Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have a vital role to play in
fighting against poverty, officials from the sector said.
Wang Xingzui, vice-director with the China Foundation for
Underdeveloped Areas, said it and other non-government and
non-profit agencies supplemented government efforts to help the
needy.
From 1994 to 2000, NGOs poured at least 50 billion yuan (US$6
billion) into projects to lift thousands of people out of
poverty.
Wang's foundation has amassed more than 800 million yuan (US$96
million) since it was set up, benefiting about 20 million farmers
through projects that help them help themselves.
NGOs' flexibility allowed them to respond quickly, Wang said.
Huang Haoming, executive director of China Association for NGO
Cooperation, said that NGO had found many efficient ways to reduce
poverty.
Micro-financing programs help farmers get rich by lending them
small sums of money, said Huang.
Many such projects have been launched in western regions, but
problems arise when farmers cannot pay off their loan debt. In many
cases, as few as 30 per cent can repay the debt, Huang said
Huang said that since his association was founded in 1987, about 60
foreign NGOs have provided about 270 million yuan (US$32.5 million)
of aid to help destitute Chinese farmers. With additional funding
of 190 million yuan (US$22.9 million) from local governments, 272
projects have been implemented in 78 poverty-hit counties
nationwide.
Apart from NGOs, other international organizations have also been
active in relieving poverty among farmers.
They include the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program
and the International Labor Organization.
The World Bank, China's first and largest international partner in
fighting poverty, has provided nearly US$35 billion to support more
than 220 projects in the country over the last 20 years.
China-World Bank projects in southwest China have cost a total of
US$610 million and have benefited more than 8 million people from
nine provinces and autonomous regions.
Juergen Voegele, sector coordinator for Rural Development under the
World Bank's resident mission in China, said China still has much
to do before people in poor areas can live a comfortable and
well-off life.
He
said China's poverty reduction work could be enhanced by forging
stronger links with other governments, academic and civic
organizations.
World Bank sources said the bank will lend between US$1 billion and
US$1.5 billion annually to China, the largest recipient of World
Bank loans, over the next several years.
Much of the funds will go to China's interior provinces, to needy
urban and rural areas, and to environmental and social
projects.
Jeurgen said China could make its aid money work harder if its
projects to improve productivity in upland farming areas, where
most of China's poor are subsistence producers, were funded over
several years and involved local communities more.
(China Daily May 21, 2003)