Governments must side with the poor
| Published date | 01 November 2006 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230150320 |
| Date | 01 November 2006 |
| Author | M. Khalid Shams |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND
DEVELOPMENT,
VOL.
15,303-310
(1995)
Governments must side with the
poor
M.
KHALID SHAMS
Grameen Bank, Bangladesh
INTRODUCTION
Governments face
a
turbulent future
Government in transition may be looked at from many angles. There is little doubt
that, at the end of the century, our governments operate in an extremely complex
and turbulent environment. This is true of both the developing as well as the
developed countries. The more conventional concepts
of
government, state and
sovereignty are undergoing rapid change due to both internal and external pressures.
On the one hand, extremely powerful forces have been unleashed globally, through
the emergence of new technologies, growing international trade and threats to the
world environment, forces that will inevitably accelerate global integration. On the
other hand, existing governmental systems have become increasingly ineffective,
because they have proved incapable of solving people’s problems within their own
countries.
Poverty
is
our
number one problem
According to various estimates, including those of the World Bank, about one
billion people or one-sixth of the human race now live in poverty. Poverty creates a
disequilibrium in society and is the cause of much of the turbulence that we see
around
us.
Poverty deprives people of their self dignity and destroys their creative
capacity. Poverty is morally degrading, socially disruptive and economically
wasteful, yet poverty is deeply entrenched in South Asia, in sub-Saharan Africa,
and in the fast growing economies of South-East Asia and China. It is growing
rapidly in the former socialist countries of East Europe and even in the developed
countries of the West, which have experienced chronic unemployment and the
gradual decline
of
their inner cities. Our national and municipal governments have
generally failed to cope with the problem of poverty and the discontent arising out of
it. Governmental systems have been less than effective in dealing with
discriminations against women, who along with children, are the worst victims of
poverty. Governments have also largely failed to deal with impoverishment of ethnic
M.
Khalid
Shams is Deputy Managing Director in the Grameen
Bank,
Mirpur
2,
Dhaka
1216,
Bangladesh.
CCC
027
1-2075/9
5/030303-08
0
1995
by
John
Wiley
&
Sons,
Ltd.
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