The future - The Road Ahead

Social Policy Section
Social Development Division, United Nations ESCAP

The Road Ahead

BACKGROUNDER 3 - SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND PROGRESS

The task that lies before policymakers and leaders, however, remains massive and daunting. The region, after all, covers two-thirds of the world’s population. And poverty in the region is most stubborn and persistent. Recent events, such as currency turmoil in South-East Asia and reforms elsewhere in the region, threaten to undermine the financial support and political commitment behind many initiatives. Among the many future challenges and constraints in implementing the Regional Social Development Agenda:

Financing: Changes in the larger economy affect how much governments can afford to spend on social development. So the amount of social spending is often unstable. Economic troubles now cast some of that spending in doubt. Nonetheless, in the past decade, there have been modest increases in how much states have set aside to spend on improving their societies. In Bangladesh, for example, annual development expenditure almost doubled from 17.9 percent in 1992 to 31 percent in 1997. The Philippines has also increased its budget outlay on social services from 20.5 percent in 1992 to 31.0 percent in 1996.

Training: Only some countries are training people specifically on how to implement the policies of the Regional Social Development Agenda, although the improvement of people’s professional grasp of social development is crucial to meeting the targets. Those that do train, however, are doing it well. Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; and Malaysia are including community volunteers and non-governmental group staff in training courses, while many other governments have been holding seminars for senior planners and policy makers on social development. Their example deserves further study and, perhaps, imitation.

Monitoring: Few countries and areas in the region have managed to set up a monitoring system to evaluate how well and how far their programs are going in fighting poverty, creating jobs or promoting social integration. Data, by and large, remains dispersed among various government agencies. Without such concrete indicators, it is difficult to access how far a economy has come in terms of social development – and how much further it needs to go.

Focus: Social integration remains such a broad goal that countries and areas are only beginning to get a handle on how to address it. Few economies have specified targets for social integration in their national programs. The next few years should see more governments enunciate, with greater clarity, how they will build equitable societies. And that means better targeting of disadvantaged groups and their special needs. More groups, such as marginal farmers, casual workers and the self-employed, also have to be considered. The institutions and people who work towards social development need also to be strengthened.

The work continues. But, at the very least, countries and areas now recognize that if prosperity is to mean a better quality of life for all, economic growth polices must be accompanied by proper and resolute measures to alleviate poverty, create jobs and enhance social integration. Their continued hope, and that of the United Nations, is that the Asia and Pacific of the future will be not only a wealthier but a better place for all.

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