Opening Address by
H.E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
At the International Conference on World Habitat Day
5 October 2005, UNESCAP
Your Excellency Mr. Wattana Muangsook, Minister of Social
Development and Human Security,
Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Director of UNESCAP,
Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the UN-HABITAT
Ms. Somsook Boonyabancha, Director of Community Organizations
Development Institute (CODI),
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Yesterday
evening, when H.E. the Prime Minister presided over the
observance of World Habitat Day 2005 and launched the joint
Thai-UN HABITAT Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, many
of you who were there may have sensed the air of passion
and determination between the Prime Minister and the people
at the grassroots of Thailand.
Four years ago, the Prime Minister announced his
government's resolute determination to eliminate poverty
from Thailand by the end of this decade. He drove all his
cabinet colleagues and the whole government machinery into
the same mode, sharing his passion to do away with poverty
and to ensure human dignity to all Thai citizens. His "outside-in"
approach policy brought many new practical initiatives,
which, when given the political will, passion and determination,
have shown visible and tangible results in poverty alleviation.
This morning, as a member of his cabinet since this government won the
first election in January 2001 and the second one in February
this year, and fully committed in sharing the Prime Minister's
passion and commitment, I am very honoured to be here to
preside over this important event on his behalf. I am honoured
to be able to share the experiences of Prime Minister Thaksin's
government in poverty alleviation and to share my own perspective
of development with the distinguished participants from
Asia and Africa in this keynote speech.
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
The
Habitat Agenda of 1996 on "Cities without Slums" continue
to bring hope for a better life for those living in urban
poverty.
I wish to commend the noble work and activities of UN-HABITAT
and madam Executive Director in promoting human settlements
across the globe. The Habitat's pledged goal and target
of improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
by the year 2020 forms an integral part of the fight against
poverty as well as a commitment towards realizing target
11 of the Millennium Development Goal 7.
I
have just returned from New York where I accompanied my
Prime Minister at the UN Summit to review the Millennium
Declaration. It is certainly heartening that world leaders
pledged their political commitment to the implementation
of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development
Goals. It is well understood that poverty is not only a
global issue but is deeply rooted in local processes that
matter most to the poor.
In
my four years' capacity as Foreign Minister and now in my
present capacity as Deputy Prime Minster, I have had many
opportunities to expound my thought and the Thai government
experiences in poverty and development in many fora. Most
recently at the G-77 Summit in Doha, Qatar, last June where
I also represented the Prime Minister and in the G-77 Ministerial
Meeting in New York just two weeks ago, I reiterated my
conviction that development is very much a result of partnership.
Sustainable development is a result of partnership of all
stakeholders who take part in outcome-oriented programmes
that place the people at the center.
The
MDGs and sustainable development will and must be achieved
through the North-South partnership as much as the South-South
partnership. They will and must be achieved through the
ODA as much as through empowering the developing countries
to self-help. And they will and must be achieved not because
the government treats the poor as economic and social burden.
Neither is it because the poor are recipients of government
charity. Nor will it be achieved should the private sector
regard them as parasites. The key to success in sustainable
development must lie in the tripartite partnership between
the government, the people and the private sector.
It
is both a duty and a moral obligation for a government to
put people at the centre of their policy, to carry out policy
that is a result of an outside-in approach, listening to
the real need of the people and responding to their different
needs and requirements. There is no one medicine for all
diseases for development. There must be room for variations
and adjustments if such development policy is to be result-oriented.
It
is both a duty and a moral obligation for a government to
empower the powerless, the underprivileged, the handicapped
and the disadvantaged as much as possible so that, in turn,
they can help themselves as much as possible also. Empowering
of the grassroots economy is as important as the strengthening
of the mainstream economy if development is to be sustained.
It
is both a duty and a moral obligation for a government to
encourage the business and private sector to take part in
the strengthening of the grassroots economy. This is to
be mutually beneficial to the private sector as much as
the grassroots and the development of the country. Empowering
the grassroots is expanding productivity, generating income,
and securing livelihood, social and family ties.
Here,
in Thailand, we have proved the case in our recent development
policies.
In
debt relief projects, in income-generating projects such
as the one village-one product scheme, and now in housing
projects, to name but a few, the outside-in approach and
this tripartite partnership have been integral in our success.
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Democracy
is not just a mark and a ballot box. Democracy is not just
a number of elections. And democracy is not just the freedom
of expression. So long as our poor citizens continue to
live their lives without human dignity, there can be no
genuine democracy.
A
citizen lacking human basic needs and necessities is a citizen
without human dignity. A citizen deprived of clean water
to quench his thirst, food to feed his hunger, medicine
to cure his illness, clothing to cover himself and a shelter
to cover his head is a citizen deprived of human dignity.
