___________________________________________
The
Good News Agency
Harness
"Network Age" Technologies to Reduce Poverty, says Report
Dynamic new technologies,
from the digital revolution to biotechnology, can power a quantum leap
in overcoming poverty, but smart public policies, and not market forces
alone, are needed to fulfil this potential.
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr,
Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office and the report's
lead author, conveyed this key message from the Human Development Report
2001 yesterday in an address at the London School of Economics. The
event was one of dozens worldwide marking the debut of the report, with
the main international launch held yesterday in Mexico City.
"The market
alone will not take the benefits of technological progress for poor
people and poor countries," said Ms. Fukuda-Parr, "on the
contrary, it is likely to ignore them if only because they do not constitute
a market."
Greater public investment in research and development is one key to
reorienting policies, she said, noting that of $70 billion a year in
global health research, only $300 million is spent on HIV/AIDS and $100
million on malaria, two of the most devastating diseases. Countries
need to adopt national policies to spur technological innovation, noted
Ms. Fukuda-Parr.
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
click
here to return
to the NFTS events page
