Can the current global economic system bring about the eradication of poverty? Fatemah Farag went to Alexandria for an answer "Why doesn't anyone listen to the poor?" asked Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed, director of Cairo University's Centre for the Study of Developing Countries (CSDC). It was a peculiar question to ask the participants in the closing session of an international conference entitled "From poverty to dignity: strategies for social cohesion in Euro- Mediterranean countries," that was held this week in Alexandria. The delegates had just spent the past two days re-iterating how important "listening to the poor" is and using, in the process, a smorgasbord of developmental terms: human development, advocacy, participation and mobilisation. Again and again the concepts of democracy, social responsibility and peace were brought up as keys to development -- comprehensive and sustainable development that is. "These ideas and concepts have been expressed before and will be expressed again," admitted El-Sayed to Al-Ahram Weekly. "However, this event is different in that it brings together five constituencies in the battle against poverty; namely, members of parliament, senior government officials, the media, non- governmental organisatons and academics. The objective is not only to come up with new ideas but to stress the principle of sharing responsibility at different levels -- private and public, government and civil, North and South -- and to use this understanding as a basis for action. For example, our European partners complain of immigration. It is up to us to tell them that they must hold their governments accountable for their investment decisions, as measures to be taken in dealing with the problem of immigration from south to north." And while yet another reiteration of well practiced clichés seemed to be the order of the day, undercurrents of genuine debate erupted throughout the two days. One such contretemps unfolded at the closing ceremony. "A world cannot stand that it is partly rich but mostly poor," said Ismail Serageddin, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and a senior World Bank veteran. While Serageddin went on to assert that poverty could only be eradicated at times of economic growth and that this entailed a sound macro-economic policy, development of the private sector and several other factors, he averred that, so far, the formula has resulted in the "poor benefiting last and benefiting the least". Hence the emphasis on social policy. "I want to abolish the term 'free market' from our vocabulary. We want competitive markets that are regulated -- after all, Wall Street is highly regulated," added Serageddin. And while it seemed that everyone was speaking the same language, Adib Ne'meh, project manager at the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, got up and argued that much of what had been said implies that "We must eradicate poverty without eliminating the [free market] economy. I do not believe this is true. I argue that this is a society that cannot last." Ne'meh's outburst brought murmurs of "finally" and "at last" from across the room. After all, although everyone agrees that knowledge is key to human development, one participant pointed out, "Where would Bill Gates be if he did not have minimum wage labourers working to put together his computers?" The conference, held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, was organised by both CSDC and the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe -- an autonomous agency whose official name is the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity and which currently boasts 20 member states. "The idea of this conference came as a common reflection between the CSDC and the North-South Centre regarding the relationship between poverty and social cohesion," recounted El-Sayed. And hence, the prestigious list of delegates -- Klaus Halla, director of the Finnish Strategic Planning Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Pierre Salama, director of the Economy Centre at the University of Paris Nord, Miguel-Angel Martinez, president of the Executive Council of the North-South Centre and from Brazil, Candido Grybowski, representing the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analyses (IBASE) and chairperson of the WSF. The gathering seemed to reflect a wide array of perspectives, ranging from mainstream development theory of the World Bank variety to an anti-globalisation premise. El-Sayed noted the representation of the anti-globalisation perspective as one of the significant features of the conference. "Clearly, the anti-globalisation movement has been much stronger in Latin America. In the Arab world, although there have been many critics of globalisation and its manifestations, we have not participated actively in the wider movement. This meeting is an opportunity to bring us closer to an international movement," explained El-Sayed. In the end, the initial question remained -- can poverty be eradicated by working from within the prevailing economic system?
