|
|
|
The origins of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) lie in the UN Millennium Declaration, which was adopted by all 189 UN
Member States on September 08, 2000. The goals embody the efforts of the
world community in achieving significant measurable improvements in people’s
lives in the new century. This Declaration
is consistent with the policy agenda of Government, which is to transform
Trinidad and Tobago into developed country status by the year 2020 as
expressed in the Social and Economic Policy Framework 2003 – 2005. At the heart of this agenda is the issue
of human development in all its dimensions - education, training, health,
housing, the provision of basic amenities such as water and electricity,
employment, personal safety and security. High priority is placed on poverty
reduction, the generation of sustainable employment opportunities and the
creation of a harmonious society. In keeping with the vision of transforming Trinidad
and Tobago into a developed society, the Government has formulated a number
of mutually reinforcing policy objectives for the period 2003 – 2005. These objectives define the nature and
scope of the social and economic transformation, which will take place over
the medium term. This paper focuses on the first six of the eight
goals. Progress on these goals will depend to a large extent on the
realization of the policy objectives and the ensuing discussion is placed in
the context of those objectives which relate to economic growth and
diversification, enhanced competitiveness and the promotion of an equitable
society which is inextricably linked to poverty reduction, the aim of the
goals in question. The experience of many countries has shown that economic growth while
necessary is not a sufficient condition to ensure sustained improvement in
the quality of lives of the citizenry.
Progress on the economic front must be accompanied by significant
advances in social development. As
Trinidad and Tobago positions itself to enhance its competitiveness and to
respond to the challenges of globalization and trade liberalization,
Government is committed to ensuring that the economic base is
diversified. Trinidad and Tobago registered its ninth consecutive
year of expansion in 2002.
Preliminary data suggest that the economy grew by 2.7% as compared
with 3.3% in 2001 and 6.1% in 2000[1].
The continued slowing in economic growth has been partly explained by adverse
international and regional factors. The energy sector will be the main engine of growth which is
attributed to the performance of oil and gas exploration. The continued
development of this sector will be relied upon to produce the resources
needed to invest in other sectors. Growth in this sector is recorded at 4.5%
in 2002 while in the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors, the
figures stand at 11.1%, 1.1% and 4.2% respectively2. The
medium-term prospects for Trinidad and Tobago are favourable with real
GDP expected to expand by 4 – 6 % on the present trend and unemployment is expected
to decline to below 10% by 2005. Also the rate of inflation has declined to
3.9% in 2002 from 5.6% in 2001. Public sector external debt and debt service
are expected to be reduced. It is
envisaged that increased output in the energy sector will be the most
significant contributor to economic growth. The construction of LNG train 3
in 2003 followed by train 4 in 2004 will place Trinidad and Tobago as the
fifth largest supplier of natural gas in the world. Oil production is expected to increase significantly after 2004
when production from the new oil find by BHP Billiton will generate one
billion barrels. Over the medium-term, Government is expected to
increase capital expenditure with emphasis placed on strengthening the social
infrastructure (health, education, crime prevention and poverty reduction),
thereby creating an enabling environment for the promotion of an equitable
society. Emphasis too, will be placed on economic infrastructure to
facilitate growth in the non-energy sector. The process of globalization and trade
liberalization presents many challenges and opportunities for developing
countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, principal among which is market
penetration at the global scale. To
meet these challenges, Trinidad and Tobago must be able to successfully
integrate and compete in these markets with high quality and competitively
priced products. The Caribbean Community is forging ahead with the
establishment of the Single Market and Economy in 2005, which will provide
opportunities for trade and investments, and free movement of labour, goods
and services. The establishment of the FTAA is important for
market access and is expected to provide opportunities for the country to
expand and diversify its export capacity. The major challenge facing Trinidad and Tobago therefore is how to
maintain its current favourable prospects for growth, job creation and
poverty reduction in face of exogenous factors such as the possible downturn
in energy prices. The strategic responses of the GORTT to the MDGs are as follows : Goal 1 - Eradicate Extreme Poverty
and Hunger
Poverty reduction is a key development priority for the Government of
the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT).
The 1992 Survey of Living Conditions shows that pockets of poverty
exist in urban and rural communities.
12% of the population live on US $1 per day while 39% live on US$ 2
per day. On the whole 21% live below the national poverty line. Despite
universal enrolment in primary and secondary schools and increase in life
expectancy, a large section of the population does not have access to regular
supplies of potable water, adequate housing, tertiary education or quality
health care. In an effort to redress
this situation, Government has employed a number of poverty reduction
strategies such as the provision of emergency relief, direct financial
assistance, the introduction of a minimum wage, training and career
enhancement programs and the acceleration of the restriction of the social
service delivery system. The social intervention programs target the most
vulnerable groups in the society – single parents, women, the elderly, the
unemployed, displaced workers and the youth. These strategies are designed to empower the poor to
become more self reliant through increased access to quality education and
training and to create sustainable employment opportunities. In health, government’s efforts have centered on
ensuring that regional hospitals are modernized and adequately equipped and
that a minimum level of health care is available to the population at an
affordable cost through community health centres. Goal 2 - Achieve Universal
Primary Education
The GORTT has identified human resource development
as the platform for taking Trinidad and Tobago to developed country
status. As such, Education is seen as
the key to human resource development.
