Sustainable economic growth in South Asian countries will only be ensured if the system of governance is pro-people as well as people-centered. This was the findings of the South Asia Human Development Report 2012: Governance for People's Empowerment, launched by Mehboob ul Haq Human Development Centre (MHHDC) here at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Friday.
The launch was chaired by Syed Babar Ali, pro-Chancellor LUMS, and the Chief Guest for the event was Shahid Kardar, ex-Governor State Bank of Pakistan. Also present at the launch were Dr Nagesh Kumar, Director ESCAP regional office in New Delhi; M Syeduzzaman, former Finance Minister of Bangladesh; Dr Adil Najam, VC LUMS; Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Board Member MHHDC and Khadija Haq, President MHHDC.
Speakers on the occasion highlighted salient features of the Report. They said that benefits of growth cannot reach to people without empowering the people. They added that lack of efficient and effective governance is one of the leading constraints in the human development in South Asia.
The Report acknowledges that some positive developments in terms of people's empowerment have taken place in the region. There is, indeed, a greater participation of women in economic and political activities. Civil society engagements in dealing with education, health and access to credit have been successful in bringing change. South Asia has also witnessed an increase in information and advocacy campaigns, which have raised the voices of the poor.
However, the 2012 Report also argues that despite recent growth rates recorded in several countries of the region, adequate employment generation or substantial poverty reduction has not taken place. The majority of South Asians continue to live under poor economic management with high fiscal deficit and public debt, soaring inflation, and significant unemployment and under employment in the informal sector. Despite several poverty reduction efforts in the region, the absolute number of poor people is still high with about half a billion poor people. So, the Report reveals that economic governance in most of South Asia has served to make these economies bigger; however it has failed to make them better.
According to the Report, the region still faces a huge empowerment deficit in terms of poor delivery of public services in education, health, and justice. South Asia is home to nearly 400 million illiterate adults out of which 250 million are women; over 160 million people are without access to drinking water; and one billion people are without access to improved sanitation services. Moreover, despite the existence of strong judiciaries, inadequate and ineffective lower courts do not provide timely justice to the poor.
In addition to providing an in-depth and holistic analysis on governance through economic, political and social institutions, the Report also revisited the Humane Governance Index (HGI), first developed by Pakistan's late economist Dr Mehboob ul Haq for SAHDR 1999. The index measures the extent of humane governance, giving a composite figure for its three interlinked dimensions: economic, political and civic governance.
The HGI for this Report has been constructed for 51 medium and low human development countries, including four South Asia countries. South Asian countries have not fared very well in HGI, leaving scope to improve governance in all three dimensions.
Additionally, the Report also computed the Poverty of Opportunity Index (POPI) for South Asian countries to identify multiple deprivations in poverty in terms of education, health and income. In Pakistan 29.2 per cent of the population suffer multiple deprivations compared to 35.2 per cent in Bangladesh, 27.8 per cent in India and 7.8 per cent in Sri Lanka.
The Report concludes that people's empowerment can happen through multiple routes: political institutions such as the Parliament, bureaucracy and judiciary can function in ways to either hamper or propagate human development; economic management, particularly through the adoption of poverty reduction strategies and social protection mechanisms, can play a significant role in protecting the marginalized and the poor; similarly, social empowerment, determined by the access to and quality of health, education and sanitation can significantly impact the standard of living of ordinary citizens. The private sector and civil society are also critical partners in helping respective governments in addressing people's concerns.