Caribbean Ministers Pledge to Reduce Rural Poverty

WASHINGTON and SAINT LUCIA, May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Caribbean ministers and
high level education, agriculture and rural development officials pledged
greater efforts to reduce poverty among rural communities, but stressed that
"raising the priority and increasing the action for educating and training
rural people will inevitably demand additional resources."

"We pledge to use our best efforts to reinforce action to further reduce
poverty among communities dependent on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and
micro-enterprises for their well-being," they said in a communique issued at
the end of the Caribbean Conference on Education for Rural People (Saint
Lucia, May 18-19, 2006).

"While we can certainly expect our governments, our civil societies, our
business sectors and even rural people themselves and their communities to
support local initiatives in Education for Rural People, we shall need and
indeed require the support of the Caribbean Development Bank, the World Bank
and our bilateral partners," the communique said.

Caribbean ministers of education, agriculture and rural development noted
that despite setbacks from natural disasters -- hurricanes and volcanic
eruptions -- and an adverse world economy, there had been much progress in
training and education at all levels in their region.

However, poverty and indigence rates remained higher among rural people
than among the rest of the population. This was qualified as "unacceptable" by
the participants, who agreed that education and training approaches should be
changed so as to make new opportunities accessible and attractive to poor
rural people.

The participants recognised that they could do more in association with
civil society and the business sector. They called upon regional and
international cooperation agencies, particularly FAO and UNESCO, to assist in
devising locally feasible systems of monitoring, evaluation and research to
keep track of progress and to develop new strategies to deal with emerging
issues.

The MDGs

"Better education and training for people living in rural communities will
increase employment and enhance livelihoods while contributing to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals," FAO education expert Lavinia
Gasperini said.

"Education for rural people has a direct impact on all the MDGs. In this
respect, the Caribbean conference helped raise awareness on the importance of
Education for Rural People as a crucial step towards eradicating poverty and
hunger, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equity," Ms
Gasperini also said.

The Caribbean conference on education was organized by FAO, the Italian
Development Cooperation office, the Government of Saint Lucia, UNESCO's
International Institute for Educational Planning, the World Bank, the Inter-
America Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, the Caribbean Development
Bank (CDB), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and other
partners.

Several ministers and high ranking officials from education, agriculture,
fisheries, forestry and rural development ministries of the Caribbean
countries attended the Conference.

For more information about FAO go to: http://www.fao.org

SOURCE Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations