued a warning that that the global crisis would slow down the pace of poverty reduction in Bangladesh, leading to an additional 2.4 million poor in 2010.
The Bank said that even the extreme poverty rate is projected to be 1.1 percentage point higher, due to the global crisis in 2010.
"… There can be no development, no peace, no world order that will sustain our grandchildren and their pervasive poverty children, unless the world as a whole can find a solution to extreme poverty," Ms. Sadiq told the symposium, organised by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
"Closing the gap between the richest and the poorest people in the world is essential, if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the global crisis," she added.
She said a comprehensive approach to poverty starts with the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) agenda, and in particular, with women's empowerment and gender equality.
The UN envoy also voiced her concern over reduced aid for family planning services, saying the international community reneged on its promises held out 15 years ago.
ICPD was held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in 1994 when the international community reshaped the global agenda for limiting the population growth and put emphasis on reproductive health.
Ms. Sadiq, a former head of the UNFPA, praised Bangladesh's efforts to take "a holistic approach" to women's empowerment and gender equality, including integrating family planning services with micro-finance schemes and literacy programme.
"It has also shown how those connections work in the real world, and how targetted policies can make the most effective use of limited resources," the Pakistani-born UN official said.
She said climate change is having "a powerful and visible" effect on basic resources and the quality of life in Bangladesh, which is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet.
Coherent adaptation to climate change calls for careful consideration of population growth and movement, she said, adding women play a central role in both of these key aspects.
She, however, said one unexpected outcome of ICPD has been to reduce the proportion of overseas assistance going to family planning.
"Population assistance overall, including HIV and AIDS prevention, has increased; but family planning has not kept pace," she said.