An international conference on Governance, Poverty Eradication, and Social Policy was held last week by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The conference, which took place at the Kennedy School, brought together scholars and practitioners to consider issues related to governance in human development and poverty alleviation activities. It was part of an ongoing cooperative effort between HIID and the UNDP, under which the latter organization has sponsored much research and a number of projects in developing countries on these issues.

During the past decade, promoting economic policy reform aimed at financial stabilization and increased orientation to the market has been the major focus in international development. Many of these reforms required that governments cut back on spending and curtail programs directed at poverty alleviation and human development. At the same time, widespread democratization has been accompanied by a reinvigoration of civil society and an expansion of nongovernmental organizations concerned about sustained human development. These trends have combined to create extensive interest in the social agenda and poverty alleviation strategies. Development specialists primarily concerned about economic development argue that the social agenda must be addressed because sustained economic growth requires educated and healthy human capital. Those primarily concerned about political and social development argue that democratic governments must be responsive to the social needs of their populations if they are to survive, and must deal with questions of inequity in the distribution of economic and political power if they are to be legitimate.

Experts increasingly point to problems of governance as reasons for the inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and unresponsiveness of initiatives in such areas as health, education, income generation, and social security and safety nets. They believe that governance that offers greater transparency, accountability, and participation, as well as effective management, is critical for successfully confronting challenges in the social sectors.

On Wednesday evening, the conference began with public remarks by James Gustave Speth, administrator of the UNDP, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of HIID and Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. Speth's remarks, which were delivered in his absence by Roy Morey, director of the Washington Liaison Office of the UNDP, highlighted the abrogation of rights as a major cause of poverty and proposed a rights-based approach to poverty. Professor Sachs found much to agree with in the proposal, but assessed the limitations of targeting discrimination against various groups as the cause of poverty. He argued that the major approach to poverty should focus on achieving broad-based growth that will reach the poor, and he discussed the importance of good governance to achieving that kind of growth.

Amartya Sen, Lamont University Professor and professor of economics and philosophy, started Thursday's sessions with a stimulating presentation on "Human Development and Governance." In his remarks, he compared the human development and the human capital approaches and analyzed the relationships between income, poverty, and human development.

Throughout the two days of sessions, panels considered the lessons of recent research and field experience for institutional arrangements in the social sector, including alternative governance strategies, decentralization of decision making and management, social development funds, and social safety nets. Among the scholars making presentations were political scientists, economists, and governance specialists from HIID, the School of Public Health, and other universities and think tanks, as well as a number of UNDP officials and other practitioners.

A special plenary session assessed the impact of the Human Development Report on international and national policy agendas. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the Human Development Report Office at the UNDP, reviewed the evolution of the report and discussed its raison detre and intended impact.

Among the other participants on this panel, Zéphirin Diabré, the former Minister of Finance of Burkina Faso and currently a visiting scholar at HIID and fellow at the Center for International Affairs, revealed what it was like to be on the receiving end of the report and how it had affected his decision making. He made several recommendations as to how the report could be disseminated more effectively to have maximum impact on policy. He recommended involving not just the ministers dealing with economics and finance, but ministers in areas such as defense, and finding ways to get the information to the poor communities whose interests are most directly affected.