A major objective of this thrust is to improve the quality and equity
of access to education and training at all levels of the society and to
sustain a culture of life long learning. In keeping with the commitment to provide all citizens with free and
universal access to basic and secondary education, the Government will
continue the upgrade and expansion of educational facilities. This effort is
supported by the Fourth Basic Education Project, which includes provisions
for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), and the Secondary Education
Modernization Programme funded by the World Bank and IDB respectively. Increased access to secondary school places will be
also provided at approved private secondary schools. Special attention will
be placed on expanding the availability of Sixth Form places. Reforms in the education sector are being undertaken at both the quantitative
and qualitative levels. Priorities at
the quantitative level also include the provision of a full range of student
support services such as : ·
Expansion of the School
Nutrition Programme ·
Continuation of the School
Transportation Programme ·
Provision of text books to
primary school students ·
Provision of initial book
grants to secondary school students and introduction of text book rental
programme . ·
Development of a National
Guidance and Counselling Programme ·
Aural and Visual Testing ·
Scholarship Programme At the qualitative level improvements in the education system will be
pursued by means of: ·
Curricula Reform ·
Upgrading of educational
professions ·
Improvements in security
and discipline ·
Continued computerization
of schools ·
Modernization of libraries ·
Establishment of a school
based management system ·
Institutional strengthening
of the Ministry of Education Trinidad and Tobago currently enjoys an adult literacy of 93.8% and a
youth literacy rate of 97.5%. Public
spending on this sector is estimated at 4.4% of GDP. For the period 1995 –
1997 this expenditure was skewed in favour of non-tertiary as opposed to
tertiary education. A major challenge in the education sector is to equip students with
skills which will enable them to remain relevant in a highly specialized and
volatile labour market. Government
data shows that in 2000, while 40% of the labour force had secondary
education with certification in over five (5) subjects at ordinary level, approximately
33% had only primary education and just over 6% had some form of tertiary
education. An estimated 21% had no
formal education. Goal 3 - Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Government
recognizes that gender equality is a key element of social justice and is
integral to the achievement of good
governance and sustainable development. As such Gender mainstreaming is to
be placed at the centre of all policy
and programme initiatives to assist in eliminating discrimination and promoting
opportunities for women, men and young people to realize their full
potential. To this end, steps
are being taken to formulate a
National Policy and Action Plan on Gender. A great deal of progress has been made in bridging
inequalities between men and women.
In terms of the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), Trinidad is ranked 21st among 173
countries. Life expectancy at birth
is 76.7 years for women and 72 years for men. Fewer women are dying at childbirth than in many other
developing countries. Maternal mortality ratio was 54 per 100,000 in 2000.
Women hold 20.9% of seats in Parliament. Female legislators, senior officials
and managers represent 42% of the total while 53% of professional and
technical workers are female. Women
appear to have some control over their sexuality, as total fertility per
woman is 1.6. Trinidad and Tobago is on course in eliminating gender
disparity in all levels of education and has succeeded in achieving parity in
female gross secondary enrolment.
However in relation to earned income, Trinidad and Tobago is not
performing as well compared to other High Human Development countries. For
instance in 2002, the estimated earned income of women was (US$5,532) and
that of men was (US$12,432). In other
words, women earned 50% less than men in comparable positions despite their
higher educational achievements at all levels of the education sector. Goal 4 – Reduce Child Mortality
Data collected by the Central Statistical Office
over a five- year period indicate that infant mortality has risen from 16.2
per 1000 live births in 1996 to 21.1 per 1000 live births in 2000. As
compared with other middle to high income countries these figures seem
somewhat high. The under five
mortality rate per 1000, 0 – 4 population for 2000 has been recorded as 5.2.
Government is committed to reducing these numbers to the appropriate levels
and maintains continuous surveillance exercises. The population of one-year
old children immunized against measles is more encouraging and stood at 91%
for 2001 and 89% in 2002. There is need however to improve access to quality
services and care for children in disadvantaged homes especially children
under three years of age born to poor and single mothers. A number of children suffer from domestic
violence, abuse and neglect and are also in need of support services. Reliable data is not available for
children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Goal 5 – Improve Maternal Health
Some elements of this goal have been incorporated in the analysis of
Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
in terms of the indicators I need to mention here that trained health
personnel attended to 99.1% of all births in 2000. Goal 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that AIDS is now the leading
cause of death among young adults. It
is estimated that there are 17,000 persons affected with the virus although
the figure may be higher because of under reporting. The national prevalence rate for HIV is 2.5%.
In the 15 – 19 age group however, this figure is 7%. The percentage of females
infected has increased from 0% in 1983 to 37% in 2000 with 82% of HIV
infected women falling in the age group of 15 – 45 years. The disease
exhibits a male to female ratio of 2.4:1.
However, in the age group 15 – 24 years the number of infected females
is higher than that of males. Fifty
percent (50%) of new AIDS cases occur in the age group 15 – 24 years where it
has become the leading cause of death.
About 70% of all cases occur in the age group 15 – 44 years. Intervention strategies include the formulation of a
five-year HIV/AIDS National strategic Plan 2003 – 2007 to reduce the
incidence of HIV infections in Trinidad and Tobago and to mitigate the
negative impact of HIV/AIDS on persons infected and affected. In addition, the Government has recently secured a
loan of US $20.25 Million from the World Bank for a HIV/AIDS Prevention and
Control Project aimed at the following : ·
Halting the spread of new
HIV infections ·
Reducing morbidity and
mortality attributed to HIV/AIDS ·
Increasing life expectancy
and quality of life of people living with AIDS ·
Building sustainable
institutional capacity for managing HIV/AIDS prevention and control
activities for the longer term. A National AIDS Coordination Agency is to be created in the Office of
the Primer Minister to direct and coordinate the expanded national response. Ladies and gentlemen, the foregoing report shows
that Trinidad and Tobago is on track in achieving the Millennium Developing
Goals. The economy is projected to continue on its growth
path and with increasing emphasis on good governance within the broader
framework of Vision 2020, it is anticipated that the development goals and
their related targets will be achieved. |
|
[public_html/AA2K3/ENG/docs/Coop/f1.htm] |
