Meeting basic needs in Asia,Part II: Improving the performance of government and local communities

In nearly all Asian countries services available to rural populations are inadequate and inappropriate. Improvement is crucial not only to fulfilling basic human needs, but for raising productivity and generating more broadly based economic development. This article reviews the types of obstacles in the way of improving service delivery, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the major institutional arrangements for delivering services. In the light of this review the article identifies four issues of major importance, first, the priority to be given to providing social and productive services; second, the most appropriate approach to delivering social and productive services; third, how to finance social services more effectively; and finally what alternative means there are of improving the administration of services. This article follows on from Part I which presented a comparative review of service needs in Asian countries.