Ministers for Social Development of OECS Countries Meet in Dominica
Ministers for Social Development of OECS countries met in Dominica. The regional ministers came for a two-day meeting aimed at building “social protection” for the vulnerable before and after natural disasters such as hurricanes. They were hosted by Dr. Kenneth Darroux, Dominica’s minister for social development, and Letitia Lestrade-Wyke, permanent secretary at the Ministry for Social Services.
This recent meeting is the 5th conference of OECS’ ministers of human and social development. The theme for the conference is Placing Human Dignity at the Centre of Development. In pursuance of this theme, seven main areas were identified for greater attention if the entire objectives of the regional conference were to be achieved. These areas are –
- Resilient environments
- Foster care
- Citizenship and identity
- Gender and age
- Global and regional partnership
- Social protection for children
- General strengthening of social protection
The council of regional ministers defined social protection as the government activities aimed at reducing poverty and protecting the economically vulnerable. Darroux related the importance of social protection to the context of global warming which is responsible for natural disasters which cause infrastructural damage and economic poverty in many places around the world.
“Here in Dominica we are fortunate to have Local Government or Village Councils which are governed by legislation,” he said. “This allows us to reach out to some of these more vulnerable populations – children, the elderly, the sick, and the poor – especially following disasters. We need to understand that before disaster we have vulnerable populations and these are the people who tend to fall through the cracks in the mayhem and chaos which follows after hurricanes.”
Darroux said identifying vulnerable populations is key to minimizing the impacts of climate change when it occurs across the region.
Letitia Lestrade-Wyke said permanent secretaries and regional stakeholders earlier held a similar meeting where recommendations on key related issues were reviewed. She said the final recommendations were among the key points examined by the council of ministers at their meeting during their conference. These issues include –
- OECS Current Growth Programme
- Obligations of member states
- Local and regional partnerships for effective social protection
- Regional models for building resilient environments
The ministers were also able to assess the length and breadth of safety and justice in the light of social protection for vulnerable communities in Dominica and the entire eastern Caribbean.
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