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Poverty reduction program expected to win UN award A successful Chinese poverty reduction program that has been carried out in the eastern province of Jiangxi is expected to win a United Nations award, the first time such a program from China has ever been forwarded to the UN for the award. Zhang Zhihao, director of the Provincial Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, told Xinhua that his office-run poverty relief program has been sent, on behalf of China, to the UN for the award for improving public service. Zhang is attending the two-day Global Conference on Scaling Up Poverty Reduction that opened Wednesday in Shanghai. As one of the poorest areas in China, Jiangxi has also shown positive trends in its rural poverty reduction efforts, especially on poor people's participation in village-level policymaking. Zhang's office launched its program a few years ago in a participatory manner, one of very few local initiatives to improve public services in rural poverty reduction via allowing people under supportive programs to decide for themselves. Despite the valid role of the current government commitment on social development, particularly poverty reduction in rural areas, the efficiency of government-financed programs has been questioned for many years, according to Wu Guobao, poverty relief expert of the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. One of the major issues has been how government services could be improved so that government support, financial or substantial, could reach the most needed and how that support will be used appropriately. Poverty relief resources from the government conventionally have been decided by top-down procedures, failing to meet the needs of the poor in many cases and increasing cost for poverty reduction work, according to Dr. Li Xiaoyun, dean of the College of Humanities and Development of prestigious China Agricultural University. Zhang's office began with a strategy to identify poor villages, 1,200 in total in the province now, to be included in the program by votes of delegates, usually heads of villages. It followed by forming a planning group consisting of local villagers and another supervisory mission of officials from higher authorities in each selected village, according to Zhang. The groups reviewed how and for what programs financial aid from the government will be used. The procedures are entirely open and transparent, Zhang said, and it encourages the poor to participate to decide what they need or need to do. Officials sent to each village were supervisors only. They could make suggestions but could not overturn a decision by villagers themselves who have the final say in the use of public money. The amount of money for each village was announced publicly to ensure villagers' rights to know and to bar misuse by officials. The initiative has resulted in a series of positive consequences. It improved the accountability of government services and gave rise to a mutual partnership between the government and the poor, Wu Guobao said. The exercise, based on the empowerment of people, will produce a profound impact on improving the efficiency of government-funded poverty reduction programs and cast light on how to tailor government administration to address the needs of the poor, according to Li. This practice has shown far-reaching influence in improving public services, since most local government agencies either do not believe in or do not like to follow this approach, said Li, who is one of the leading poverty specialists in China and also the advisor who recommended the Jiangxi case for the UN award. The award was expected to be announced in early June and an award-issuing ceremony is likely to be held on June 23 in the UN headquarters in Washington, Zhang said. |
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