Highlights Poverty Reduction and Environmental Sustainability as Main Focus of Millennium Development Goals and the National Development Plan
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams received the report of the Governor’s Symposium on Sustainable Development from committee members last week at her Cabinet.
Caption: Prime Minister Wescot-Williams with Committee Members
The PM previously outlined Government’s steps to ensure a sustainable development for St. Maarten going forward, outlining how successive cabinets under her leadership have been committed to the sustainable development of the country, taking into account global strategies and commitments as well as compliance and goal attainment as set forth in various strategic frameworks. "The term sustainable development is a topic in its own right. It has been modified and sometimes criticized, but the understanding and importance remain the same. It is also widely accepted that the ‘interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars’ of sustainable development are: Economic and Social developments, and Environmental Protection as outlined in the UN 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. With sometimes the social and environmental parts fused into ecological sustainability, along with economic, cultural and political sustainability, making it a 4-prong developmental model. " commented the Prime Minister.
The PM also went on to elucidate on St. Maarten’s participation at the Rio+20 conference and other environmentally oriented conferences and symposia in order to place the Country within the context of a global partnership for sustainability, while simultaneously ensuring that its own development occurs in a sustainable manner. The PM further explained Government’s initiatives on Sustainable Development through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report and as part of the drafting of the National Development Plan, stressing that, coming out of the report two pilot projects will be launched in order to address two sections which the MDGs’ report found challenging to St. Maarten: Goal 1. Poverty Eradication and Goal 7. Ensuring Environmental Sustainability; "Cognizant of the need to accomplish quick wins on the road to the NDP, I have announced two MDG pilot projects in the areas of Poverty Eradication (1) and Environmental Sustainability (7) and government’s commitment to work on all MDGs towards the deadline of 2015.In other words, while we continue with the daily governance of St. Maarten and the realities this brings with it, I have prioritized the long term sustainability of our country and its citizens. And that is only possible with the involvement of all sectors and individuals within our society," stressed the PM.