PROCEEDINGS

PROCEEDINGS

Opening remarks from Mr.Omar Halim, Executive Director of NAM CSSTC

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you to Jakarta, Indonesia, to NAM CSSTC. We appreciate very much the time, the attention and your willingness to come here and meet all of us because we feel that this is an extremely important meeting especially dealing with the subject, which is the role of media and NGO in harnessing the popular participation in the development process of the developing countries. I would also on behalf of the BOD express our great appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for supporting this particular meeting.

NAM CSSTC was agreed upon by the NAM Summit 1995. It was re-endorsed by the NAM Summit in South Africa in 1998 and the idea is to try to bring together NAM member countries in order to foster development process and also try to establish or strengthen the self-reliance of the developing countries. NAM Summit in 1998, in Durban, South Africa, decided that the eradication of poverty should be our main goal of NAM in the 21^st century. Following up the summit we convened a meeting in April 2001 assembling various experts from NAM countries from various regions in order to find out what are the basic issues in the eradication of poverty in their respective countries and regions and what could be done about them. We have got a big picture of this kind of problem faced by all of us. Most of the issues are common issues of all developing countries. However, there are two issues primarily outfaced by African countries. Our African brothers feel that in order to be able to concentrate on the eradication of poverty they have to resolve these two issues which are HIV-AIDS and inter-and intra-state conflicts. We identified these particular issues as primarily African issues but not exclusively African issues.

Why do we have to organize a meeting of this kind? What I would like you to ask yourself is about discrepancy in the income per capita. There is a tremendous discrepancy between developed and developing countries. What we have to do is to look at the pattern of development. Developing countries should grow not based on figures of income per capita which is an average figure of the rich and the poor and does not matter there are so many poor as long as the rich got richer very quickly and the income per capita will grow very well. But that’s not what development is all about. If the discrepancy is so tremendous one would be easily in despair. How can we catch up ? There are countries, which have caught up like Japan, Singapore whose income per capita are higher, that almost all European countries and even the US. There are other countries like Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia. It is possible for us to catch up with the developing countries. The question is how. The other factor that makes the discrepancy between the developed countries and the developing countries very serious is the development of technology. Talking about revolution and progress in technology one cannot deny that now is the era of quantum physics, biomolecular and artificial intelligence. We are countries that do not know and own technology. We do not have the resources to do this. It is going to be those who are in command of the technology. And who are they? The developed countries! And how do we individually as a developing country try to reach that position of par with the developed countries? They have been countries which have succeeded in doing this through economic and social development. We have to have rapid and sustain development process.

When we’re talking about development, learned from some experiences of some of our member countries, we are not talking about income per capita figures. We’re talking about the solidity, the basis of the development within that country and that has to be all people especially the poor. That is the reason why have to emphasize on the question of popular participation. We have to talk about Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). We have to talk about the eradication of poverty. If we can help lifting the poor up we can have the productive SMEs. That is going to increase the solidity of our development process. The media and NGOs are the two groups of people which are able to assist , to make it possible for the people to participate fully in the development process. The participation is not only in the formulation of policy but also in the implementation of policy, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and projects. NAM CSSTC is trying to encourage developing countries to have conviction that change should take place otherwise there is no hope for us to catch up economically, socially and politically. If we do not catch up we will continue to be left behind and the longer it is the farther it becomes. We hope the meeting will come up with very specific recommendations to the government, to the civil society, to the media in developing countries as to what their responsibilities are.

B. PRESENTATION SESSIONS

Session 1 : PANEL PRESENTATION ON “MEDIA PERSPECTIVES”

Paper 1 : Poverty Eradication : The Nigerian Perspective and the Role of the Media

Speaker 1 : Ndanusa O.Alao, New Nigerian, Nigeria

The main points of Mr. Alao’s presentation are as follows :

Half-hearted approaches, the outright exclusion of the poor and the less-privileged from planning and executing programmes meant to benefit them, and above all, corruption are the bane of most country’s poverty eradication efforts.
He argued that the role of the media in this respect has been less than satisfactory.
He also highlighted that false media report could result in people’s conflicts and crisis as he referred to reports on some Nigerian cases.

