Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)

1. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) President, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) Email: bup@citech-bd.com

2. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Scope of the paper • The focus of this paper is South Asia, but the arguments and suggested way forward should apply to other parts of the developing world IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

3. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Social exclusion defined • Social exclusion, as used in this paper, implies various dimensions such as economic, social, political, judicial, and so on IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

4. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Unprecedented advancements but increasing disparities • World is scaling unprecedented advancements in science, technology, particularly ICT, and global wealth and trade • This is happening under the aegis and control of the developed countries and MNCs and TNCs→ IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

5. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Divides as between rich countries and poor countries as well as between the rich and the poor in individual countries have been widening and deepening • Also, within the small global rich class, there are differentiations and so are among the deprived people at large IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

6. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Social exclusion—dimensions and implications • Inequality, poverty, and deprivations are concomitants of social exclusion, widely prevalent in developing countries • The socially excluded are constrained from all directions such as human capability, access to resources, access to institutions, participation in socio-political processes, and so on → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

7. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • The socially excluded are so condemned due to systemic injustices which are even more entrenched in the wake of neo-liberal reforms and globalization • The excluded are not a homogeneous category. In fact, they are divided in many ‘societies’, depending on the level of deficits of their economic and social circumstances → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

8. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • They are also at the forefront of the adverse impact of natural disasters • Moreover, it is they who are particularly in harm’s way of HIV/ AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other deadly diseases IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

9. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Dimensions and depth of social exclusion in South Asia • South Asia has a major constraint to start with—it contains 22.4% of the world’s population, while only 3.4% of the world’s total lands • Moreover, population growth is still high; it is in the populous South Asian countries (which account for 96% of South Asian population), 1.5% (India), 1.9% (Bangladesh), and 2.4% (Pakistan) → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

10. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • In South Asia, about one-third of the population lives on less than PPP$1 a day and about 83% under PPP$2 • While the overwhelming majority (83%) suffer from human dignity deficits of different degrees, the most disadvantaged and hapless are those people who are extremely poor (i.e. those who are under PPP$1 per day per person → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

11. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • South Asia is prone to natural disasters (flood, cyclone, storm surge, tornado, drought); to worsen under climate change • Each such disaster creates sudden poverty involving significant numbers of people and causes many of the already poor to be further pauperized or become destitute → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

12. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • The MDG targets of halving the proportion poor and number hungry by 2015 compared to 1990 is sure to remain unfulfilled to a significant extent in South Asia → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

13. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • The following conditions in South Asia are prevalent mostly among the socially excluded or affect them the most • Some 40% of the regional population is illiterate and more are functionally illiterate • Public primary health services are very limited and very poor when available • Public expenditure on education remains limited, mostly between 2% or 3.4% of GDP→ IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

14. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Undernourishment among adults and children and underweight among children are also high • So are infant and maternal mortality rates → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

15. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • South Asian children also face other types of crisis including insecurity against preventable and curable diseases, trafficking, forced by poverty to join the labour force, turning into street urchins and eventually drifting into nets of armed social elements → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

16. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Women of the socially excluded category suffer from low capability (in the absence of effective public education, health services, and training), little participation in tertiary education as well as in politics and decision-making positions in public or private sectors → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

17. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Moreover, dowry requirements, torture at home, and trafficking are also prevent widely among women of the socially excluded category→ IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

18. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • In South Asia, governance generally remains less democratic and more extra-democratic • Moreover, politics of the countries of the region is generally confrontational → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

19. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • The kinds of politics and governance that prevail in the South Asian countries in fact abet and cause social exclusion • More so, because of adherence to principles and compulsions of neo-liberalism and globalization→ IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

20. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Two specific examples: • On one hand dotcom revolution has flourished in Bangalore, India; on the other hundreds of farmers commit suicide in the same Indian state in the face of crop failure and due to inability to repay debts • Micro-credit in Bangladesh has not only failed to lift most of the micro-credit takers from their poverty but in fact large numbers have fallen into debt traps and pauperized further→ IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

21. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Finally, still on diagnosis in South Asia, let it be noted: • Poverty reduction and social development programmes being implemented usually - treat people to be served as target groups or objects; and - the underlying basic causes of their exclusion are not addressed IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

22. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Conceptual framework for way forward • The goal may be construed as well-being of all on an equitable basis, as opposed to present situation of exclusion of and ills for the majority → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

23. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Focus on key concepts on which the framework is anchored: • Freedom and empowerment - The excluded must be enabled to free themselves from their subservient and hopeless conditions - Empowerment (economic, social, political) initially to an extent will enable them to articulate their demands and mount efforts for those be fulfilled, and then move forward in terms of further empowerment and expanding freedom → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

24. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Shared prosperity - Reorientation of investment and production pattern, which facilitate participation and employment of the now socially excluded - Demand of products and services produced should be kept in perspective - High tech activities, as appropriate, should also be promoted, but corporate social responsibility should be codified and observed → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

25. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Unity amidst diversity - Diversity (social, cultural) must be celebrated and upheld for the proper rooting of and strong support for the changes being introduced → IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

26. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • People’s (participatory) democracy - People-centred democratization at all levels of society - Effective local governance - Macro-micro policy congruence IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

27. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • Note: A word on Imagine a New South Asia (INSA) IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

28. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • From framework to action • Research • Policy briefs • Campaign IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

29. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION • A list of suggested themes for research and action IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

30. Suggested Themes for Research and Action * Human capability development, focusing on children and youth (both female and male) of the socially excluded families through an integrated approach involving education, health, training, and at appropriate stages of their lives access to resources including credit, employment, and markets * Alternatives to the prevailing political order: the aspects to be investigated may include democratization at all levels of society, human security, human rights, peace, people’s power, values and diversity of interest, and ethnic and religious minorities * Agriculture and industrialization: aspects to cover may include interrelationships and coordination, implications of globalization, food security, and employment promotion * Overcoming discrimination and establishing social cohesiveness: issues to focus on may include gender, minority groups, disabled people, and other disadvantaged groups including people affected by HIV/AIDS and other sever diseases * Ownership and management of land and other resources, focusing on people’s perspectives * Economic growth, environmental sustainability, social development, and social equity * The nature and roles of state and market in the context of inclusive social transformation * International order, international institutions, and people’s sovereignty * Community approaches to managing climate change and sea level rise impacts IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007

31. SOUTH ASIA: TACKLING SOCIAL EXCLUSION Thank you IFPR International Conference, Beijing, 17-19 October 2007