Speaking in New York City during the United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, President Danilo Medina stated that the Dominican Republic has halved extreme poverty, from 16.6% to 5.8%. Improvements in nutrition have also been considerable, with malnutrition levels falling from 34.4% to 12%. The goal of gender parity in all learning levels was also achieved.
He said that there is still much work ahead, but acknowledged there were many parallels between the National Development Strategy and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 during the United Nations meetings from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2015.
Medina also praised Pope Francisco for becoming a spokesman for sustainable development, which he said was the cause of the poor and the cause of the future generations.
President Medina said that Dominicans lived on a small island where people suffered from poverty and lived under the threat of climate change, adding that the country was “fully committed” to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Legislator Victor Bisono, who is acting PRSC president, said that the government’s figures do not match World Bank, Unicef or ILO statistics and differ from the reality in the country, where violence is on the rise.
PRM General Secretary Jesus Vasquez also criticized the government, saying that in the first eight months of the year the government has spent RD$800 million on trips abroad, RD$3 billion on food and beverages for high-ranking officials and RD$10 billion on donations.
Read more in Spanish:
http://presidencia.gob.do/discurso/discurso-del-excelentisimo-senor-presidente-de-la-republica-dominicana-lic-danilo-medina-en
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/politica/dicen-reduccion-de-la-pobreza-no-se-percibe-en-la-poblacion-CL1379545