Senator Parker Calls For Global Anti-Poverty Alliance

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Health News

Tuesday, 16 October 2012 02:30

By press release

Antigua St. John's - Efforts to reform social protection policies and regulations to improve services to the vulnerable within the population are well advanced, as the Ministry of Social Transformation moves to strengthen poverty alleviation initiatives.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Social Transformation Senator Malaka Parker made the announcement as Antigua & Barbuda joins the rest of the world to recognize “International Day For the Eradication of Poverty” (October 17th)  under the theme “Working Together out of Poverty”.

Senator Parker explained that the theme symbolizes the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively. “It also requires the willingness of people living below the poverty-line to take advantage of the assistance and the opportunities provided to break the cycle of poverty.”

With the implementation of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS), Senator Parker intimated that the country’s programme is steady, as, government increases its’ focus on poverty reduction.  To this end, several programmes have been introduced as an indication of the government’s thrust towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal #1 to Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.

Among the list being executed by the Ministry of Social Transformation in collaboration with other ministries are the Home Improvement Grant; the Board of Guardians-Poverty Alleviation Grant assistance to the vulnerable and the eligible; the Government Residential Assistance and Care Programme for the Elderly and Eligible ( GRACE); the Schools Uniform Grant, the Schools Meals Programme of the Ministry of  Education and the Senior Citizens Utility Subsidy Programme  which is implemented by PDV Caribe and funded with resources made available through the Petro Caribe arrangement. There is also a job training initiative to be undertaken by the Ministry of Labour.

A clear mechanism which will facilitate the amalgamation of the resources for effective monitoring, evaluation and implementation of revised social protection strategies is currently being developed, under a World Bank aided initiative called the National Beneficiaries Management Information System.

“This is a critical step towards the identification of eligible individuals or households, based on the established criteria for the delivery of social protection to the respective participants. This will also enhance the process of transparency, accountability, monitoring, evaluation and impact assessments, of all social protection programmes,” Senator Parker explained.

Additionally, the Parliamentary Secretary emphasized that systems of accountability run parallel with these operational components, which will serve as a check on the system that determines eligibility, through the provision of the Single Registry of all beneficiaries.

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Senator Parker stated however, that in spite of the global economic downturn, “Government’s decision in choosing to keep hundreds employed, and maintaining its contributions in a number of social schemes, cannot be overstated when assessing the need to stem the risk of poverty.”

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