THE LACK of equity in the distribution of resources and the persistence of poverty in the region, dominated yesterday's presentations at the official opening of the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Children and Social Policy in the Americas.
The conference, underway since Monday, ends today at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Duke Street, downtown Kingston.
Latin American and Caribbean leaders and their counterparts in United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Pan-American Health Organisation expressed the concern that despite efforts to reduce poverty, 40 per cent of the region's population were forced to survive on US$2 per day or less. Also, they were worried that poverty had affected the achievement of many of the goals set at the first global summit on children in 1990, among them, the reduction of maternal mortality.
"Poverty is not only seen in monetary terms, but also as a state in which individuals lack many of those things that render them whole in a human sense: the lack of education, some essential people freedoms, health and adequate financial resources," said Sir George Alleyne, regional director of the Pan-American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation. "This lack of capabilities makes it difficult for persons to access and utilise basic services for their health and that of their children."
The speakers were adamant that poverty would continue to undermine measures created to deal with new threats such as HIV/AIDS, children in the sex trade, drug abuse and trafficking, domestic and child abuse and the re-emergence of certain diseases.
This was especially true for regions like Latin America, where the poorest 20 per cent shared only three per cent of national incomes, said Per Engebak, UNICEF's Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean. "Despite progress made over the decade, there continues to be huge gaps in income distribution in many of our countries," he said.
Mr. Engebak added that those left in the shadows of economic growth were threatened by violence, disease and loss of families because, although social spending had increased, it had not been effective enough to have a positive impact on all children. In addition, there was often little quality in services when there was wide coverage and many nations lacked adequate national and social policies dealing with youth, conference leaders pointed out.
They called for a collective, sector-wide response to those problems, especially in alleviating the debt burden, which was seen as a major constraint slowing the region's progress toward meeting set targets.
"The continued support of the international donor community and a positive response to the call for relief from debt burdens, must be pursued as part of the holistic approach to the problems we seek to address," said Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. He outlined the island's achievements in alleviating poverty and its policies on child welfare, health, child protection and education.
The official opening, marked the start of the second part of the conference where ministers will discuss ideas forwarded from six three-day workshops .
