UN Speeches: President Danilo Medina of The Dominican Republic

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Summary in today's DR1 News:
Medina focuses on inequality, violence and drugs at UN
In a 16-minute speech at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday, Tuesday 29 September 2015, President Danilo Medina used the global forum to call for action to reduce inequality and highlighted the need for changing global policies for fighting drug trafficking.
Medina called for attention to get to the root causes of problems, stressing that inequality is the main enemy of sustainable development. He stated that Latin American and Caribbean countries must work together to transform productivity and distribution and invest in quality education so as not to perpetuate poverty and exclusion.
He said that on the one hand Latin America was the region after Asia with the largest middle class population but was also at the same level as sub-Saharan Africa with the highest rate of inequality in the world with 10% of the richest people in Latin America having 32% of the income and the 40% poorest people sharing only 15%.
On the subject of employment, he said that those global businesses dealing with international trade brought in 67% of the GDP while small businesses only contributed 10.5% but were responsible for 50% of the jobs. He confirmed that the fight against poverty was making progress but was hindered by inequality.
In his speech, Medina called for a change in the structure of production and change in distribution to a model that benefits everyone. He declared that small and medium-sized enterprises must be supported by the state to create high quality jobs. He defended the role of the state as a creator of opportunity through wealth distribution. We have to tackle economic and social issues at the same time, said Medina.
He said that the Dominican Republic was working to improve the quality of education and was making the changes needed for ensuring that the economy increases with a state that is involved and active in supporting its citizens.
The President pointed out that inequality was the root cause of many of the challenges facing us in the world, including the violence that affects Latin America and the Caribbean, the only region in the world where the murder rate has increased over the past 15 years.
In economic terms, Medina said the impact of violence has cost 14.2% of GDP in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Medina stated that inequality was a breeding ground for transnational crime and drug traffickers who are recruiting younger and younger people and depriving them of any chance of a future.
He said that one of the challenges ahead for the global community was to rethink anti-drug policies. He described the war on drugs as "a humanitarian disaster due to badly conceived policies that are poorly executed". Medina called for a new, more realistic international consensus so that national governments can decide their own policies depending on their circumstances.
He stated that a consensus must be reached for change in the 71st General Assembly to take place in 2016 when the drug issue is scheduled for debate.

Read more: http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...s-a-trabajar-juntos-para-no-perpetuar-pobreza

Listen to the speech in Spanish or English: http://gadebate.un.org/70/dominican-republic
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Summary in today's DR1 News:

well, since he is so versed about the root causes of the economic malaise, maybe he should try to do something about it, rather than sitting around and allowing his drones to steal everything that is not nailed down.