To
achieve poverty alleviation and the MDGs, we must ensure
that there shall be adequately clean water, sufficient food,
affordable medical care, decent clothing and proper housing
for the impoverished. Fulfilling these basic needs is decreasing
poverty, upgrading human dignity and increasing democracy
at the same time.
Of
all these basic necessities, arrangement for decent housing
may find itself at the low priority of many governments'
agenda due to the size of the investment involved and several
other inherent problems such as land ownership.
But
that should not be the case.
Indeed,
the UN-HABITAT was right in its vision of "Cities without
Slums", its Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, and the theme
of World Habitat Day 2005 on "the Millennium Development
Goals and the City". Without them, the MDG 7 will never
be attained and the world urban poor will never live their
lives with dignity.
Throughout
so many decades of Thailand's development process, the Bangkok
Metropolitan and its suburb have attracted millions of citizens
from all parts of the country. As development is concentrated
in Bangkok and just a few cities, the poor rural people
poured into these cities and towns to find work and a better
future for their families. While most found jobs, what they
didn't find was adequate housing and basic services.
Ever
since 1960's, increasing number of Thailand's working poor
have had to survive in slums and squatter settlements, where
living conditions are crowded, under-serviced, unhealthy,
often in hazard prone locations and under constant threat
of eviction.
Currently,
both in the Bangkok metropolitan areas and other major cities,
around 6.5 million Thai people are still forced to live
in squalor and insecurity in such settlements. And as many
settlements have had no legal status, they have often been
denied basic services and the full protection of the law
and been preyed upon by predatory government officials and
gangsters alike.
A
great number of our urban poor are left without secure housing
and essential services. They are left without stake, without
roots, in their own motherland.
Both
before I entered politics, and when I am in politics, as
I went out canvassing, I have seen, I have been constantly
informed and I have been reminded of countless number of
our slum dwellers who, in so many cases, had to pay an exorbitant
daily rent for the tiny piece of the few square metres of
land where stand what they called homes but what others
may prefer to call just shacks. Often, the rents are collected
on the daily basis. Accounts of the miserly treatments of
the landowners to the helpless tenants are more than too
common.
Yet,
as they empty their pockets daily for the rent, they still
live with constant daily nightmare of being evicted by force,
by violence or even by arson. They live with constant daily
fear that tomorrow, they may be without their homes, their
livelihood. They live with constant daily insecurity for
their family and their future.
Without
secure tenure, these people are left to feel insecure with
their livelihood, lacking the sense of belonging. A fundamental
step towards improving the status of the urban poor is to
focus on giving them the sense of belonging, strong local
communities and secure livelihood.
At
present in cities and towns around Thailand, there are approximately
3,750 low-income communities. Some of these communities
are located on state land while others are on privately
owned land.
Alongside
the successful incentive programmes to empower the grassroots
such as the nation-wide 30 baht or 70 cent health for all
scheme and the income-generating one village-one product,
the so-called OTOP scheme, the government announced a nation-wide
housing scheme for the poor. On the road to poverty elimination,
this is to complete the basic necessities of water, food,
medicine, clothing and shelter. The target is to generate
one million houses for the low-income communities.
By
bringing them the real sense of secure tenure, we believe
that our urban grassroots will have the dignity that brings
them pride in their own livelihood, their families and their
work. The security of tenure will make them realize that
every hour of their work and every cent of their earning
will be for the good of themselves and their family. They
no longer have to live with fear of losing their home at
the whim of the miserly landlords. Every bid of the extra
afford they make to earn that extra income is for their
own benefits, and theirs alone.
This
nation-wide housing schemes were launched aiming at securing
the sense of the right to the city to the urban low-income
citizens. It aims at making Thailand a slum free country
within the next decade, creating cities without slum with
different types of housing scheme to fit the different requirements.
The
first of these is Baan Ua Arthon or in English "Compassionate"
Housing Programme. This is a "supply-driven" approach within
the formal housing market. Under this programme, new schemes
of housing are developed by the National Housing Authority
in form of flats and houses to individual low-income applicants
on a rent-to-own basis. It was anticipated that the scheme
should benefit the low income bracket with permanent employment,
who hitherto have been unable to benefit from any previous
schemes due to the low level of their income. Under the
Ban Ua Arthon programme, the goal is to provide 600,000
housing units by the end of 2008.
The
second is the Baan Mankong or in English "Secure" Housing
Programme. This is a highly innovative "demand-driven" approach
that channels infrastructure subsidies and soft housing
loans directly to the existing poor communities to upgrade
their housing, infrastructure, services and community environments.
The Baan Mankong Program has a target of upgrading slum
communities in cities and towns all over the country and
is expected to generate 300,000 housing units by the end
of 2008.
The
Baan Mankong serves to pioneer an important new mechanism
of development based on the tripartite partnership involving
the government, the poor communities and the civic society
in the planning, the design and the decision making of each
existing community.
