Millennium Development Goals:
Meeting the Challenges of Poverty Reduction

- Prof. Bishwa Keshar Maskay

Last fifty years of national and international experience on development processes have demonstrated that, economic development is possible with reduction in poverty and increased human welfare. However, in majority of the developing countries socio-economic development and poverty reduction remained unsatisfactorily attended. Decades of national efforts at development, and bilateral and multilateral assistance from donors did lead to some positive socio-economic achievements. However, they were far from satisfactory levels. In several countries economic situations worsened and societies and economies remained underdeveloped. At the same time, new challenges and opportunities for development emerged at the global, regional and national levels. Liberalization, openness, regionalism and multi-literalism, along with the collapse of state-dominated economic system, led to the emergence of new thinking; Experts and professionals started to look for new development paradigms. Issues on trade and investment, production networking and international capital movements initiated new direction, with increasing flows of foreign direct investments across countries. Such movements intensified the globalization process Private sector was given a leading role. Nations and international communities started to look for different ways for managing and accelerating development process. During the decade of 1990s, several reforms and restructuring efforts at national levels were enacted Global conferences on social development, trade and investment, environment and sustainable development, women's participation in development and empowerment, education for all, population management and demographic issues including reproductive health and maternal care and children's welfare, and new ways and measures for strengthening economic co-operation among nations were organized. These conferences and global flora evolved key goals and targets in respective areas. These core goals and targets eventually constituted the "International Development Targets". But it was felt that a renewed commitment for effective actions and dedicated re-emphasis on issues of global concerns along with appropriate resource provisions were of critical urgency. It was increasing felt that poverty reduction in Asia, Africa and elsewhere required urgent attention. That is why, Heads of the States, who gathered for the Millennium Conference at UN Headquarters on September 2000 adopted the Millennium Declaration, This declaration was later translated into the form of specific goals, targets and indicators, now commonly known as Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, constituted new international mandate and commitments for Collective responsibility, It also upholds the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level, and sets new guidelines for revitalization and reforms for international policies, strategies and programmes for development assistance. It has also renewed the hope and aspirations for the deprived and weaker segments of the developing regions and the poor people of the global economy for prosperity, growth and poverty reduction. The Millennium Development Goals have also set the basis and guidelines for new paradigms for national development programmes. It emphasizes on involvement of all stakeholders at all stages of programming and implementation of development activities, Good governance and social inclusion of beneficiaries of development activities including empowerment of women and rural youth are also emphasized.

In Nepal, we are aware that our past development efforts did achieve some positive results in socio-economic areas. However, Nepal's achievements in poverty reduction, social capital building and in socio-economic inclusion of development benefits, as well as in governance issues remain inadequate. In majority of cases they remain unsatisfactory. Communities and geographical region of the country remained excluded from being part and beneficiaries of development process and results. Even from official sources, it is fully acknowledged that the underlying causes for present state of national socio-political situations include poverty and the failure to deliver adequate and essential social services and infrastructure to rural communities and marginalized groups. To address these problems and to reduce poverty, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has promulgated policies aimed at limiting public interventions in direct economic activities. Promotion of private sectors' role is encouraged. Community participation in development activities is also emphasized. While policies and approaches are in the right direction but they would be successful, if capacities to enact them through adequate institutional and civil service reforms and reorganization of local-level development activities with encouragement of people's participation and ownership are strengthened. Furthermore, national consensus and co-operation among public sector offices, central and local socio-political organizations, NGOs and civil society are of absolute necessity. These are all pre-conditions for economic growth, socio-economic development and poverty eradication. I must add that the present state of affairs and the economic development trends in Nepal does not encourage us to be fully optimistic about the realization on MDG in Nepal. However, concerted and strategic actions with a medium to long-term vision would improve national economic performance and thereby lead to better achievements of Millennium Development Goals.

