Don't forget the socially excluded
Josie M FernandezPublished: Sep 23, 2010 4:36 AM | Updated: Sep 23, 2010 5:07 AM
Heads of states from most countries, except Malaysia and a few others, are now in New York at the UN General Assembly taking stock of their achievements and challenges in meeting the goals of the Millennium Declaration adopted in 2000. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the declaration.
Heads of states from most countries, except Malaysia and a few others, are now in New York at the UN General Assembly taking stock of their achievements and challenges in meeting the goals of the Millennium Declaration adopted in 2000. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the declaration.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015
The MDGs are a framework to achieve human development goals by 2015. The UN at various stages of its existence has set targets and goals for social and economic development in its member states.
Governments have adopted numerous declarations for development, environment, women and etc. However, the targets set in many of the declarations such as Health For All, reduction of hunger, etc have been ignored. The Millennium Declaration is time-bound with measurable benchmarks and global funding.
Rich countries committed to deliver on aid, write off debt, reduce unfair trade terms and provide for technology transfer. However, there are concerns the rich may turn their backs on the poor.
Leading up to the UN Summit on the MDGs, many countries in Asia expressed their solidarity for ending poverty by 2015 in various kinds of events. In Cambodia, thousands of people sang, prayed, beat their drums and banged pots and pans. Events expressing commitment to end poverty were held in schools, community centres and government offices.
On Sept 18, Indonesians expressed their commitment to achieving the MDGs by 2015 in a variety of creative ways, as Indonesians always do.
In Bangladesh, politicians put aside their differences to express their commitment to end poverty by 2015. Bangladesh has won an UN award for its on-going efforts in its anti-poverty programmes.
Malaysia ‘off the radar screen’?
Malaysia seems to be off the radar screen on the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Declaration. I was unable to obtain the country report for Malaysia on the progress made in achieving the MDGs. Did Malaysia submit a report to the UN? We are at a critical junction for a review of the Millennium Declaration.
The Malaysian media has given little coverage on the MDGs. Driven by political agendas, the Malaysian media once again has demonstrated it does not have the moral fibre to play the role it should on social and developmental issues.
Malaysia may have surpassed most of the MDGs in 2000 when the declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly. However, various groups in mid-2000 expressed concerns that Malaysia was lagging behind on the goals related to gender, environmental sustainability and HIV/AIDS.
In the absence of a review at this juncture, just five years before the full achievement of the MDGs, some of the issues of concerns that have been raised by the Prime Minister, advocacy groups and Malaysians in general may impact our progress in achieving the MDGs by 2015.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has raised concerns on the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of Malaysians which are below RM1,500. The bottom 40 percent are the poor in Malaysia.
Najib signalled a major policy shift in April 2010 when he said the New Economic Model would focus on raising income levels of all disadvantaged and marginalised groups, irrespective of race. The policy would be “market friendly”, “merit-based”, “transparent” and “needs-based”, and would emphasise the bottom 40% of Malaysia’s income strata, whether individually or regionally.
It is not clear how income levels will be raised. A report by the National Economic Advisory Council pointed out that 80 percent of the workforce has only secondary education or lower. “This is not in line with a high income economy that we aspire to be,” said Najib. “We need continuous education, on-the-job training and re-skilling to benefit from new technologies.”
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (left), the member of parliament from within the ruling Umno, shares some of those concerns. “We are in a foundational crisis of our political system. People can no longer see what lies ahead of us, and all around us they see signs of decaying institutions. The country will continue to haemorrhage wealth and talent,” he wrote in his blog several months ago.
“Confidence will return if people see decisive leadership motivated by a sincere concern for the welfare of the country,” Razaleigh opined. “The opposite occurs if they see decisions motivated by short-term politics.”
Moral imperative to eradicate poverty
Governments have a moral imperative to eradicate poverty, which is a multi-dimensional phenomenon resulting from all forms of deprivation arising from government policies, unfair global trade agreements, colonisation and corruption.
At the Copenhagen Social Development Summit in 1995, governments declared their “determination and duty to eradicate poverty, promote full and productive employment, faster social integration and create an enabling environment for social development.”
At the Millennium Summit held in New York in 2000, world leaders restated that “men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression and injustice” (General Assembly resolution 55/2) and that “no individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit from development.”
They vowed that they would “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising condition of extreme poverty, to which more than 1 billion of them are currently subjected” and were “committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want”. (See Rethinking Poverty, UN 2010).
Still experiencing deprivation
Despite Malaysia’s commitment to these declarations, there are people in Malaysia who experience deprivation and social exclusion because of low incomes, social status, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental conditions and ageing. In the absence of social safety nets, poverty of the disabled and the aging increases.
Refugees, migrants and undocumented workers are victims of social exclusion, too.
Discriminatory and racist policies further reinforce inequalities.
The benefits of development have not reached the Orang Asli and the indigenous communities in Sabah and Sarawak. Eighty percent of orang asli live below the poverty line. Sabah has the highest incidence of poverty. Internal migration has contributed to significant increases in urban poverty.
Children of refugees do not have access to education. It is estimated there are about 100,000 refugees in Malaysia. Migrants and undocumented workers, who contribute to the economy, are trapped in the “poverty of choices and opportunities” which the UN says is more crippling than poverty of income.
