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AJ begs for help
Asks diplomats to support revision of Ja’s status as middle-income country
BY PAUL HENRY henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
FOREIGN Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson wants Jamaica's status as a middle-income country to be revised on the ground that the World Bank classification has resulted in a cutting of critical concessionary financing to the island.
Nicholson made the call yesterday during an address to world diplomats gathered at Jamaica House as part of Diplomatic Week activities.
Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson
Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson
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In his address, Nicholson said that the middle-income classification has already cost the island the critical yearly pledge of several million US dollars from the Global Fund, which goes towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The discontinuance of the funds is a blow to Jamaica which had a national budget of $200 million for HIV/AIDS two years ago. The Global Fund in 2010 pledged $26 million to Jamaica's fight against HIV/AIDS.
Following yesterday's function, Nicholson told reporters that the middle-income classification will make it hard for the country to access funds critical to sustained development.
"What we are hoping is that there will be a reclassification. The truth is that it is going to be difficult, perhaps impossible, for us to access the funds that can help us in our development. And especially the development that is sustained if we are classified in the way that we are in this point in time," said Nicholson. "We are an indebted country. We have many of the challenges that some of the countries who are not so classified have."
According to Nicholson, the UK acknowledged during the recent Caribbean Forum meeting in Grenada that "there is some degree of unfairness in this classification and that there could be a rethink". He said there should be rethinking as to how that classification is made, and noted that Jamaica's environmental funds may also be affected.
Nicholson's call for a "rethink" of how countries are classified echoes a similar appeal made last September by then Foreign Minister Dr Ken Baugh.
In making the middle-income classification several years back, one of the factors looked at by the World Bank was Jamaica's gross national income of $2,820 per capita, which is based on the bank's operational lending categories (civil works preferences, Individual Development Account eligibility, etc).
During the function, Nicholson asked the diplomats for their support in having the issue addressed, noting that several other developing countries are in a similar position.
"It is our view that there is a case to be made for rethinking the treatment of these countries, given the challenges and constrains such as poverty, high indebtedness and other socio-economic problems that they continue to face," said Nicholson.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1l9Aegt5R
Asks diplomats to support revision of Ja’s status as middle-income country
BY PAUL HENRY henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
FOREIGN Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson wants Jamaica's status as a middle-income country to be revised on the ground that the World Bank classification has resulted in a cutting of critical concessionary financing to the island.
Nicholson made the call yesterday during an address to world diplomats gathered at Jamaica House as part of Diplomatic Week activities.
Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson
Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/1 In his address, Nicholson said that the middle-income classification has already cost the island the critical yearly pledge of several million US dollars from the Global Fund, which goes towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The discontinuance of the funds is a blow to Jamaica which had a national budget of $200 million for HIV/AIDS two years ago. The Global Fund in 2010 pledged $26 million to Jamaica's fight against HIV/AIDS.
Following yesterday's function, Nicholson told reporters that the middle-income classification will make it hard for the country to access funds critical to sustained development.
"What we are hoping is that there will be a reclassification. The truth is that it is going to be difficult, perhaps impossible, for us to access the funds that can help us in our development. And especially the development that is sustained if we are classified in the way that we are in this point in time," said Nicholson. "We are an indebted country. We have many of the challenges that some of the countries who are not so classified have."
According to Nicholson, the UK acknowledged during the recent Caribbean Forum meeting in Grenada that "there is some degree of unfairness in this classification and that there could be a rethink". He said there should be rethinking as to how that classification is made, and noted that Jamaica's environmental funds may also be affected.
Nicholson's call for a "rethink" of how countries are classified echoes a similar appeal made last September by then Foreign Minister Dr Ken Baugh.
In making the middle-income classification several years back, one of the factors looked at by the World Bank was Jamaica's gross national income of $2,820 per capita, which is based on the bank's operational lending categories (civil works preferences, Individual Development Account eligibility, etc).
During the function, Nicholson asked the diplomats for their support in having the issue addressed, noting that several other developing countries are in a similar position.
"It is our view that there is a case to be made for rethinking the treatment of these countries, given the challenges and constrains such as poverty, high indebtedness and other socio-economic problems that they continue to face," said Nicholson.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1l9Aegt5R
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