Social programs such as the Robinson Mission, created in 2003 through the Cuba-Venezuela agreement to teach reading and writing to a sector of the population through the “Yo si puedo” (Yes, I Can) method; which in just two years managed to literate one million 482,543 Venezuelans and made it possible for the country to be declared as a territory free of illiteracy, recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) “Is a very important experience that should not be lost,” said the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena.
“The last decade has been very auspicious for Venezuela in social matters,” said the ECLAC representative in highlighting the impact of social policies on unprecedented poverty reduction and on improving equality.
Bárcena, during an interview with Venezolana de Televisión from the United Nations headquarters in New York, after a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, commented that the entire region, like Venezuela, has begun experience a deterioration of social conditions as a result of falling incomes, however, in the Venezuelan case social programs have not been affected, which has not happened in other countries.
The executive secretary of the ECLAC was opposed to the imposition of economic sanctions, this with respect to the unilateral measures dictated by the United States, that put to earth all the national efforts for the stabilization of the macroeconomic conditions. “It is not possible to fully participate in a market economy when there are sanctions in between, but hopefully those issues can be resolved.”
Among the recommendations made by the official, she suggested moving forward with the stabilization of macroeconomic policies “so that the country regains full participation in the international world”, although social conditions have improved.
Bárcena announced that representatives of ECLAC will visit the country soon to promote an exchange of figures on various topics; also spoke with Foreign Minister Arreaza about the possibility of Venezuela hosting the event of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as our country is one of the first nations to present the national voluntary report on this issue.