The presenter recommended the followings :

The media must report objectively with a sense of responsibility.
The media must encourage investigative journalism.
The media must emphasize on rural reporting.
The media must play its role as a warning system by monitoring expenditure regarding poverty eradication programmes, diversion of funds (including foreign funds) and expose inefficiency in social and welfare services. He refers this term as investigative journalism.
Government, Media and NGOs must interact as stakeholders in matters affecting poverty eradication.

Paper 2 : Guatemala : Confronting Recession and Poverty – What Local Newsgroups Do (And What Local Newsgroups Could Do About It)

Speaker 2 : Andrez Zepeda Herman, DOSES, Guatemala

The main points addressed by Mr .Herman are as follows :

The majority of the population are not involved in designing strategy to reduce poverty, nor in the discussion of the prejudicial effects of poverty on the country and its citizens
The media is considered not to adequately inform the public about various issues on poverty.

The presenter recommended the followings :

The biggest effort to influence the media comes from a coordinated effort among the government, civil society organization and international organization.
The international community needs to play its role especially in the field of funding.
A training of journalists needs to be conducted in order to familiarize them with poverty issues, strategy to reduce it and the way to report it.
Create alternative media of information especially in rural areas. E.g. community radio.

Paper 3 : The Role of the Media in Poverty Eradication

Speaker 3 : Djafar Assegaf, Media Indonesia, Indonesia

The main points of Mr. Assegaf’s paper are :

Poverty eradication issue has been perceived as a less interesting issues resulting in unawareness of general public on that particular issue.
In Indonesia in particular the media almost had done nothing since 1997 in reporting poverty.
Lack of coverage on poverty could be the cause of these following factors :

Switch of orientation of media from a development agent into a more commercial orientation. Mr. Assegaf particularly referred to the case of TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) and RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia) which have been previously moved to more commercial sectors.

Switch of orientation of international support, from poverty to issues related to media reform/free press.

Mr. Assegaf recommended the following items :

Knowledge extension of journalist in order to familiarize them with poverty topics and enhancing quality of report. In addition, the cross-country educational tour is also suggested.
Establish a journalist association specialized in issues related with poverty eradication.
Establish an institute capable of presenting awards to journalists who produced outstanding coverage of the problem of poverty.
Forming A NAM Institute of Journalism that serves as an integrated educational and training organization for journalists of developing worlds in areas of particular concern.

Paper 4 : Information as a Tool for Poverty Reduction

Speaker 4 : Rajah Munamava, New Era, Namibia.

The main points addressed by Mr.Munamava are as follows :

Media is expected to play its role as an inspiring catalyst for change if used interactively to enhance communication between all those involved in development including government, donor, field workers, rural populations and the urban poor.
Generally, there are still some shortcomings of the media (particularly in Africa) . Media is perceived failed to meet the challenge of accelerating the development process, contributing to the integration of society and preserving traditional cultural values.

Mr.Munamava suggested the following ideas :

In formulating strategies for poverty reduction, a rural reporting course for journalists stationed in regions or in rural centers needs to be put in place.
A special workshop for journalists on economic reporting and government policy on rural development should be organized.
Television stations should develop group-viewing center along with a coordinated animation effort on the part of developing agencies, field workers and the broadcasting organizations.
Encourage the use of video since it is easy to operate and provides instant feedback. Films that have relevance to development should be widely distributed and shown.
Establish community newspapers, mobile cinemas, and “road shows” of animators and use existing media for public education campaigns.

Speaker 5 : William T Bango, The Daily News, Zimbabwe

The key points of Mr.Bango’s paper are as follows :

Media has become an arena for competing interests of different parties.
NGOs and media rarely sit together to discuss the generic causes of poverty.
NGO is perceived to have major shortcomings such as becoming more bureaucratic, having lifestyle that is not commensurate with their mission, excessively paid and equipped.

Suggestions :

Media could provide a vibrant early warning system.
Media can help NGOs in refocusing their activities by monitoring NGOs programmes and instill a sense of accountability and openness.

Paper 6 : Role of Media and NGO in The Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Poverty

Speaker 6 : Prasanna Kumar Patasani, NAM To-Day, India

The important points from Prof.Patasani’s papers are :

Issues of electronic media in the world have become critically important.
Every media has the right to get access to evaluation of poverty.
Media cooperation in the developing countries is now implementing national system of evaluation.