Malaysia’s commitment to fully achieve the MDGs by 2015 must include the forgotten in its national development plans.
JOSIE M FERNANDEZ is currently an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, director of Philanthropy Asia, and researcher. Working on sustainability, philanthropy and anti-corruption actions are some of her current passions besides writing.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development
The MDGs are a framework to achieve human development goals by 2015. The UN at various stages of its existence has set targets and goals for social and economic development in its member states.
Governments have adopted numerous declarations for development, environment, women and etc. However, the targets set in many of the declarations such as Health For All, reduction of hunger, etc have been ignored. The Millennium Declaration is time-bound with measurable benchmarks and global funding. Rich countries committed to deliver on aid, write off debt, reduce unfair trade terms and provide for technology transfer. However, there are concerns the rich may turn their backs on the poor.
Leading up to the UN Summit on the MDGs, many countries in Asia expressed their solidarity for ending poverty by 2015 in various kinds of events. In Cambodia, thousands of people sang, prayed, beat their drums and banged pots and pans. Events expressing commitment to end poverty were held in schools, community centres and government offices.
On Sept 18, Indonesians expressed their commitment to achieving the MDGs by 2015 in a variety of creative ways, as Indonesians always do.
In Bangladesh, politicians put aside their differences to express their commitment to end poverty by 2015. Bangladesh has won an UN award for its on-going efforts in its anti-poverty programmes.
Malaysia ‘off the radar screen’?
Malaysia seems to be off the radar screen on the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Declaration. I was unable to obtain the country report for Malaysia on the progress made in achieving the MDGs. Did Malaysia submit a report to the UN? We are at a critical junction for a review of the Millennium Declaration.
The Malaysian media has given little coverage on the MDGs. Driven by political agendas, the Malaysian media once again has demonstrated it does not have the moral fibre to play the role it should on social and developmental issues.Malaysia may have surpassed most of the MDGs in 2000 when the declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly. However, various groups in mid-2000 expressed concerns that Malaysia was lagging behind on the goals related to gender, environmental sustainability and HIV/AIDS.
In the absence of a review at this juncture, just five years before the full achievement of the MDGs, some of the issues of concerns that have been raised by the Prime Minister, advocacy groups and Malaysians in general may impact our progress in achieving the MDGs by 2015.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has raised concerns on the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of Malaysians which are below RM1,500. The bottom 40 percent are the poor in Malaysia.
Najib signalled a major policy shift in April 2010 when he said the New Economic Model would focus on raising income levels of all disadvantaged and marginalised groups, irrespective of race. The policy would be “market friendly”, “merit-based”, “transparent” and “needs-based”, and would emphasise the bottom 40% of Malaysia’s income strata, whether individually or regionally.
It is not clear how income levels will be raised. A report by the National Economic Advisory Council pointed out that 80 percent of the workforce has only secondary education or lower. “This is not in line with a high income economy that we aspire to be,” said Najib. “We need continuous education, on-the-job training and re-skilling to benefit from new technologies.”
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (left), the member of parliament from within the ruling Umno, shares some of those concerns. “We are in a foundational crisis of our political system. People can no longer see what lies ahead of us, and all around us they see signs of decaying institutions. The country will continue to haemorrhage wealth and talent,” he wrote in his blog several months ago.“Confidence will return if people see decisive leadership motivated by a sincere concern for the welfare of the country,” Razaleigh opined. “The opposite occurs if they see decisions motivated by short-term politics.”
Moral imperative to eradicate poverty
Governments have a moral imperative to eradicate poverty, which is a multi-dimensional phenomenon resulting from all forms of deprivation arising from government policies, unfair global trade agreements, colonisation and corruption.
At the Copenhagen Social Development Summit in 1995, governments declared their “determination and duty to eradicate poverty, promote full and productive employment, faster social integration and create an enabling environment for social development.”
At the Millennium Summit held in New York in 2000, world leaders restated that “men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression and injustice” (General Assembly resolution 55/2) and that “no individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit from development.” They vowed that they would “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising condition of extreme poverty, to which more than 1 billion of them are currently subjected” and were “committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want”. (See Rethinking Poverty, UN 2010).
Still experiencing deprivation
Despite Malaysia’s commitment to these declarations, there are people in Malaysia who experience deprivation and social exclusion because of low incomes, social status, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental conditions and ageing. In the absence of social safety nets, poverty of the disabled and the aging increases.
Refugees, migrants and undocumented workers are victims of social exclusion, too.
Discriminatory and racist policies further reinforce inequalities.
The benefits of development have not reached the Orang Asli and the indigenous communities in Sabah and Sarawak. Eighty percent of orang asli live below the poverty line. Sabah has the highest incidence of poverty. Internal migration has contributed to significant increases in urban poverty.
Children of refugees do not have access to education. It is estimated there are about 100,000 refugees in Malaysia. Migrants and undocumented workers, who contribute to the economy, are trapped in the “poverty of choices and opportunities” which the UN says is more crippling than poverty of income.
Malaysia’s commitment to fully achieve the MDGs by 2015 must include the forgotten in its national development plans.
JOSIE M FERNANDEZ is currently an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, director of Philanthropy Asia, and researcher. Working on sustainability, philanthropy and anti-corruption actions are some of her current passions besides writing.
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