Santo Domingo.- UN development system representativeson Monday said despite the country’s recent decline in poverty and rising economicgrowth, social inequality is still one of Dominican Republic’s great challenges.
UN Population Fund (UNFRA) assistantrepresentative Sonia Vasquez said the country’s "extremely high levels"of economic growth haven’t reduced social inequalities. "If you review therecent years, we find variations in poverty reduction, but social inequalitycontinue as one of the most unequal countries and that, of course, is part ofwhat happens in Latin America and the Caribbean."
She said poverty has to be attacked to closethe social inequality gap while to reduce social inequality, policies asmechanisms are needed to redistribute the country’s wealth.
Vasquez said the country has a set ofprograms to improve the conditions of extremely vulnerable people, citing "Progressingin Solidarity", "Quisqueya without misery" and the healthprogram Senasa, which she affirms have been successful and is a source for hopein other countries.
UN Development Program
On that topic UN Development Program (UNDP) residentrepresentative Lorenzo Jimenez de Luis said to achieve compliance with the 2030agenda in reducing poverty, a fiscal policy that is progressive is needed, whichdoesn’t penalize the poor through the ITEBI (VAT) tax.