Dudley Seers -a british economist once posed three questions in a speech in 1969 which later was published in an article that changed the perception on Development!, he said and I quote The questions to ask about a countrys development are therefore: What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? And What has been happening to inequality? If all three of these become less severe, then beyond doubt there has been a period of development for the country concerned. If one or two of these central problems have been growing worse, and especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result development, even if per capita income had soared. (Seers, 1972) Comparing to PNGs scenario, I would say from a laymens perspective, we have a long way to go. There has been progress, no doubt about that. In terms of inequality (Which could mean many things) as a country we have made tremendous progress in terms of reducing Gender Inequality through advocating for rights together with that of persons with disability (I wish I had data to back that up). For unemployment the government is delivering through strategic policies in the likes of Informal Sector and SMEs -this should create employment opportunities. For poverty reduction strategy, Social Protection Policy is the corner stone for this country... This Government cannot go wrong :-)
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 15:43:02 +0000