Caribbean News Now
by Global News Staff
Barbados — The ability of Barbados to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is being impacted by the fact that the country is no longer eligible to benefit from concessionary financial assistance because of its classification as a middle income country.
The disclosure was made by Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health.
The Barbados Advocate newspaper reported that Sandiford-Garner, speaking at the launching of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 2010, said in addition to aid for which Barbados no longer qualifies, the country also faces challenges that could potentially result from a natural disaster, such as what destroyed Haiti’s prospects for development, and the negative effects of the global financing crisis.
“As Small Island Development States, we are patently aware of the fact that we live under the constant shadow of the threat of sharp reversals of any human development gains which we have made,” Sandiford-Garner said.
She added that Barbados is still recovering from the setback caused by economic recession the world over.
