| August 17, 2005 | Wednesday | Rajab 11, 1426 |
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A welcome promise
Aceh deal: a model for peace?
THE World Bank president, who is on a visit to Pakistan, has promised to provide a loan of $1.5 billion as against this year’s loan of $1.1 billion for physical infrastructure and human resource development. Mr Paul Wolfowitz is satisfied with the country’s economic growth — eight per cent per annum — but has expressed concern at Pakistan’s failure to achieve social progress commensurate with its economic success. This is an important aspect of Pakistan’s development which needs to be addressed immediately. If this lopsided development continues, economic growth will reach a dead end since without an educated and trained manpower it is impossible for any country to master the technology needed for industrialization, for enhancing agricultural yields and invigorating the financial and other sectors.
When a government is starved of funds, the social sectors, such as education, health, population planning, housing, etc, are the first to suffer cuts in their funding. Some of the foreign aid which Pakistan has received from the World Bank and other donors is specifically meant for social development. That ensures that this area will not be denied funding and its impact has been felt in higher school enrolment ratios, growing gender parity and improvement in health indicators. But this progress is by no means adequate. According to the World Bank’s country report on Pakistan, only half of the 20 million children aged five to nine go to school and illiteracy is 50 per cent. Maternal and infant mortality rate remains high, despite a nominal fall in the past few years. A few decades ago, the general belief was that Pakistan’s social sector was faring so badly because successive governments did not fund it adequately enough. It was believed that if the spending on education and health was enhanced, the quality of the people’s life would improve. But this has not happened although social and poverty-related expenditures have been raised from 3.8 per cent of GDP in 2001-02 to 4.7 per cent in 2003-04.
It is important that the policymakers investigate why the increased funding is not making sufficient impact on the social sectors. One very significant factor which is not hidden from public view relates to corruption, graft and wastage of funds that preempt the efficient use of the finances available for education, health and population planning. The World Bank itself has taken note of the corruption and irregularities in government departments. With a lot of money being siphoned away by intermediaries, it is not surprising that schools are in an appalling state, hospitals and dispensaries lack even life-saving drugs and teachers’ training has been neglected. All this is not possible without funds, a lot of which are pocketed by the corrupt officials. Another key factor is the absence of political will and motivation in the planning and management of the social sector. Since the relevant departments are not strongly committed to the cause of education, health and population welfare, they fail to achieve their goals or mobilize their subordinates. Not only do they display great apathy and indifference towards their duties, they also fail to monitor the working of their departments. This approach has to change. Better funding for the social sector alone will not improve the situation. If the people concerned lack commitment, increased funds will only encourage corruption. The need for motivation and mobilization should be stressed if the desired results are to be achieved.
ONE must welcome Dr Manmohan Singh’s promise to curb human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. Speaking on India’s independence day, Dr Singh referred to the committee set up to investigate rights violations and said “accidents do happen once in a while”. The committee’s report would be examined in detail, he said, “and we will take all necessary steps so that there are no violations of human rights”. Since the insurgency broke out in the valley in the late eighties, international rights bodies — Amnesty International among them — have accused Indian troops of wanton acts of torture, arson, “disappearances” and rape. Regrettably, in spite of the on-going peace process between Pakistan and India, there has been no significant decline in violence and rights abuses in Kashmir. On Monday, life in the valley was brought to a standstill because of a strike call given by freedom fighters, asking people to observe India’s independence day as a black day.
One reason for the continued violence in occupied territory is India’s failure to hold talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. In his Monday’s speech, Dr Singh offered talks to Kashmiri leaders but coupled it with a warning that his security forces would deal with the militants with “an iron hand” if violence continued. Obviously, insurgency will continue unless New Delhi begins talking to the APHC leaders without conditions. Talks held in August last year broke down because of India’s insistence that negotiations be held within the framework of the Indian constitution, which regards Kashmir as India’s integral part. The APHC wants a dialogue without conditions and has renewed its talks offer to New Delhi after the Hurriyat leaders’ visit to Pakistan in June. Given the perceptible improvement in Indo-Pakistan ties, it would be in the fitness of things if India began talking to the APHC. This will help remove the stifling atmosphere in the valley and constitute a major step towards coming to grips with the Kashmir issue. The Indian prime minister’s reassurance that rights abuses in the occupied territory will be curbed should therefore help matters if the promise is translated into reality.
HOPES for peace are at an all-time high in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh after the government and GAM rebels signed an agreement reached last month at Helsinki. If successfully implemented, the accord should bring to an end three decades of bloody warfare between the rebels and the Indonesian military in which some 15,000 people died. The agreement will see the Aceh rebels give up their demand for independence and abandon their arms in return for political autonomy, the right to establish regional parties, the release of political prisoners and the withdrawal of Indonesian troops. Despite its great natural wealth, Aceh is among the poorest of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. It would now be entitled to retain a considerable portion of locally-generated revenues. Under the accord to be monitored by ASEAN and the EU, the province will have a human rights court and a commission for truth and reconciliation.
Nevertheless, fears remain that the current accord could prove as short-lived as similar deals concluded over the last five years. Considering the fragility of the hard-won peace, neither side can afford to let the present agreement collapse, especially in view of last year’s devastating Asian tsunami that claimed 180,000 lives in Aceh. For rehabilitation work to proceed smoothly, peace conditions must exist on the ground. These can only be created if both the government and GAM support the monitoring process with regard to the implementation of the provisions of the agreement. Indonesia has other flashpoints too where communal violence has resulted in the death of thousands of people. Although peace moves have been made in some of these areas, the political situation remains volatile. If implemented in the right spirit, the Aceh accord could prove a model for peace in the country’s other troubled spots.