PHILIPSBURG: --- From September 16th – 18th 2015, the Social Economic Council (SER) took part in the board meeting of the international board of International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS) which were held in Moscow, Russia. The Sint Maarten delegation consisted of SER Chairwoman, Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet and Legal advisor Daniëlle Choennie-Babel.
AICESIS is a worldwide organization representing over 70 member states from four different continents. AICESIS functions as an important international organization for social and economic policy. Sint Maarten, Curaçao and Brazil together represented the region of Latin America and the Caribbean on the international board from 2013 - 2015. The term of the board came to an end this month. SER Sint Maarten was elected to the AICESIS board in 2013 during the tenure of former SER Chairman René Richardson.
The purpose of the board meeting was to elect a new board for 2015 – 2017 period, debate on the various topics of common interest and select future working topics. Outgoing Chairman of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation dr. Evgeny P. Velikhov chaired the meeting. Topics of concern were, Human capital, New models of economic growth, New resources of national competiveness and Fighting poverty.
The incoming board representing the region of Latin America and the Caribbean for 2015-2017 period consist of, Curacao, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. The Chairman, Monseñor Agripino Antonio Núñez Collado of the Consejo Económico y Social of the Dominican Republic, will also serve as Chairman of the AICESIS for a period of two years. The SER is pleased with the selection of the Dominican Republic as Chair of the international board of AICESIS. The working relationship between SER Sint Maarten and the Económico y Social of the Dominican Republic, was established in 2011 and we are confident that working together will yield mutually positive outcomes.
Furthermore, SER Sint Maarten aims to develop more working relationships with similar advisory bodies in the region. As the majority of the Caribbean islands face similar socio economic challenges, SER Sint Maarten can benefit from best practices by sharing experiences on topics of common interest.
Since 2008, under the influence of the financial crisis, global economy has been in a complex and volatile situation. Latin America and the Caribbean region narrowed the income gap and made gratifying achievements in reducing poverty. Thanks to the continuous increase in the implementation of conditional cash transfer payment programs in the past 20 years, the number of poor people in our region had dropped from 53 million in 1990 to 32 million in 2010, the poverty rate had dropped from 12.2% to 5.5%, the lowest figure until now.
The Social Economic Council of Sint Maarten drafted an advice titled “ Boost Sint Maarten” – A conditional cash transfer program to reduce poverty in Sint Maarten, in May of this year, urging the Government of Sint Maarten to introduce such a conditional cash transfer payment program on Sint Maarten. Please visit our website www.sersxm.org click on the “advice tab” to download the advice.
