PM Kamla tells world leaders of T&T's fight against poverty, commitment to health and education

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told world leaders in New York on Tuesday Trinidad and Tobago is bridging the gaps on poverty, education, disease and health care.

She was speaking at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, one day after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon formally opened the conference urging leaders not to fail "the billions who look to the international community to fulfil the promise of the Millennium Declaration for a better world."

Persad-Bissessar told the high-level meeting of her government’s initiatives in eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women and reducing child mortality.

Those are some of the goals set a decade ago by the United Nations. The world body has listed specific targets to be achieved by the year 2015.

Read more: "We can end poverty 2015 - Millennium Development Goals"

The Prime Minister acknowledged that "we have to work harder to reduce poverty by two per cent a year".

She noted that in Trinidad and Tobago today 16.7 per cent of the population still live below the poverty line. Of that number, 11.7 per cent are the working poor and nine per cent are deemed vulnerable, she said.

She said that is why her government established a Ministry of the People, aimed at bringing government closer to the people.

The Prime Minister told the world leaders many of Trinidad and Tobago's poverty eradication goals of the past failed because the government had lost touch with the people. That has changed, she said, because the policy of the People's Partnership government which she leads is "to listen before leading".

She said in keeping with that principle and the aim of poverty eradication as one of the pillars of her government, 20.5 per cent of of her government's first budget has been devoted to social services.

She also said the government has moved the minimum wage from $9 an hour to $12.50 an hour, ensuring that the daily minimum wage is $100.

Persad-Bissessar also spoke about efforts by her government to reduce infant mortality and to care for the poor.

"We would spare no effort in the fight against infant mortality and improving maternal health as evidenced by our provision for milk money for low income mothers" in the 2011 budget, she said.

She also spoke about the Children’s Life Fund, which is a project that is close to her heart. Declaring that "children are our future" she explained the concept of the fund, which is to provide financial assistance for children for emergency medical procedures not available in Trinidad and Tobago.

Persad-Bissessar told the conference she has pledged assistance to her "adopted homeland, Jamaica," for a similar fund and said there is an agreement in principle for a Pan Caribbean children's life fund.

The Prime Minister said she would welcome nations of the world, including international agencies such as UNICEF, "to partners with us" declaring that "the health and well being of our people is a high priority for our government."

She also said her government is aware of the need for an equal place for women and girls, noting that they account for 60 per cent of registrations in tertiary education. She said in the present Parliament 28 per cent of members are women and at the local government level, 25 per cent of representatives are female.

She also spoke of her government's commitment to harnessing information technology in education.

"Fellow leaders you will be happy to learn that within five years all secondary school students will have a laptop computer in their school bags, the first set of which is being delivered this year," she said.

She also spoke of Trinidad and Tobago's commitment to universal education, starting with her own dollar for dollar initiative more than a decade ago "well in advance of the millennium goals".

She said 46 per cent of students registered in tertiary learning are between 17 and 21 and she expects that when the 2010-11 figures for registrations are tallied it would be even higher.

She said Trinidad and Tobago has now achieved the goal of full funding for tertiary education and the goal is to create a nation of "lifelong learners".

Persad-Bissessar also told the world leaders Trinidad and Tobago is deeply commit ed to preserving and caring for the environment, pointing to an expanded Green Fund, which would offer access to non-governmental groups developing environmental protection projects.

She added that the fund would also be used for re-afforestation.

Watch the Prime Minister's speech on YouTube