SECRETARY General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, yesterday called on countries to cooperate to foster a global partnership towards development to further the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
In an analysis of data collected by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which follows the progress of the MDGs in the region, Insulza expressed concerns because the “least met of all objectives, which is not a social but a political objective – the global partnership against poverty – is further behind than when the Millennium Goals were defined”.
Nevertheless, Insulza recognised the important achievements in the region in the fight against poverty.
Insulza joined a debate with regional authorities on the issues of development, the economy and health care held at OAS headquarters in Washington DC.
It focused on the achievements, challenges and recommendations for the countries of the Caribbean and Latin America on the fulfilment of the MDGs.
The debate was based on a report titled Achieving The Millennium Development Goals With Equality In Latin America And The Caribbean: Progress And Challenges, prepared by ECLAC and presented to an audience at the XXV OAS Policy Roundtable.
Welcoming the panellists, Insulza explained the relevance of the report in relation to the preparatory work being conducted at the OAS for passage of the Social Charter of the Americas.
“This will be a subject of great importance in the organisation and as such it is very useful to know the current situation of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said, while highlighting the work of coordination by the 18 agencies of the United Nations that participated in the report, its content and conclusions.
“The subject of the MDGs is of great political importance since it allows us to organise our priorities and our work in the social sphere.”
He said one of the main concerns revealed by the statistics compiled by ECLAC was that the gap between countries in the region, between those that were ahead and those that lagged behind had grown.
“This shows that policies adopted in recent years, far from producing progress among the farthest behind, have generated a wider gap,” he said, adding that “as a region we have the problem that there are countries that are not ready to leap forward as others have done and, clearly, they will stay behind.”
Document praised
Insulza also praised the document presented by ECLAC and affirmed that “it is very welcome, especially because it marks a change and reveals the achievements in poverty reduction, which represents a phenomenal success when compared with data from the previous 25 years, when the region was stuck”.
The debate, attended by representatives of OAS member states, the media, civil society and other institutions committed to the subjects under discussion, began with a presentation of the report by the executive secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena.
The report covered the years 2003-2008, “an exceptional period in the region because we achieved a sustained growth of 4.9 per cent that we catalogue as a period of prosperity”, said Barcena, who added that “during the year 2009 the region fell at least 1.9 per cent, but this year we are growing by 5.2 per cent”.
On the MDGs ending in 2015, Bárcena stressed that until now “we have made progress of some 63 per cent in the global reduction of poverty and in some 85 per cent in the reduction of extreme poverty”.
In the Caribbean, “Jamaica already reached its overall goals and that is also the case in Latin America, of Brazil, Chile and Peru”.
“The region has made a major effort to fulfil the Millennium Goals, and it has been a political commitment by all countries. We are a region committed to development and fighting poverty, we go beyond the MDGs, but it is the hour of equality between Latin America and the Caribbean,” she said.
Bárcena emphasised that the region had made significant progress in the reduction of extreme poverty and poverty in general, which is to her of special relevance since this achievement “is the mother of all objectives”.
In this sense, she added that “employment is key to overcome poverty and achieve equality”.
Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Heraldo Muñoz, said: “We have to pay much more attention to what happens inside the countries, because national averages can hide disparities”.
“The reduction of inequality must be a political priority through redistribution strategies, improving quality, efficiency, consensus-building, reforms to improve regressive tax structures and policies to end despair. Inequality is an obstacle to achieving the MDGs and it is important that solutions be long-lasting,” he said.
Arturo Valenzuela, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who was invited to comment on the conclusions of the report, said that a positive aspect of the report was that “it gives us hope for the future”.
Nevertheless, he pointed out that to continue making progress, “greater involvement on the part of the state is needed to have better investment in infrastructure and human capital, and improved access to social protection”.
Valenzuela made special reference to the strengthening of institutions and governance to be able to achieve the goals, and suggested that if the strategies and social and economic policies were to work, it would also be necessary to have strong institutions. (AB)
