Caribbean Ministers Pledge to Reduce Rural Poverty

    Additional Resources Needed for Educating and Training Rural People

    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