Uttam Maharjan

Poverty eradication is one of the topmost goals of every country. A country's development metrics may be determined in terms of the rate of poverty and the per capita income. It is obvious that a higher per capita income would denote a less rate of poverty. Like other countries, Nepal has been striving to reduce poverty by making all-out efforts. The country has accorded a top priority to poverty reduction since 1976. Remarkable progress in the poverty alleviation front has, however, manifested itself since 1995. In 1995, the rate of poverty was very high, which came down to 25.2 per cent in 2010. With further progress, the rate of poverty came down to 21 per cent in 2018.

Remittances
Although an agrarian country, the agricultural domain is not satisfactory in Nepal. However, there is growth in the non-agricultural sector, especially in the labour market. Growth in this sector has contributed much in alleviating poverty. People from rural areas tend to migrate to urban areas like Kathmandu and help promote the labour market. As far as the international labour market is concerned, many people, especially those living in rural areas, migrate abroad for foreign employment. The remittances they send back home have played a pivotal role in sustaining their families. Moreover, such remittances have reduced poverty to a great extent. It is surmised that around 25 per cent of poverty has been reduced by means of such remittances.
Nepal is rich in natural resources. But such resources remain underutilised much to the chagrin of the people, who aspire to developing nation by harnessing natural resources that are available in abundance. Such resources could be used for the establishment of productive enterprises in rural areas. But the problem is that the government has not prioritised such an important component of development. Rather, it seems to have an undeclared policy of sending the country's labour forces abroad in order to earn remittance money to set the economy going. Thousands of Nepali workers had to come back home after losing their jobs owing to the COVID-19 pandemic some months ago. Such workers could be retained in the country itself by providing them with agricultural and other work. But the government has not taken any concrete measures in this direction.
Poverty is a complex, multi-dimensional issue. A high incidence of poverty would affect economic development, weaken the socio-cultural fabric and disturb the environment. It can even destabilise the political spectrum. Poverty is regarded as a violation of human rights and human dignity. Being subtle and different from country to country or from region to region, poverty cannot be resolved through package strategies. So, country-specific strategies need to be devised. And such strategies ought to be supported by the world community to eradicate poverty in poor countries. With this in view, the UN has set poverty eradication as the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda for Sustainable Development.
As per the SDGs, eradicating poverty, including extreme poverty, in all forms and dimensions is the greatest global challenge. The SDGs aim at eradicating extreme poverty, reducing by at least half the number of poor people and implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems, among others. It would be germane to mention that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) helped around one billion people get rid of extreme poverty, make progress in the anti-hunger drive, impart education to girls and, more importantly, protect the earth.
Extreme poverty is a formidable challenge in LDCs and developing countries. Conflict-hit countries are also in its clutches. Although global poverty has been reduced by more than half since 2000 AD, ten per cent of the world population is still living in extreme poverty. Poverty has a disproportionate impact on men, women and children. Women and children are more impacted by poverty than men. It is estimated that over 167 million children will have lived in extreme poverty by 2030 if the world does not take measures to reform health and education sectors.
The UN General Assembly at its 72nd session declared the Third UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018-2027) with a focus on moving forward the goals encapsulated in the Second UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017). The UN initiative is expected to support internationally recognised development goals pertaining to poverty alleviation, including the SDGs. The SDGs conceive of sustainable development by fulfilling various goals by 2030. To materialise the goals, policies for sustainable economic growth backed up by full employment and decent work, social integration, equity, productivity and a conducive environment are required.

Global problem
In the meantime, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world economy. With the global economy in tatters and people losing jobs, poverty is bound to go up. This has exacerbated the poverty index across the world. However, there is a glimmer of hope that the disease will be tamed with the observance of health protocol and the development of vaccines. In sum, poverty is an international problem. It is not confined to a single country. The efforts being put in by Nepal at eradicating poverty are praiseworthy. However, there is a long way to go as far as eradicating poverty is concerned.
The present government's slogan 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali' is also directed towards alleviating poverty. To materialise the slogan, the momentum of development should be accelerated. But most development projects such as the Melamchi drinking water project are prone to procrastination for one reason or the other. Political stability is a sine qua non for the implementation of development projects without any bottlenecks. It behoves the government to utilise natural resources, including mineral resources, for the promotion of indigenous enterprises. After all, it is the duty of the government to make every Nepali happy as the aforesaid slogan so vividly expresses.

(Former banker, Maharjan has been regularly writing on contemporary issues for this daily since 2000. uttam.maharjan1964@gmail.com)