While the achievement of MDGs and the development targets at the national level are the primary responsibilities of HMG/Nepal and needs concerted efforts on the part of the government and private sector, NGOs and civil society. Institutional capacity building for delivery of needed services are equally important. The role of the international community is equally significant. Urgent assistance are needed to build-up national capabilities for human resource development including, entrepreneurial skills for micro and small and medium-scale enterprises. Improvement in national climate for investment through establishment of peace is necessary. Business development and technological capability building and social capital mobilization are other requirements. These are long-term issues where national efforts and commitment with adequate international assistance would be required for achieving MDGs and poverty reduction in Nepal. International and donor communities have responsibilities for helping in accelerating national development in all weaker and least developed countries, if human welfare and overall human development is to be promoted within appropriate environment for global peace, stability and equity.

France fighting for cultural diversity

Claude Ambrosini, Ambassador of France

We are all gathered here tonight as each year, to celebrate the Francophoy Day. This is also the fourth time I have the pleasure to take part in this Festival with you.

This year, the Festival has multiple meanings : we also celebrate tonight the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Alliance Française of Kathmandu and we are inaugurating its new premises. I will, however, let the Principal of the Alliance, Mrs Chantal LAMA tell you all about these particular events.

Everyone of you is probably aware of the significance of the concept of Francophony ! I will however remind you briefly what it means.

At the beginning, the aim of Francophony was to bring closer the people who could speak French. As years went by, the idea grew up and took a more important significance. It ended up, a few years ago, with the creation of a genuine international institution, The International Organization of Francophony, which is now headed by its General Secretary, Mr. Abdu Diouf. The Organization has nowadays 56 States Members and associates belonging to Francophony has a special meaning. Belonging to Francophony means believing in and fighting for great universal principles, Democracy, Human Rights, the Right of Law, the right to have access to education and medical treatments. It also means fighting for the right to long standing development, which will be the central theme of the next Francophony Summit on the 26th and 27th of November 2004. I would like to remind you that the aid granted by France to developing countries amounts to 0.33 per cent of its GDP. The President of the French Republic, Mr.Jacques Chirac has decided to bring it up to 0.7 per cent within 10 years. In this way, France is already and will remain one of the main donors for aid to development.

I would like to add a last word about the great principle, which France is particularly fighting for: I mean the right to cultural diversity. As you know, France believes that each and every country should be able to exercise its rights of freedom of cultural decision and cultural action. This is naturally part of the negotiations going on at the WTO. For France, goods and cultural services simply cannot be considered as mere merchandize governed by the only law of the market. Along with its partners of the International organization of Francophony, France is working to introduce at UNESCO an « international convention which will support the right for each State to maintain, define and develop policies in favor of culture and cultural diversity. France is looking for the support of all its friends – including Nepal – during the ongoing negotiations, which are vital for the future of our different cultures.

In Nepal, we can of course watch TV5 and listen to RFI. Our real meeting point, however, is here at the Alliance. It is here that our friendship grows, in the now ten years old Alliance. The heart of Francophony beats here, at the Alliance Française.

The Alliance is growing bigger and more beautiful. I hope that more and more Nepalese students will keep coming here to study French. We believe in them, the representatives of the new generation with such an important role to play in the development of Nepal, to strengthen our bi-lateral relations.

I also hope that all the French speaking people living in Nepal – the expatriates and the Nepalese themselves - will feel comfortably at home at the Alliance.

Life in fear

Frank-Christoph Sinn, Germany

This article is based on the book "Entsichert" ("Unlocked") of two German sociologists Tom Holert and Mark Terkessidis. It is an attempt to look on the "global village", to which the whole world transforms through the new media.

Germany / Berlin: A girl is sitting in a coffee house. She has hanged her trendy, camouflage-designed handbag on the back of her chair. While she is waiting for her boyfriend, she takes a magazine out of the bag. She reads one of those articles, published always and everywhere, informing her, how she can win the professional competition. Then her boyfriend arrives with his best friend. They get off a Land-Cruiser. The boyfriend adjusts his Cargo-trouser, his friend has picked on his red T-shirt, showing the portrait of Mao Tse-tung. They are coming from a fitness-centre to form their bodies. As the boyfriend sits down you can see the muscles under his shirt. No wonder that his friend calls him "tank". He is a businessman concerned with observation cameras. He tells the girl that his company would like to sell the cameras to Eastern Europe, to the new EU-members. And he speaks about the conquest of new markets. Then they order three coffees and begin to plan their next holiday.

