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UN’s agricultural
and educational agencies spotlight rural Caribbean
poverty
By UN News
Centre
Posted: May 18,
2006 18:41
UTC
| NEW YORK, NY, U.S.A. (UN) - With rural
poverty high and the level of rural education low in Caribbean
countries, the United Nations agricultural and educational
agencies today opened a two-day regional meeting in St. Lucia
on nutrition, education and HIV/AIDS.
According to a
UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report to be
presented at the meeting, “The education system in the
Caribbean evolved from a colonial historical legacy which was
predicated on privilege. Education served as a primary device
for social selection and class stratification.”
With
the attainment of independence, mass education has become a
social and political priority, but has not reached many in the
rural areas, the report said. In Jamaica, the rural poverty
rate is three times higher than the urban poverty rate, while
in Guyana, almost the entire rural population is poor.
“In the Caribbean region, the impact of poverty,
HIV/AIDS and educational deficits is acutely felt in the rural
context,” according to the report, which stresses the need to
make a considerable effort to reach the UN Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and raise standards of living. The
MDGs are a set of time-bound targets for slashing a host of
global ills.
“Education is essential for the rural
poor, many of whom are women. It is also essential for rural
children who lose their parents to AIDS. Field schools need to
be developed to provide essential skills and knowledge to
orphaned children. Educating the rural poor contributes to
preventing the (HIV) pandemic from expanding rapidly in rural
areas,” said the head of FAO Gender and Population Division,
Marcela Villarreal.
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