On May 29, International Poverty Reduction Center in China and Institute of Russian, Eastern European& Central Asian Studies, CASS released the Research Report on Poverty Reduction and Development in the SCO Countries (hereinafter referred to as “the Report”) at the opening ceremony of the SCO Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development.
The Report focuses on poverty in the SCO member states, studies the current situation, evolution, characteristics and causes of poverty in each country, assesses the poverty reduction policies, institutions and effects of poverty reduction in these countries, and finally sorts out the situation and needs of each country’s participation in international cooperation on poverty reduction. By clarifying these issues, the Report presents theoretical and practical findings on the needs, mechanisms and prospects of international cooperation on poverty reduction under the SCO framework.
The Report proposes to begin with top-level design, and to establish the Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee on Poverty Reduction, the SCO Ministerial Conference on Cooperation on Poverty Reduction, the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund and the International Forum on Cooperation on Poverty Reduction under the framework of the SCO as soon as possible, which will be organized and implemented by the international poverty reduction agencies of each country. Also, it calls for the earlier inclusion of the “Five-Year Plan on Cooperation on Poverty Reduction among SCO Member States” (or action program) into the schedule of the SCO as soon as possible. In the process of designing and implementing international cooperation on poverty reduction, different political systems, economic systems and social management modes should be respected, the precise identification of the poor in the member states should be one of the priorities, and effective poverty reduction program should be formulated on this basis. The Report holds that, based on the international organizations’ experience of poverty reduction, providing public goods for poverty reduction cooperation in the form of poverty reduction projects to each member country is an effective way. Through the initiatives mentioned above, the greatest common divisor of international cooperation on poverty reduction will be found, a consensus will be reached among member states, and cooperation on poverty reduction will be put into practice, which will contribute to building a community of destiny for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
(Source: Shaanxi Daily)
