Poverty eradication must be central to the SDGs

The talks during the second half of the OWG meeting underscored the need to prioritize poverty eradication in the SDG framework.

by Ranja Sengupta

NEW DELHI: Poverty eradication is critically linked to sustainable development and must be central to the planning and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This was one clear message from the second session of the United Nations General Assembly Open Working Group (OWG) on the SDGs that ended on 19 April. The overarching importance of poverty eradication was probably the only issue on which there was no dissenting voice in the three-day meeting.

Poverty eradication was the second focus area on the agenda, after an extensive exchange of views and official statements on the conceptualization of the SDGs and SDG process. The discussion on the afternoon of 18 April and member states’ interventions on 19 April morning provided an insight into the various aspects of poverty that were of concern to different member states.

The discussion on poverty eradication began with an interactive session where a number of experts spoke on the issue.

Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on the post-2015 development agenda, delivered the keynote address, where he spoke about how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “changed the landscape” and how they had managed to “get into the vocabulary”. He advised that countries should be free to decide on processes. “Choose outcomes, do not dictate process,” he suggested.

Banerjee argued that the one theme that had come out of every consultation was that there is a need to “take the idea of partnership more seriously”, beyond national governments and donors. Several countries asked him to elaborate on the importance of a global partnership, and Bangladesh asked whether a global partnership could be both “virtuous” and “vicious”.

Banerjee felt, however, that while it is of tremendous importance, it is a very complex area and the SDGs/MDGs, being a baseline framework, cannot be used to solve “every problem in the world”. He emphasized that global partnership is very much about global distribution of power and its control.

He said that rather than asking for better institutions now, which may lead to a failure of the process, “if we get the MDGs right, it may lead to better institutions”.

Olav Kjorven, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Development Policy of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), presented the UN Technical Support Team’s issues brief on poverty eradication. He highlighted the need to address structural causes that create and sustain poverty. He also suggested that both poverty and inequality need to be targeted.

A panel of two experts then provided further inputs. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reminded the audience of the linkage between poverty and hunger. Sabina Alkire from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) elaborated on the use of various indicators (such as access to food, health, education, water, energy) in a multidimensional index of poverty (MPI) which has been designed by UNDP and also individually by several countries.

The interdependence between hunger and poverty and the sustenance of hunger in spite of some efforts at poverty eradication provoked a rich discussion from the floor. Jomo pointed out that “there is a credibility problem” since UN calculations show a halving of poverty but not of hunger. The latter, he argued, will in fact go up tremendously if there is a realistic hunger line.

In response to Alkire’s presentation on poverty measures, Pakistan suggested that the one-dollar-a-day poverty line should be done away with as “it needs to be continuously updated in order to be relevant”. Bolivia emphasized the need to include income, assets and living standards in the MPI. Alkire suggested using national headline indicators with a multidimensional poverty underpinning.

Multiple dimensions of poverty

On the morning of 19 April, the OWG Co-Chair Ambassador Macharia Kamau of Kenya invited member states to deliver their short interventions, in groups and in national capacities. Below are highlights of some of their inputs. Most member states agreed on the importance of poverty eradication, its multidimensional nature and the need to go beyond economic growth. Several statements contained specific priorities of nations and regions.

The statement of the Group of 77 and China (G77) was presented by Luke Daunivalu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN. He highlighted “the need to intensify efforts and accelerate actions on MDGs” and that there still remained “significant variations across regions and within countries”. The Group underscored the importance of taking into account multiple dimensions of poverty vis-a-vis the opportunities and capabilities of government and people “while devising international cooperation efforts and national policies”. It called for a holistic and integrated approach to sustainable development.

The Group emphasized that economic growth is necessary but not sufficient in itself and must be “sustainable, inclusive, equitable and create decent work and livelihood opportunities for all, especially the poor and vulnerable members of society”.

The G77 argued that policies and development efforts targeted at poverty eradication must respond to challenges and opportunities at both national and international levels. Accordingly, “a supportive, fair and enabling economic and financial architecture as well as a genuine global partnership for sustainable development are crucial to complement the efforts of national governments”.

