Delegate: Ms. Kelly
State: Dominican Republic
10. Ms. Kelly (Dominican Republic), speaking as a youth delegate, said that the importance of social rights and human welfare had been recognized in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development in 1995, but almost 20 years later, as noted by the Secretary-General, millions still suffered from hunger, lacked proper sanitation and died in childbirth, and forests, wildlife and fish stocks were still disappearing. Poverty reduction was possibly the most urgent task, and the Dominican Republic was investing in education, health and youth employment to break the cycle of poverty. Four per cent of gross domestic product had been spent on expanding the education infrastructure and improving teacher training, and the whole population was now literate. That achievement had earned it the title of Champion Country” in the Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative.
11. The Dominican Republic welcomed the appointment of the Secretary-General’s new Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility. The Government was committed to the full integration of persons with disabilities, including in the workplace, and had opened a new centre that provided care, education and other services to children with disabilities. An accessible tourism model was being promoted to ensure equal access for disabled persons and expand the supply of tourism services available to them. Her country also welcomed the appointment of the first Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons. Those rights should be mainstreamed in the development agenda beyond 2015, and a specific international convention should be drawn up to protect older persons from exclusion and oblige countries to implement rights-based policies for them.
12. Despite technological advances, young people in countries like the Dominican Republic still lacked the resources and facilities needed to compete on an equal footing, and she supported the ongoing efforts of the United Nations to promote meaningful talks among youth, Governments, civil society and other parties. Placing citizens at the centre of policymaking, ensuring broad-based participation and basing decisions on statistical and other social indicators was essential if policy action was to have a real impact on the lives of present and future generations.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/69/SR.3
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/69/SR.3, 8 October 2014, p. 3, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/dominican-republic-2014/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-193431-0.