Bahamas

Statement by

The Honourable Algernon S. P. B. Allen, M. P.

It is indeed an honor and privilege for me to address this special session of the general assembly on the world summit for social development and beyond as the nations of the world gather to continue man's noble quest, as we seek to bring into being a real order of justice. At the outset, my delegation would wish to join others in congratulating you on your election to preside over the twenty-fourth special session of the untied nations devoted to a review of the follow-up to the 1995 summit for social development. We are confident that give your wisdom and diplomacy, you will guide this singularly important conference to a successful outcome.

I bring you greetings and best wishes from the governor-general, the prime minister, the government and people of the commonwealth of the Bahamas. My delegation would also wish to express its appreciation to the government of Switzerland for this offer to host this twenty-fourth special session, and for the excellent arrangements that have been put in place for the summit in this beautiful city of Geneva.

The Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands and cays covering approximately 80'000 square miles (215,00 square kilometers) off the Atlantic Ocean. The archipelagic nature of the geography poses special and inordinate demands for the replication of public resources.

At the recently concluded commonwealth heads of government meeting in south Africa, heads of government noted the need to "the opportunities opened up by globalization while minimizing its risks";. Above all, heads stressed the importance of "people-centred development";. Peoplecentred development must, of necessity, be concerned with:

- The eradication of poverty through decisive action in partnership with all sectors of civil society and in the context of a multidimensional and integrated approach;

- The maintenance and strengthening of the institutional arrangements and an environment that will enable people to achieve social development;

- The improvement and strengthening of a framework for national cooperation in a spirit of partnership.

These commitments reaffirmed essentially the commitments of five years ago when the nations of the world in the 1995 Copenhagen declaration affirmed the human person as the center of development. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we are being afforded and excellent opportunity to reaffirm our faith in humankind and to recommit ourselves to the eradication of poverty, the promotion of full and productive employment and the fostering of social integration to achieve stable, safe and just societies for all.

As a small, democratic state, the Bahamas shares the hope of many developing countries that this summit moves more comprehensively and directs the political will and the human and financial resources to achieving the noble goals and targets of the Copenhagen declaration and program of action. It must concern us all that since the universal commitment of the nations of this earth some five years ago, the pight of the world's poor and the marginalized peoples and nations have not improved.

The Bahamas, as a small country in the caribbean, notes that the prevailing global economic system and the powerful trading and economic blocks pay little regard to the fragile social and economic nature of developing countries in general and small nations like the bahamas in particular, when decisions are taken from a myopic perspective.

For several years leading up to and particularly since the copenhagen summit, the commonwealth of the Bahamas has endeavoured to enhance and deepen its democracy, encourage the development through the formation of strategic social partnerships of government and critical sections of civil society and the enactment and institution of legislation and practices to alleviate the social conditions of marginalized and vulnerable sectors of our society.

We enter the third millennium with the lowest employment rate in our history at seven percent (7%). Poverty is, however, multi-dimensional and cannot be effectively measured by levels of income and wealth alone. As important are measurements of school enrollment, adult literacy, life expenctancy, infant mortality and access to safe water and to health care and social services.

We are imporving social welfare programmes, increasing access to affordable housing and providing quality education and skills training to ever increasing numbers of Bahamians. We are placing renewed emphasis on the promotion of community support systems. We have benefitted poor and marginalized grouping through national insurance and social services programmes, which have increased assistance benefits to the elderly, the disabled, chidren-at-risk and the unemployed. In particular, the expansion of the national shcool lunch programme has benefitted many families throughout the Bahamas.

There can be no doubt that policies for social development are considerably more effective when they are well-informed. In this regard, the government's 2000 census will be the basis for a study to establish a baseline for poverty in relation to such factors as nutrition, housing and household income to determine the position of all households. So informed, the government will be better able to focus responses to social challenges and so advance development of Bahamian society as a whole.

