UNDP helping to address inequality in the Caribbean

As the region continues to struggle to pull itself out of the current economic recession, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has given its assurances that it will give aid however it can to help cushion the blows.

Addressing his first media briefing since taking up his post of UNDP Resident Representative, Stephen O’Malley, pointed out that the crisis has taken the world by surprise due to its severity and longevity.

While highlighting many of the efforts being made by governments to cope with the downturn, he noted that the UN was mainly assisting in social areas, including youth, and poverty.

He explained, “For the United Nations, really where governments have really come to us I would have to say, has been with assistance in areas where we look at the social impacts of some of these things. So we have had a number of discussions with government and I’m talking here in the region and in other parts of the world on issues for example related to what will we do to encourage more inclusive growth.

“If you look at the data globally for this last period, one of the things that we have also seen is a rise in inequality. So even where the recovery has been strengthening in some places, the inequality has been increasing and you’ve seen a bigger gap between the people who are doing well and the people who are doing less well,” O’Malley continued.

He therefore outlined that the UNDP was going to try to address this by promoting more equitable growth. (JMB)