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
The
Ban Mankong scheme marks a fresh new approach by any Thai
government towards the poor citizens who have been forced
to encroach and squat on public or private land. It begins
with a clear recognition by the government that the poor
are not to be blamed and punished for their plight. Instead,
they are encouraged to actively organize as communities
and to survey and analyze their particular problems including
those of housing, tenure, services, employment and environmental
conditions.
The
Ban Mankong scheme is another example of "no one medicine
cures all diseases" solution. The scheme allows the slum
dwellers, for the first time, to be fully engaged in the
design, the construction and the improvement of their new
home within their existing community in accordance with
their needs, income and requirements. It allows members
of the slum community to be fully engaged, with the help
of the government agency, NGO and civic society, to redesign
and rebuild their community in accordance with the community's
needs and priority. The scheme allows for the different
requirements and diversity of each community so that the
end result is a creation of a strong community with a strong
sense of ownership by its members.
The
role of the government agency, the NGOs and the private
sector is to give advice and channel appropriate financial
tools for the scheme. Once completed, the new housing project
will be a project designed by the poor, built by the poor
and managed by the poor with the help of the government
and the civic society, signifying the tripartite partnership.
Under the scheme, the community can set up a fund to care
for the elderly, the disabled, the needed and the children
as well as resolve social problems such as the scourge of
narcotics. I hope that the participants will have the opportunity
to visit these communities during their stay in Bangkok.
Ultimately
the old squalors are replaced by a new housing scheme which
is different from any housing scheme. It is a housing scheme
that takes care of the different interests of each and everyone
in the community. It is a housing scheme that enables the
community members to actively participate as well as learning
the process of resolving their own social problems at the
same time. It is a housing scheme that serves and caters
for the unique needs and requirements of each community
to enable each of them to stand on its own feet and manage
its own affairs.
When
I was assigned as Deputy Prime Minister to oversee the Ministry
of Social Development and Human Security, I had the opportunities
to visit several of the Ban Mankong projects. In all of
the communities where the projects have completed or are
implemented, I could feel the sense of belonging, renewed
hope, pride, dignity, security and livelihood of the people
who used to be slum dwellers. To them, life is more meaningful,
family and community ties are more important, and what they
earn is for the present and the future of themselves and
their family. No more threat of eviction, no more threat
of demolition if the daily rent is not paid.
The
third programme, however, is for the Pre-fabricated or knock-down
Housing Programme. Under this programme 100,000 housing
units can be deployed rapidly to areas in urgent need as
a result of natural or man-made disasters or changing land
use due to urgent national development priorities.
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
The
Thai government sees investment in the housing and infrastructure
sector first and foremost as economically very productive.
In the first place, for every baht it invests many more
are invested by householders and other organizations in
assisting the poor whether they be local NGOs, voluntary
groups, the private sector or international donor agencies.
It generates momentous growth in fixed capital assets to
underpin the national economy.
At
the same time, the Million Houses Policy stimulates the
building materials, construction and household fittings
industries sectors which are so vital to our economic buoyancy.
Investment in household and infrastructure improvement and
production provides jobs for both skilled and unskilled
labour and these jobs are spread all around the country.
The
Million Houses Policy helps the underprivileged poor to
get back on their feet and bring them from the black market
of underground financing into the formal financial sector.
Through enabling them to gain legal title to housing, they
can borrow in the formal financial market and no longer
be preyed upon by loan sharks and mafias.
And
in the context of the Baan Mankong Program, the Government's
enormous investment pays even higher developmental dividends.
By allowing and supporting the communities to be the owners
of their own developmental process and the main actors in
managing the design, construction and financial management,
the Government is investing in the country's most important
asset, its human resources.
In
doing so now, it is contributing to the strengthening of
democracy through the empowerment of its many hard working
but formerly voiceless citizens. In doing so, it is paving
the way for a more enlightened society that depends less
on highly costly measures and institutions for enforcing
compliance with the law. Instead, it can increasingly depend
more on the understanding and commitment of its people to
upholding the law and protecting the nation.
I
hope that in the coming days you will have a chance to learn
more by visiting several of these projects which Thailand
have developed to overcome poverty and homelessness. We
hope that our experiences can benefit your new ideas in
housing for the poor in your countries. We also hope that
our experiences will help the UN in its efforts to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals by moving it away from
the rhetoric to a more holistic and practical approach to
human development and to achievement of universal prosperity
based on partnership.
I
wish to commend Madam Executive Secretary again for promoting
human settlements and to reiterate Thailand's pledge to
work in partnership with UN-Habitat in this important endeavour.
With
this remark, I have the honour to declare open this international
conference on "Housing Security for All: All for Housing
Security" to celebrate World Habitat Day.
Thank
you for your kind attention.
