President Donald Ramotar’s address to the Organization of American States during a protocolary meeting in the Hall of the Americas.
Ramotar who was here to attend the OAS General Council Meeting said no discussion about democracy in this hemisphere could be situated outside the context of “our intolerable levels of poverty.”
President Donald Ramotar’s address to the Organization of American States during a protocolary meeting in the Hall of the Americas.
Ramotar who was here to attend the OAS General Council Meeting said no discussion about democracy in this hemisphere could be situated outside the context of “our intolerable levels of poverty.”
“When 57 million people or 11 percent of our population live on less than one dollar a day and 23 percent or 132 million exist daily on less than two dollars a day surely we can consider no other option in this advance technological age than to rid our region of poverty, reduce inequalities and obtain decent standards of living for our people.
Let us resolve that poverty eradication be the historic task of our generation. In as much as democracy cannot be safeguarded without reducing poverty, neither can poverty be effectively combated without addressing inequality,” the president said.
According to Ramotar, so long as the richest 1/10th of the population of the region earns 48 percent of the income and the poorest 1/10th earn 1.6 percent the war against poverty can only result in the victory for poverty.
“Here at the OAS we can and should do more to reduce poverty and inequality by influencing policies which would promote technological advances, respond more effectively to natural disasters and orchestrate the transfer of resources to reduce disparities,” he stated.
The OAS, he added, could further bolster efforts to combat poverty and inequality by guiding practices aimed at conflict prevention, lifting environmental standards and promoting sustainable development with social justice.
It is important too, the president posited, that job creation be an essential aspect of whatever model of social and economic development is pursued.
“This is vital in the fight against poverty and crime in our region. For Guyana no priority is greater than to combat poverty, extreme poverty, inequality and social exclusion. This can be done through policies that promote economic growth, access to education, health care and housing in order to achieve sustainable development with social justice,” the Guyanese leader said.
He added that a critical component of these efforts are initiatives to promote social protection and economic development among vulnerable groups, with a gender perspective such as Guyana’s Women of Worth programme which teaches skills to single mothers and provides finances for them to start businesses.
“It bears repetition that since poverty poses the most potent threat to democracy and security in the hemisphere it can be [stopped] effectively only by means of hemispheric cooperation,” Ramotar stated.
Video of entire session. President Ramotar’s address begins at 13.00 minutes into the video
