Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Republic proposed this Thursday to the “democratic countries” members of the Organization of American States (OAS) to work “jointly” to face the post-coronavirus crisis, in order to improve the quality of life of citizens.
At the opening of the V Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities of Social Development organized by the OAS and held in Santo Domingo, the Dominican President, Luis Abinader, said that the governments of the region have had to deal under the scenario of a pandemic that paralyzed the world economy, causing serious deficits and difficulties of financial sustainability.
“Under these difficult circumstances, the great social and economic inequities that still affect us have been exposed, caused by historical debts and social policies that are often insufficient and not very resilient, as well as by the climate shock that represents a high cost in the GDP of our countries. countries,” he added.
Abinader recalled the effects caused by uncertainty in the face of the prolonged consequences of the covid-19 pandemic, the sustained increase in international prices of raw materials, the global impact of the war in Ukraine and the onslaught of natural phenomena caused by the crisis climate.
“All the nations of the world are today in a state of latent vulnerability that affects the normal development of their country projects,” said the Dominican head of state, who dedicated a good part of his speech to listing his public policies.
For her part, the OAS Secretary for Access to Rights and Equity, Maricarmen Plata, indicated that in this context the objective is to support each of the ministries and agencies of welfare, development and social inclusion in the implementation of activities directed to the elaboration of projects and programs at the national or regional level.
“We promote the exchange of experiences and knowledge between officials of the agencies responsible for the social portfolio of the OAS member states and the strengthening of institutional capacities” to have the best teams and implement social policies in the countries, Plata highlighted.
This meeting will allow the OAS member states to define the work agenda with that body to address the priorities for social development at the regional level.
Likewise, it will help to identify and share effective experiences and innovations for the consolidation of resilient, inclusive, and sustainable social protection systems in social policy and to promote commitments and alliances for hemispheric cooperation, among other points.
The first of these meetings was held in Reñaca (Chile) in 2008, the next in Cali (Colombia) in 2010, Asunción hosted the one in 2016 and the capital of Guatemala in 2019.
