The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A social contract signed by central and regional governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations is needed if the country is to eradicate poverty in line with its Millennium Development Goals, the nation's top welfare minister says.
Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said a charter on human development would require central and regional governments, NGOs and businesspeople to carry out and support welfare programs.
Bakrie made the call when opening a Jakarta meeting to discuss the agenda for a national congress on Indonesia's human development in September.
Aburizal said the upcoming congress should produce a charter that would act as a social contract for human development.
""In this modern era, global competition is not among countries any more, but among individuals,"" he said.
Aburizal said national development should not only focus on economic growth. Trickle-down theories did not address income disparities between the rich and the poor and the need to develop human resources as an engine for growth, he said.
He said investment in people through increasing the quality of education, access to knowledge and health care was vital if Indonesians were to better compete in global markets.
Every human being had basic rights, such as the right to food security, education, health care and safety, Aburizal said.
Eradicating poverty is the primary focus of the UN's Millennium Development Goals. The national congress on human development is part of Indonesia's efforts to reach these goals.
Despite some progress, the country's poverty rates are still higher than neighboring Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
State Minister of National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta said the UN's 2005 Human Development Report ranked Indonesia 110 out of 117 countries.
Paskah said the media here generally represented national development as part of the macro-economy, focusing on investment, inflation, stability, and growth.
However, Indonesia would not improve its position until people were put at the center of development strategies, he said.
Sujana Royat, Aburizal's deputy coordinator for poverty eradication, said Indonesia required an additional Rp 103 trillion (about US$11 billion) to improve education, infrastructure and health services in the nation.
He said ideally the country should allocate at least 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product to social spending.
Indonesia currently spends only 3.2 percent of GDP on human development. (08).