In particular, it emphasized that global trade and investment rules must be designed and implemented so that constraints faced by developing countries can be met, and efforts to reform the international financial institutions must be strengthened to ensure participation and voice of developing countries. Developing countries also need ownership of their agenda in order to effectively eradicate poverty, and therefore must have adequate policy space. Developing-country governments must formulate their own development strategies to assist the poor through policies, the Group added.

In conclusion, the Group expressed its belief in “consolidated efforts by all stakeholders”. It asked the international community to live up to its responsibility in conjunction with national governments, saying, “A renewed and strengthened global partnership for development ... which builds on the strengths of the current global partnership for development, while going beyond and addressing weakness of its present framework, would be a positive step in the right direction.”

Benin (speaking on behalf of the least developed countries) highlighted that “poverty and hunger are multidimensional problems that pose serious constraints to LDCs’ efforts to make progress in human and social development”. The populations in LDCs lack the resources to participate in social, economic and political life and benefit from economic growth. Various estimates show that the achievements of the LDCs have lagged behind and the “absolute number of poor people has increased in many LDCs even in times of sustained economic growth”. The LDC grouping argued that sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth, enabling environment and universal access to social services are key requirements for eradicating poverty and hunger.

It set out four specific principles. First, the share of poverty is statistically more important (than absolute number). Second, given low income, domestic savings, investment and a low tax base, many LDCs do not really have the capacity to deal with the challenges by themselves. Third, trends clearly show the multiple vulnerabilities of LDCs in raising living standards. Fourth, the initial endowments and characteristics of countries are crucial. So “LDCs are at the highest of the ladder in terms of challenges and at the bottom of it in terms of capacity”.

The grouping also reiterated its call for adopting differential and preferential treatment for LDCs.

Holistic approach

Nauru, representing the Pacific troika, said that the SDGs need to look at poverty in a holistic manner and highlighted the centrality of human well-being and security. The Pacific troika underlined the importance of climate change as a cross-cutting issue which is very important for island countries.

Nauru highlighted the Dili Consensus which resolved to ensure that the voices of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected countries are influential in reshaping the global development agenda which will succeed the MDGs after 2015. The troika asked that means of implementation be included under each set of goals. Without MOI, the SDGs will not achieve what is set out under the agenda, they warned.

Ghana [speaking on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)] aligned itself with the statement of the G77 and China. It reiterated the same fact as the LDCs, that “poverty continued to be pervasive in West Africa, even in countries that performed relatively well with respect to economic growth”. It focused attention on the unsustainability and volatility of growth in West Africa and the capital-intensive nature of such economic expansion with limited links to job-creating sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. It also underlined the need for improving access to education and other social conditions.

Ghana highlighted the “complementary roles of both national and international authorities” and called for “a just, fair and transparent international trade and financial system” that “will significantly enhance the capacity of governments to develop and put in place the requisite measures ...”

Brazil (with Nicaragua) reminded the OWG that the Rio+20 conference committed to freeing the world from poverty and hunger. “Ensuring adequate income is crucial but will never be enough,” it cautioned, underscoring the need for basic access to food and nutrition, health, education, social protection and natural resources (among others).

Brazil also drew attention to the fact that while ending poverty requires focus on 1 billion people in absolute poverty, sustainable development requires effort by all countries and also allows for more diverse financial strategies.

Colombia (with Guatemala) argued that ending poverty is not an end in itself but a continuum so there is a need to ensure that “those that are left behind are not left behind”. It said that even developed countries have not achieved sustainable development.

Colombia highlighted again its earlier proposal of a “dashboard” where each country would decide how they translate the goals and targets into actions. Under every goal, specific targets must be included for marginalized sections. While remaining under the different goals, specific targets from all goals can also be pulled out and stacked under an MDG on poverty, Colombia suggested.

Indonesia (with China and Kazakhstan) said the agenda should include global partnership for development. It must also include issues such as trade, finance, technology transfer, as well as MOI. It re-emphasized the link between hunger and poverty.

Pakistan (with India and Sri Lanka) underscored the need for economic growth and institutional support for poverty reduction. The troika cited the example of high health costs which push people into poverty. The statement also highlighted the need to remove barriers to markets, especially agricultural markets; debt financing; and ensuring MOI and meeting the committed targets for official development assistance (ODA).

