BIMSTEC adopts poverty plan of action
KATHMANDU, JAN 17 -
The second Ministerial Meeting of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on poverty alleviation concluded on Monday with a 14-point ‘Kathmandu declaration.’
The high-level meeting attended by ministers and senior officials of the region endorsed a ‘Poverty Plan of Action’ (PPA) prepared by Nepal through the ‘Kathmandu declaration.’
By endorsing the PPA, member countries pledged that they would incorporate appropriate aspects of the plan in the respective countries’ plans and programmes.
The PPA includes increased cooperation in technology transfer, capacity building, sharing of best practices, promotion of trade and tourism and improved transportation and communication among member countries.
The regional block, consisting South Asian and East Asian countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation in natural disaster risk reduction, environmental protection and conservation, and develop a common framework for assessing climate change and environment services for poverty alleviation.
They also agreed to hold frequent consultations on issues of international trade and investment and increasing human capital investment specially targeted to the poor and vulnerable groups.
The member countries also agreed to make periodic review of the implementation and progress in reducing poverty level and human deprivation. They also agreed to introduce legal provisions and developmental programmes to empower women and mainstream them in all developmental activities.
The meeting also decided to hold the third ministerial meeting on poverty alleviation in Sri Lanka. The first meeting was held in Bangladesh in 2008. Seven countries—Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand—are members of the regional body.
Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry said holding the meet itself was a success as arranging a common time for ministers from all the countries was tough.
The two-day meet saw ministers and senior bureaucrats of the region holding discussions on the PPA on the first day and ministers of the region taking part in discussions on the second day. Some ministers arrived late on Sunday night for the meeting, while some departed early afternoon on Monday, according to officials involved in the preparations.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha inaugurated the meeting on Monday. In his speech, Shrestha highlighted the role of global fraternity for poverty alleviation and added that governments shold comply with the pledges they made in the name of their citizens to address poverty.
Source: Kantipur