Nepal / Kathmandu: Today it is strike and in the usually crowded streets only a few people lose their way. Most of the shops are closed. On the cross-way near Gonga Path in Kathmandu a group of soldiers get off a Land-Cruiser and start to patrol. The soldiers are well armed and camouflage uniforms are covering their trained bodies. Their imperturbability conceals the fear in their faces. It is state of emergency, because Nepal has lost its peace.

How to bring together these two scenarios in Berlin and Kathmandu? On one hand Germany lives in peace, but on the other hand it is dominated by fear. It seems that everybody is rearming oneself. But it is a symbolic rearmament. Today in Germany the feeling of threat is stronger than the reality of danger. Through the media we live in a so-called "global village" and every danger somewhere in the world seems to threaten us, too. These dangers are not only armed conflicts, but also - and particularly - invisible enemies like bird influenza, computer virus and so on. The peaceful Western States are aspiring after security and thus trying to save their way of life. The result of this "mass cultural war" is that symbols that belong to the war zone appear on the crown. You can find it in clothes, vehicles, language and so on, and it seems that behind the everyday facade there exists a kind of symbolic battle field with the target is to save the Western States’ Way of life.

In Kathmandu you find this symbolic war too, influenced by the media. But this symbolic war is combined with a political conflict, which exists in reality. In times in which conflict partners cannot dominate each other, the conflict turns more and more to get a symbolic war: "Camouflage" against "Red T-shirt". Both, the military and the Maoists, want not to bring all people on their side. They terrorise those, whom they feel to be different. They are assisted in their doing by a kind of politicians which mix political interests – the root of the conflict – with a new national identity and the save of a definite way of life – the sign of a mass cultural war. So reality and production come together and justification takes the place of laws.

But people want peace and the keeping to laws. The constitution of Nepal is a democratic one. But the parliament has no function, and sometimes it seems that the Nepali people have no trust in the parliamentarians, because most of them just strove for power for their personal advantage. But power and reputation in a democratic sense you get by listening to the people’s voice. So why do the politicians not start a peace movement or look for a mediator who could settle the conflict? The politicians get reputation by being elected. Therefore, the next step should be to plead for elections. It would be the best for the people’s and their personal health. The parliamentarians should use the time of powerlessness to remember what they actually had aimed.

It would be a bad sign, if the USA would see Nepal as part of "the axes of evil". In my opinion the USA cannot understand the Nepalese conflict in his primary sense as a political conflict. It seems that since they lost the Vietnam War the USA don’t know political conflicts. They just see this conflict in the term of the above described "mass cultural war". That means they stand up for their way of life. The consequences are well known today. Not only because of that Nepal should hear the people’s voice. I wonder how must feel a peace-bringing king who is admired and beloved by his subjects and who does not need the security of the army? How must feel a parliamentarian standing and acting for the people’s interests and they thank him with reputation? How must feel a Maoist who observes the development that the people is ruling and his political opinion is accepted?

It seems that the tourism will profit from the time in which the conflict goes on. According to the Immigration Office’s report the number of visitors arriving in Nepal this January grew by 40 percent in comparison to January 2003.

By the way: The three Germans would like to travel to Nepal this autumn. Hopefully they make their decision because of the beautiful country and the hospitable people and not because they read the book of "mass cultural war". You may learn from there that many of the volunteers of the US army came to Vietnam as "dropouts" and thereby they have started the modern variety of tourism. So I wasn’t amazed about the vehicles that the Nepali Army used last Sunday in the Annapurna region. I saw coaches with soldiers and the reference to tourism was evident. Not only in this sense I hope that in the near future Nepal’s tourism does not have to advertise its country with the slogan "back to the roots".

I would like a happy end of this article and I come back to the German coffee house. There we met three different personalities with different styles and opinions. They are good friends, because they respect each other. Their life will be enriched by different opinions. If just one opinion dominates you are on the target for a standstill. I don’t think that everybody must be your friend, but respect and tolerance and the abandonment of violence are the basis for a peaceful co-operation. I never saw this attributes in any country of the world so decided than in the everyday life of Nepal. I hope that Nepal keeps this in mind.

(Writer is a FES intern)

Headline | Opinion | Dateline | National |  5 Question  | Editorial | Letter | 2nd Impression | International | Past