Universal access to basic services

Ecuador (with Argentina and Bolivia) highlighted the need for ensuring universal access to basic services such as water, education, health, sanitation and energy. It underlined the need to include indigenous groups. In terms of a global partnership, Ecuador asked for access to financing and transfer of technology. It also reiterated that inclusive fair trade is very important for poverty reduction.

Several national statements were also made by member states.

Zimbabwe agreed with the UNDP Task Team Report about the importance of poverty as a super goal but expressed fears whether it will be of enough value to risk the complexity of measuring the MPI, which had been much discussed after Sabina Alkire’s presentation the day before.

Russia highlighted the importance of infrastructure such as transport and communications in poverty eradication and also of providing social support to the vulnerable. Global trade and financial systems need to be fair, it said.

Cuba said that while many countries have achieved some progress in poverty reduction, international commitment has lagged far behind. ODA on average turned out to be only 0.1% of gross national product (GNP) whereas the commitment was for 0.7%. Cuba also talked about the inherent inequality involved in a system where “millions go to banks and nothing to the poor”.

Bangladesh pointed to structural constraints that persist nationally as well as internationally. It raised concerns about “the international financial architecture which is standing in the way”.

India said that economic growth is of crucial importance and that though poverty eradication is a multidimensional effort, “the priority must be income generation and employment for the poor”. It stressed the importance of agriculture and of access to energy in poverty reduction.

Agreeing on the principle of universality, India proposed, “When we talk of poverty issues as an SDG which applies primarily to developing countries, we need to balance it out through another SDG which would apply to developed countries ... i.e., changing the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production.”

The European Union, at the beginning of its intervention, asked that the discussion in the OWG be synchronized with discussions at September’s UN General Assembly special event on the MDGs. “Two of the most pressing challenges facing the world are eradicating poverty and ensuring that prosperity and well-being are sustainable at the same time,” it said.

The EU stressed the role of emerging economies and said “the global landscape has dramatically changed over the last decade”. It said that differences between developing countries have increased. Emerging countries’ growth has become an essential part of global growth. Several countries have become donors in their own right and key partners in the provision of global public goods. This is very important in the consideration of poverty eradication, the EU added.

Asking for an “ambitious overarching post-2015 framework that uses the MDGs as a springboard towards making poverty a thing of the past, while ensuring that we remain within planetary boundaries”, the EU also warned that “the achievement of the MDGs continues to face considerable challenges, especially in conflict-affected and fragile regions, as well as in least developed countries (LDCs), and small island developing states (SIDS). Many countries remain highly vulnerable to shocks and crises”.

Ireland (with Norway and Denmark) reiterated the importance of multidimensional poverty as a reference point and advocated choosing outcomes for their ease of use. They agreed with Benin and India about the importance of agricultural production. The troika highlighted that goals at global and national levels are mutually reinforcing and these arenas are already well integrated.

Canada (with the United States and Israel) echoed many others in highlighting the importance of poverty reduction as a core starting point and central to the work of the OWG. They underlined poverty’s multidimensional nature and its link with hunger, as pointed out by experts in the previous session. They also emphasized the need to learn from successes such as Brazil’s Zero Hunger project.

The United Kingdom (with Netherlands and Australia) agreed on the challenge posed by poverty eradication and advocated a single post-2015 development agenda. It highlighted that this will require a “complex set of actions” from the public and private sectors, in an echo of what was said by many other developed countries. It argued that good governance, absence of conflict and corruption and rule of law are key ingredients for poverty eradication.

Italy (with Spain and Turkey) raised the issue of the next generation and said that the “SDGs therefore should be directed to prevent next generations from facing similar unequal circumstances caused by inadequate income, coverage of basic needs and access to services”. The troika mentioned that “several dimensions of well-being strongly depend on public institutions performing essential tasks and providing public goods and services”.

The OWG will meet again on 22-24 May for its third session, with informal consultations expected at the UN headquarters in New York prior to that. (SUNS7574)                                    

Third World Economics, Issue No. 544/545, 1-31 May 2013, pp 8-11