The director of Border Development, Miguel Angel Bejaran says that 75% of young people born in the border region with Haiti migrate to cities due to the lack of opportunities. He was speaking to the press during the celebration of the Second Congress of the Border Youth Volunteers 2015 at the Ministry of Foreign Relations from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 November 2015. Bejaran listed the lack of institutions, low levels of education and lack of financial support that result in the low levels of development in the border provinces. He called for more vocational schools in the border provinces of Elias Pina, Dajabon, Bahoruco, Montecristi, Pedernales and Independencia.
He said the border region had high poverty levels, limited medical services and that the average number of years spent in education was just five. He said that more than half the population does not have access to potable water.
The statistics are included in the report on the Project for Local Trans-border Development backed by the United Nations Development Program.
Representatives from the UNDP, the Quisqueya Bi-National Economic Council and the Dominican-Haitian Mixed Commission also took part in the event.
Read more in Spanish: http://www.diariolibre.com/revista/fundeu/el-75-jovenes-de-frontera-emigra-en-busca-de-mejorias-XA1929088