Prof.Patasani recommended the followings :

There has to be a casual link between media structure and media experts.
Media should get involved in formulation of planning to evaluation of poverty.
Media should coordinate with NGOs.
All effort in poverty eradication requires strong and technical support from technologists, experts and planners as well as policy makers.
Media should be village oriented, labor intensive and decentralize the policy.

Paper 7 : The Role of the Media in Poverty Eradication : The Case of Cote d’Ivoire

Speaker 7 : Alafe Wakili Asse, Le National, Ivory Coast

The main points addressed by Mr.Asse are as follows :

In the case of Cote D’Ivoire media are more active in political fields than in social and economic programme.

Mr.Asse suggested the following ideas :

Media has to control government programme and to transfer aspiration of the people (media as a control system)
Media must assist the citizen to allow popular participation in the development strategies.

Session 2 : PANEL PRESENTATION ON “NGO PERSPECTIVES”

Paper 8 : Involving of Civil Society in Poverty Reduction : Why and How?

Speaker 8 : Lucrecia Paniagua, CECI, Guatemala

The main points from Ms. Paniagua’s papers are as follows :

The biggest weakness of poverty eradication strategy is the lack of participation from different social sectors in its design and development including indigenous people and women.
The civil society must be co-responsible of its own development.

Ms. Paniagua recommended the following :

In fighting against poverty an increase in financing towards human development, focusing attention in education is demanded

Paper 9 : NGO Participation in Formulating Poverty Reduction Programmes in Ghana : A Proposal for Action

Speaker 9 : Kofi Adu, GAPVOD, Ghana.

The main points addressed by Mr.Adu are as follows :

There has been a tremendous growth of NGOs in Ghana.
The NGO umbrella body, GAPVOD, has grown to include the participation of local, national and international NGOs.
An effective bottom-up approach has not been effectively adopted. Shortcomings of the existing model of NGO involvement are still in place such as NGOs are still considered as only a small part of the larger body of civil society organizations, no standard of NGO participation in the formulation, implementation and monitoring system.

Mr.Adu suggested the following ideas :

Policy literacy programmes as they relate to the poverty reduction will have to be initiated for the NGO community.
Special workshops need to be organized specifically on poverty reduction strategy and programme for NGOs.
The need to share international experiences with NGOs of other countries.
The umbrella organization should be financially and organizationally empowered to play a leading role in steering effective NGO participation poverty reduction programme.
NGOs of developing and developed countries should get together to define and propose an internationally acceptable standard of NGO and civil participation on poverty reduction programme.

Speaker 10 : Norizan Muda, Ministry of Rural Development, Malaysia.

The main points addressed by Ms.Muda are as follows :

Her country is fully aware of the importance of Human Capital Investment Development.
Malaysia has realized that lifelong education is an instrumental in the efforts to eradicate poverty.
Community Development Division (KEMAS) focused on changing and motivating awareness among rural community through non-formal education covering all levels, community services (e.g. rural library) and community development activities.

Ms.Muda suggested the following ideas :

Provide latest information of the target group
Strengthen the organizing and implementation.
Focus on state with the highest rate of poverty.
Developing a complete action plan for states/district
Practicing a unity implanting method.
Aggressively organize activities on poverty eradication.
Increase involvement of NGOs and private sectors.
Cultural intervention should be more emphasized in local communities.

Paper 11 : Role of NGOs in the Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Poverty Eradication Programmes : The Case of BRAC in Bangladesh.

Speaker 11 : A.M.Muazzam Husain, BRAC, Bangladesh

The key points of Mr.Husain’s papers are as follows :

BRAC views poverty in its holistic sense and believes that it is a complex syndrome and requires extensive and innovative efforts to overcome poverty.
In formulating a development programme all stakeholders are involved including the top management, mid-level and field workers, researchers and the programme participant.

Suggestions :

NGOs must be able to create innovativeness and flexibility of its programmes.
In its development programmes NGOs must adopt participatory approach through two-way interaction.
To directly involve the poor it suggested forming Village Organizations (VO) of the programme participant. VO aims to attain a high degree of self-reliance.

Paper 12 : Participation of Non-Governmental Organizations in The Formulation and Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme : A Tanzanian Experience

Speaker 12 : Marcel Katemba, Vice President’s Office, Tanzania

The main points from Mr. Katemba’s papers are as follows :

Participation of NGOs in the poverty reduction strategy and programmes has created a space for them to become effective partners with government in the preparation and implementation of poverty reduction programmes.
The engagement of NGOs has strengthened measures aimed at increasing accountability and transparency in governance structures.