The Bahamians will be determined by the standard and quality of education and training. Hence, the government of the Bahamas and its social partners have dedicated increased attention to the reform and imporvement of the education system, including the upgrading of technical and vocational education and skills training to meet the increasing demands of the employment market and to ensure that Bahamians possess the necessary skills in an increasingly sophisticated job market.

The Bahamas is also conviced that the establishment of the Bahamas as a prime site for E-commerce offers enormous potential for high quality employment for significant numbers of qualified Bahamians. The Bahamas has recently entered into agreements to provide computer trining and equipment throughout the public education system and in selected areas for free adult education.

To ensure firness and dignity in the labour market and to improve industrial relations for the social advancement of the nation, the government of the bahamas has now before its parliament a package of labour legislation which will go through the legislative process during july and august of this year. This legislation will, inter alia; regulate cooperatives; provide minimum conditions of employment as well as minimum wages; improve health and safety in the workplace; and put in place policies and mechanisms for the benefit of trade unions and labour relations.

We aim to foster a society that is safe, stable and just; promote respect for diversity; achieve equity between women and men; foster tolerance and protect human rights and enhance the participation of all groups in their economy, society, and natural environment, particularly the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged. The bahamas has made significant strides in achieving gender equality. It is to be noted that the speaker of the parliament, chief justice of the Bahamas, three (3) of fifteen (15) ministers of government and one half of the permanent secretaries are women.

The Bahamas has, within the last five (5) years particularly, sought to imporve the quality and equality of the lives of the disabled, the elderly, children-at-risk and the marginalized. A white paper entitled "the report of the national task force on disbility" has, this year, been laid on the table of parliament and the government of the Bahamas is drafting legislation for the end of discrimination against persons with disabilities in the spheres of jobs, housing, health, education and recreation.

In respect of older persons, the governement ahs followed closely, the recommendations emanating from the united nations celebration of the international year of older persons and has put in place a national committee to develop a comprehensive poicy on older persons.

One of the tragedies in our society is child abuse, be it physical, emotional or sexual. To address the escalation in reported cases of abuse including incest, a national task force on child abuse prevention has been created and a national child abuse prevention month insittuted to address a concern that is inimical to the nurture of children in a safe and wholesome environment.

In the recently legislated budget allocations, the lion's share of government's expenditure has been for education and health. In the field of education, the government's agenda has included the following measures:

1) The expansion of school facilites, particularly pre-schools and primary schools;

2) The expansion of vocational training, particularly in computer related subjects; and

3) The extension of the mandatory school age from fourteen (14) years to sixteen (16) years.

To facilitate the involvement of the community in decision-making, the government has put in place local government authorities and in the capital island of new providence, school boards.

Health care facilities have been expanded in the rural communitites in the form of polyclincs staffed by competent health professionals. Special attention to pregnant women and children has resulted in a lower infant mortality rate. Improved health care has resulted in increased longevity.

On the negative side, we have seen an increase in chronic non-communicable diseases which medical experts attribute to lifestyle choices. Fifty percent (50%) of deaths in our country are the result of stokes, dibetes, injuries (Accidental and intentional) and certain cancers.

Aids is the greates killer of young people teween the ages of fifteen (15) years and fory-four (44) years. Our medical care of aids patients is, I do believe, among the best in the region. Moreover, special care is afforded to HIV/AIDS patients who are prgnant, reducing the number of children born HIV positive since the programme was introduced in 1997. Injury and death due to violence is a major health problem. Fights resulting in stabbings and shootings seem to be on the rise and indiscriminate violence generally are matters of grave concern and may be a direct result of the transhipment of illegal drugs through the Bahamas archipelago from producing countries to large consumers.

The Nobel peace prize recipient, philosopher, theologian and man of God, the late doctor Martin Luther King, jr made this profound statement which can be our guiding light:

This summit will once again provide the global vision, determination and energy to uplift the nations of the world in general, and my beloved commonwealth of the Bahamas in particular, to new levels of caring, compassion, empowerment and integration, as we seek to bring into being a real order of justice.