CONFERENCEs and CONSULTATIONS
The CALC Conference 2010 took place at the conference room of the Caribbean Development Bank on Friday, January 29th 2010.
The conference focused on the ‘Importance of the CALC to Barbados’, addressing issues of poverty and the link between poverty and other aspects of social life in Barbados. The conference also served to deepen awareness of poverty among stakeholders at the forefront of the fight against poverty.
Below is a summary of the featured address made by the Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development.
FEATURE ADDRESS – Hon Christopher Sinckler, Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development
In addressing a number of issues which were critical to poverty eradication and the transformation of the social landscape of Barbados, Minister Sinckler drew reference to “the juggernaut of poverty and social underachievement” which existed in the Caribbean region, despite reasonable success rates in social and economic development.
He expounded that economic growth was critical to the achievement of raising the overall standard of living, building equality and improving the quality of life of citizens. He reasoned that economic growth and development, and social development, were two platforms which were interdependent and linked in a symbiotic relationship, where one affected the other in a negative or positive way. He said that there was an inextricable link between the two and that Barbados had sought to reflect this linkage over the years.
Minister Sinckler stressed the critical need for dialogue and communication between economists and social planners and suggested that this had not occurred in a sustainable manner in Barbados. This ‘lack of sustained communication’ he stated, had resulted in a ‘juggernaut of poverty’, which despite injections of substantial financial resources, continued to be a social challenge.
In addressing the attitudes of frontline workers in the social services, the Minister advised that they should develop empathy with those persons living in poverty. While urging Social Workers to “have a heart”, the Minister said that interactions with persons living in poverty should result in those persons developing a culture of transformation as opposed to a culture of dependency. The Minister expressed deep concern with the level of dependency on the State which had become evident in the last fifteen years. In his view, this dependency has given rise to an intergenerational poverty dependence which has created perpetual wards of the State. According to the Minister, the Ministry had to establish a clear platform with objectives to help people pursue ‘liberation’ from poverty and from a ‘dependent’ state of mind which had invaded our society.
In conclusion, Minister Sinckler stated that the CALC should be seen as a strategy for changing how things are done in the social sector. He said that it provided an interesting approach to social transformation and poverty reduction and would assist in building bridges from poverty to prosperity for all Barbadians.
