Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas declaring open an Orientation Workshop of the National Steering Committee, charged with developing a strategy that will identify policies to address poverty, said such a plan must, as a matter of necessity, address how “we can move the masses of our people to a higher standard of living, of creating the kind of opportunities that would enhance educational levels in a way that addresses the nation’s economic development needs, and of creating much stronger and more productive communities.”

“Critical to our future progress as a nation, also, must be the instillation of a culture of excellence in every level of social, community and economic endeavour. National pride must be based on higher levels of productivity, buttressed by a highly skilled and educated work force that would form the basis upon which our small nation can be more globally competitive,” Dr. Douglas told the gathering at the Ocean Terrace Inn.

Pointing out that it was critical to capture the thoughts and aspirations of nationals from all strata of society, Prime Minister Douglas said the Committee must ensure that the process is inclusive, and that communities have a fair opportunity to express their desires and needs.

“In the end, the Agenda must reflect the true and real nature of our development quest for coming years. At this time, therefore, one has to consider the ‘playing field’ as being wide open and ready to accept all ideas from all of our people,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who added: “Every effort must be placed in the continued pursuit of economic growth and development, even as we await the blueprint of a National Human Development Agenda.”

“To do less, would be to weaken the baseline upon which the Agenda can be pursued. It must be a given, also, that closer institutional and corporate collaboration would continue to be essential now and in the future, and that both the Public and the Private Sectors must contribute in significant ways to the strengthening of existing social institutions and networks,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

Saying that it was critical to achieve success with the National Development Agenda, Dr. Douglas recalled the key findings of a published Poverty Assessment done in the Federation during 1999 and 2000.

The assessment reported poverty levels of 30.5 percent in St. Kitts and 32 percent in Nevis, with females making up the larger percentage of the poor.

“Significantly, also, was the phenomenon of the working poor, illustrated by low unemployment among the poor, 5 percent in Nevis and 5.3 percent in St. Kitts, reportedly low by Caribbean standards. The fact is that for the most part, opportunities for upward mobility were non-existent primarily because of low skill levels and the lack of educational qualifications. In fact, it stressed that most persons who are poor were those who had attained only a primary level of education,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

Dr. Douglas said circumstances must be significantly changed in order to attain greater individual and national aspirations and stressed the need for a more holistic approach to adult education and skills development in both young and mature persons.

“These are the kind of issues that must be included in the National Human Development Agenda. In my view, the success of the Agenda would depend greatly on how well integrated the development process becomes, so that every sector and segment of our population could receive substantial benefits,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

He said the alleviation of poverty is high on the national and regional agendas.

St. Kitts and Nevis is ranked 51 in a global field of 175 nations in the United Nations Human Development Report for 2003. The Federation is the highest ranking among Member Countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and third, following Barbados and the Bahamas among all Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).