Multidimensional poverty in Pakistan
is estimated to be 33 percent, according to one of the recent researches
released by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), World Food
Program-SDPI’s joint food insecurity assessment of Pakistan revealed that 58.2
percent population was food insecure in 2010.
UNICEF’s National Nutrition Survey of 2011
estimated 68 percent population to be food and nutritionally-insecure in
Pakistan. These depressing figures are not for Pakistan only. South Asia, which
as a region, is considered as hub of growth is generally suffering from such
deprivations. More than 30 percent population of Bangladesh is extremely food
insecure. The same is true for Nepal where almost one third population is
living below a caloric poverty line of 2200 Kcal/person/day. The situation is
not very different in India too, where 76 percent population suffer from
inadequate food consumption. More than half of India’s women and 3/4 of
children are anemic.
There seems to be two South Asias, shining
South Asia and suffering South Asia. One South Asia that has the potential to
turn regional economic giant and a possible growth leader for the rest of the
world and the other South Asia where at least one third of population is living
below extreme poverty.
It is obvious that economic growth in South
Asia over the decades has failed to translate into human development. The
absence of appropriate social development policies to accompany the economic
growth policies has led to geographic and ethnic inequalities. This non
inclusive growth has turned it difficult to achieve Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). MDGs that I consider as the minimum development goals and are to
be achieved by 2015 would be missed by almost all South Asian countries.
The post-2015 world requires a new
development paradigm as also recognised in Rio+20. While Track-I efforts to
redefine paradigms of developments in South Asia were quite slow so far, the
latest initiatives to improve bilateral relations between Pakistan and India
would definitely have a positive impetus on SAARC development agenda. On top of
it, Track-II and Track III efforts carried out by civil society actors are also
progressing well and in many instances complementing Track-I efforts.
One of such initiatives at Track-II level
is South Asia Economic Summit, which is organized every year ahead of SAARC
Head of the State Summit since 2008. The previous summits were held in Colombo,
Delhi, Kathmandu, and Dhaka. This year the summit was organised by SDPI in
Islamabad. More than 150 international speakers, around 60 national speakers,
parliamentarians, academia, and business community (especially SAARC Chamber of
Commerce and Industry) deliberated upon two major themes, i.e., issues facing
South Asia, and how to make growth in South Asia more inclusive.
The government’s support to this summit was
evident through participation of Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Defense Minister
of Pakistan, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Pakistan, Economic Minister of
Afghanistan, Parliamentarians from Sri Lanka, and high profile dignitaries from
rest of South Asian countries.
The summit discussed issues of post 2015
development agenda, food security,
energy security, climate change, trans-boundary water issues, regional economic
integration, trade in goods and services, regional connectivity, migration, and
gender empowerment etc.
The crux of Summit’s recommendations was
that in order to turn economic growth more inclusive we would have to adopt a
completely different approach to growth and development. MDGs are static and do
not capture the multi-dimensionalities of poverty and deprivation in South
Asia. Hence, a change in paradigm where poverty reduction targets could be
measured through measuring change in lives of people rather than measuring mere
numbers would have to be adapted. South Asian governments would have to
strengthen peace efforts so that hefty defense budget could be diverted to
social sector development.
One needs to address the issues facing
South Asia through a human development angle. Thus, regional trade should be
looked at with a food security lens. After all 40 percent of the world’s hungry
live in South Asia. Liberalisation of trade in food commodities currently on
sensitive list can allow for free movement of food across the borders and help
alleviating malnourishment.
Considering the bleak food insecurity
situation in the region a comprehensive food security framework needs to be
devised. This framework should be applied unanimously over the region. It
should result in augmenting the SAARC food bank and turning SAARC seed bank
functional to ensure regional seed exchange, technology sharing and seed
information sharing.
1.3 billion people in South Asia are
without access to electricity of which 289 million are in India, 96 million and
64 million are in Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. Instead of aiming for energy trade prospects
in the region based on aggregate endowment of energy in each country, South
Asia should aim at a framework that allows surplus pockets across borders to
trade their surpluses. This could be a good starting point towards greater
cooperation in energy in future. Barring few countries, current energy mix for
electricity production in South Asia is very unsustainable and climate
non-friendly. Each member country needs to pay attention to the currently
disadvantageous energy mix in the region and should pursue for renewable energy
options.
The lack of a realistic and local
understanding of impacts of climate change on agriculture, health and overall
productivity turns it difficult to find a path for collective regional action.
It is about time that research which provides better understanding of local
adaptation options may be replicated at national and regional level across
South Asia.
All neighbours in South Asia must realise
that their production processes have impacts on climatic conditions in other
countries. With recurrent floods and droughts in the region a greater need to
devise collective framework for adaptation is a possible way forward if we
dream of a climate change resilient South Asia.
“Trans-boundary water issues” between
Pakistan and India, between India and Bangladesh, and between Nepal and India
are a reality of our region. Sharing of benefits equally from water resources
could play vital role in regional cooperation. Water has been becoming a
strategic commodity and the best way to manage water is by assuming that no
boundary exists within South Asia. There is, thus, an urgent need of
appropriate investment in information, technology, infrastructure and knowledge
to initiate the joint management of water in order to sustain the livelihood of
millions of people.
For South Asia to connect to central Asia
and ASEAN countries, the SAARC member countries must address internal
constraints in improving transport and logistics. Currently, both sectors
remain heavily regulated in all member countries. The competition commissions
in member countries can exert pressure in opening up of these sectors for
private sector participation.
The same applies in trading of important
resources such as energy in which currently all arrangements are at the
government level. Unless private sector is involved in the process, trading in
such resources may face stoppages in the face of political upheavals.
Apart from trade in goods, South Asia has
huge potential of trade in services. Sectors within the services industry in
which trade can be increased within the SAARC region easily include education,
health, tourism and financial services. Issues such as data on services sectors
trade, and facilitation costs need better documentation in order for private
sector to make correct assessment of their gains.
South Asia is the driver of global
migration. We do not have data on migration in South Asia, and there is need to
develop standard data system. Irregular migration has increased because of
restrictive immigration policies and very high cost of legal migration. South
Asia needs a regional discourse of migration and economies cannot be integrated
without the free mobilization of laborers.
In this backdrop, moving towards inclusive
and Sustainable South Asia, the summit recommended:
-
Setting
up of South Asian Commission on Environment
-
Establishing
a Social Accountability framework for SAARC Organisation and agreements under
SAARC Summits
-
Convergence
of regional trade agreements towards norms agreed in SAFTA
-
Increasing
of capacity of institutions that can operationalise SAFTA expediently
-
SAARC
countries should come up with SAARC conventions on migration so that rights of
migrants across South Asia can be protected
-
Setting
up of national commissions that can expediently address in-country constraints
to connectivity which includes not only provision of infrastructure but also
its management, supervision
These recommendations would remain
theoretical models unless and until, the governments of South Asia are really
sincere to their people and really want to make a positive difference in their
lives through adapting inclusive growth strategies. Here, one should remember that inaction by
government cannot only be blamed to lack of political will at the top. It is
hard to mobilise political will at the top unless there is a strong demand and
pressure at the grassroots level. For this track-II and track-I initiatives
have to go hand in hand and this is where initiatives like South Asia Economic
Summit can bridge the gap.
The writer is Executive Director,
Sustainable Development Policy Institute and may be contacted at
suleri@sdpi.org
|