Mr. Katemba recommended the followings :

NGOs should directly participate in poverty reduction programmes.
NGOs should build up their capacity, raise awareness, initiate lobbying and advocacy, and act as a watchdog on the implementation of poverty reduction programme

Speaker 13 : Ny Sou, Ministry of Information, Cambodia

The main points from Mr. Sou’s papers are as follows :

Participation of NGOs in the poverty reduction strategy and programmes has created a space for them to become effective partners with government in the preparation and implementation of poverty reduction programmes.
The government key constraints towards the implementation of national poverty among others include : limited capacities of government institutions, budget constraints, lack of clear and monitoring system, poor governance, weak cooperation of stakeholders, lack of national and rural physical infrastructure.

Mr. Sou recommended the followings :

Mobilizing and efficiently utilizing available national and international resources to develop an enabling environment for poverty reduction.
Improving budget management and public investment planning for the medium-term.

Paper 14 : Rural Civic Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation : The Case of NRDP

Speaker 14 : Gurvy Kavei, NRDP, Namibia

The main points from Mr. Kavei’s papers are as follows :

Implications of popular participation on poverty eradication programmer include : the need for a consistency of purpose of NGOs and their donors, the need for a solid consensus, the need of cultural intervention, the need of proactive and reflexive media.
Good policies cannot bring food to households, but active self-help will remain a necessity.

Mr. Kavei recommended the followings :

NGOs should lobby the government for funding social projects.
Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and rural entrepreneurs should be developed
NGOs should assist SMEs and rural entrepreneurs in the field of business management.
NGOS should assists development workers in providing them with technical skills.
NGOs should elicit region and global institutional monitoring of government commitment.

Paper 15 : Enhancing Community Participation Through Community Radio – A Multistakeholder Approach in Eradicating Poverty

Speaker 15 : Elizabeth C. Roxas , EBC, Philippines

The main points of Ms. Roxas’s paper are :

Community radio, which is very accessible and affordable, plays a very important role in arousing the people’s participation by which people are not only given access to information but also access to the means of communications.
Community projects will be better maintained if people had participated in their design and even in the implementation.
In a multistakeholder approach threes parties are involved i.e. government, civil society and business sector and they should work together hand in hand.

Ms. Roxas recommended the following items :

Community radio is a very potent partner in enhancing community participation.
Narrow broadcasting maybe the right approach because it is where we could somehow generate more participation from different audiences

Paper 16 : Role of NGO in Poverty Eradication Strategy Formulation and Potential Actions in the Context of SSTC

Speaker 16 : Anton Soedjarwo, Dian Desa, Indonesia

The main points from Mr. Soedjarwo’s papers are as follows :

NGOs’ roles are more accepted and have received special position in the development process. Yet the relationship between the government and NGO in Indonesia is very dynamic.
In the context of Strategy Implementation, there are several key aspects in which involvement of NGOs is important and those are : program compatibility, program workability and program sustainability
The involvement and collaboration of government, private sector and community sectors (NGOs & CBOs) are essential in poverty eradication programme.

Mr. Soedjarwo recommended the followings :

NGO should build its capacity and capability.
In the context of South-South Technical Cooperation, developing countries should share the vision, resources, experiences, knowledge, skills, and technology and also share what works and what does not work.
CSSTC should take innovative initiatives in order to realize the sharing process among developing countries (CSSTC as the platform for NGOs cooperation).

Paper 17 : Poverty Eradication through Participation : An Indian Perspective

Speaker 17 : Saikat Sinha Roy, RISNODEC, India

The main points from Mr. Roy’s papers are as follows :

Globalization which brings instability can not take care of poverty
State intervention towards protecting the poor has been mainly in terms of priority sector lending and the policy of reservations of some sectors for the small and medium entrepreneurs e.g. credit to agriculture and rural development (micro-financing)

Mr. Roy recommended the followings :

A multi-pronged programme in terms of pro-poor growth is essential in dealing with eradication of poverty.
A holistic approach is recommended in which state will have to play a significant role while NGOs and private sectors also make significant contribution to the development of the social sectors. In this process, the participation of the poor communities becomes essential.

Developing countries should share experiences of human development endeavors and poverty alleviation through participation of different agencies