BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE state of poverty in the Federation is being discussed at today’s (Apr. 24) National Consultation on the Draft Country Poverty Assessment (CPA) Report 2007/08 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino.
Officials from the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), as well as prominent civil servants, diplomats and private sector representatives are present for the discussion which seeks to sensitise social and economic partners to the findings of the recently conducted Poverty Assessment Studies.
The CPA was facilitated by regional firm Kairi Consultants and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in order to examine current living conditions and inform government policy on poverty reduction strategies. The Report’s sampling consisted of 627 households, less than 10 percent of the reported 11 000-plus households present on both islands.
The CPA has been categorised into four sections: the main Federal report; sections dealing individually with St. Kitts and Nevis; and a Survey of Living Conditions.
According to CDB representative Elbert Ellis, poverty conditions reflect that “work has been done to improve national living standards”. The first CPA, which was carried out from 1999 to 2000, indicated that St. Kitts and Nevis had poverty rates of 30.5 percent and 32 percent respectively. Those figures now stand at 23.7 percent and 15.9 percent respectively.
Indigence on both islands also reduced dramatically, decreasing from 11 percent to one percent in St. Kitts and 17 percent to zero percent in Nevis.
Deputy Premier Hon. Hensley Daniel and Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas both attributed the decline to the strength and effectiveness of social programmes implemented by their governments, particularly in the area of education. These projects include Homework Assistance Initiatives, School Meals Programmes, the Youth Empowerment through Skills (YES) programme and the Student Education Learning Fund (SELF).
Douglas also stressed the positive effects of increased housing opportunities and improved healthcare on the overall standard of living.
After this morning’s opening ceremony, delegates were to hear three independent critiques on the current national poverty situation. They will then be organised into working groups to formulate recommendations to be included in the final CPA Report.
Although the Federation has seen a marked improvement in its poverty levels, Ellis warned the nation to avoid complacency in its poverty reduction agenda.
“Poverty levels for St. Kitts and Nevis are high by international standards but are on par with OECS members. However, it is well-known that development is a continuous process. It is imperative that information in the report should be used by all policy makers, social planners and civil society organisations in developing and improving social development interventions,” he said.
