2-Day Millennium Acceleration Framework Workshop Held

The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams opened and closed the Millennium Acceleration Framework (MAF) workshop held at the University of St. Maarten on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the workshops representatives from various government Ministries, numerous NGO’s and private entities stressed the importance of a sustainable community development as they tackled the bottlenecks and possible solutions leading to an addressing of poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability through a wide-scale project.

The Prime Minister highlighted the Millennium Acceleration Framework workshops as part of the Millennium Development Goal Project as a means to gain a greater participation in the sustainable development vision for the country: "In 2011 a report was presented regarding the status of the Millennium Development Goals showing how St. Maarten faired in this regard that showed that the focus right now should be on the matter of sustainable development in the communities focusing on poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. Sustainable development consists of three key components: economic development, the environment, and social development with all three being cemented by Governance. That is why it is important during this workshop to get the various stakeholders on board in terms of discussing the future development of St. Maarten. You cannot speak about economic development without talking about environment. Likewise if we look at economic development you have to look at social development and underpinning all of these is the proper Governance of the country," commented the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister continued by stating that she looked forward to learning of the outcome of the workshops and in supporting the action plans resulting in projects that will focus on poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability: "I look forward to continuously be kept abreast of the development of this program and supporting the accelerated implementation of projects that tackle the areas of poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability within the context of sustainable community development," commented the Prime Minister.