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Mr CHONG Chan-Yau, Executive Director of Oxfam Hong Kong, was the Foundation’s guest speaker on 25 September 2000. This is a summary of his remarks.
Global Poverty In the UN Millenium Report, we find the following statement:
While we have seen employment growth in part of East
Asia, in the past two decades, the situation in Latin
America and sub-Saharan Africa is worse. |
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Within countries, the gap between rich and poor is widening. Hong Kong is just one example perhaps more so than many places. While GDP per capita is among the highest, we rank 79 measured by gini coefficient.
We are not suggesting that globalisation causes poverty. But at least we can conclude that globalisation may be able to benefit just a few globally, regionally and sectors of a population. But we are making this as a challenge: whether globalisation can be managed to solving our deteriorating global poverty.
The WTO may set rules favourable to the rich and powerful. Increased financial and capital flows may produce disturbances to vulnerable markets and economies. The Asian financial crisis has sent tens of millions of poor people back to poverty.
Another issue relating to global poverty is natural and man-made disasters. Most wars and conflicts in the past decades occurred in developing countries. Where is our international security system? Rich governments are actually reducing their commitment to long term and short-term aids.
Freedom From Want – UN Millenium Initiative
In his Millennium Report, the UN Secretary-General identifies
pressing challenges faced by the world's peoples and proposes a
number of priorities for Member States to consider at the
Millennium Summit. He also recommends several immediate steps
that can be taken at the Summit itself. Outlined below are
details of one of the four new initiatives he is proposing:
'FREEDOM FROM WANT': the Development Agenda
Poverty: To halve, by 2015, the proportion of the
world's people (currently 22 per cent) whose income is less than
one dollar a day.
Water: To halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who do
not have access to safe drinking water (currently 20 per cent).
Education: To narrow the gender gap in primary and
secondary education by 2005; and to ensure that, by 2015, all
children complete a full course of primary education.
HIV/AIDS: To halt, and begin to reverse, the spread of
HIV/AIDS by 2015 by:
- adopting as an explicit goal the reduction of HIV infection rates in persons 15 to 24 years of age - by 25 percent within the most affected countries before the year 2005, and by 25 percent globally before 2010.
- setting explicit prevention targets: by 2005 at least 90 percent, and by 2010 at least 95 percent, of young men and women must have access to the HIV-preventive information and services.
- urging every seriously affected country to have a national plan of action in place within one year of the Summit.
Clearing the Slums: to endorse and act upon the 'Cities
Without Slums' plan launched by the World Bank and United
Nations to improve the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by
2020.
Youth Employment: to develop strategies to reduce
joblessness among youth.
Building Digital Bridges: to review their policies in
order to remove regulatory and pricing impediments to Internet
access, to make sure people are not denied the opportunities
offered by the digital revolution.
Private Sector: to develop strong partnerships with the
private sector, at both national and international levels, to
combat poverty in all its aspects.
Developed countries in particular are urged:
Trade Access: to grant free access to ttheir markets for
goods produced in poor countries -- and, as a first step, to bbe
prepared to adopt a policy of duty-free and quota-free access
for essentially all exports from the least-developed countries
at the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries in March
2001.
Debt Relief: to implement the expansion of the debt
relief program for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries agreed last
year without further delay, and to be prepared to cancel all
official debts of the heavily indebted poor countries, in return
for those countries
making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction.
ODA: to grant more generous development assistance,
particularly to those countries that are genuinely applying
their resources
to poverty reduction.
HIV/AIDS: To work with the pharmaceutical industry and
other partners to develop an effective and affordable vaccine
against HIV; and to make HIV-related drugs more widely
accessible in developing countries.
Attacking Poverty - World Bank initiative
The World Bank’s The World Development Report 2000,
subtitled "Attacking Poverty" gives the clear message
that "growth is not enough" to solve the world’s
growing problem of poverty.
It prescribes action in three areas to ensure that the poor benefit, rather than lose out, from globalised growth:
- Opportunity: the poor must be encouraged to take advantage of opportunities in the local and global economies, beginning with access to land and education.
- Empowerment: Poor people must also be empowered by having a voice in the economic and development policies drawn up to support them, thereby reducing the risk of discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity or social status;
- Security: the poor must enjoy some security from events outside their control, such as contagious diseases, sudden economic shocks, crop failures, natural disasters and violence.
What Can Hong Kong Do?
In participating in issues of globalisation, Hong Kong should
not hesitate to advocate for the vulnerable. Mr. Donald Tsang,
for example, proposes to regulate international flow of
speculative capital. There are other issues such as the impact
of trade and capital flows on labour.
Hong Kong is also in a position to make financial
contribution alleviate global poverty. Hong Kong SAR Government
should be complimented for setting up a disaster relief fund in
1994. This Fund is covers relief work carried by international
NGOs based in Hong Kong in humanitarian responses in natural and
man-made disasters. The upper limit of the annual commitment is
$50 million.
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We believe that this Fund should continue. We also believe that the HKSAR Government should serious consider setting up a Development Fund. The UN recommendation on such a fund is 0.35 per cent of GNP. For HK, we can start with a modest sum. The HK ODA Fund can be channeled through NGOs to avoid involving the HKSAR Government in unnecessary political considerations. Such fund has several advantages: It is a furtherance in fulfilling HK’s obligation as a global citizen. It adds to the effort in addressing global poverty. It gives HK a good image. It also supports HK people in broadening their worldview.
Finally, Hong Kong should also develop an active policy in addressing the impact of globalisation on its own people especially in the area of the widening gap between rich and poor.
Conclusion
I’d like to echo a remark by an Oxfam Executive Director:
"Mass poverty in the midst of global prosperity [and global
interconnectedness] is morally unacceptable, politically
unsustainable and economically wasteful."
The above does not necessarily represent the views of the Foundation
Copyright © 2000-2001 Hong Kong Democratic Foundation. All Rights Reserved.