IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE
The primary purpose of the
government of the British Virgin Islands is to assist all the people of the BVI in
obtaining a better quality of life as they define it in their
aspirations.
The development
objectives which we placed on this website are consistent with the collective hopes
and aspirations of all our people. We are aware of all the issues and challenges facing us
as a country through the Situation Analyses and Background Papers prepared. We are
also aware of the global issues in connection with globalization, tourism, financial
services, health, education etc.
The management of the range of
global issues in the next millennium will require the active participation of all the
various organizations, institutions, bodies and interests in the British Virgin Islands.
We must have a shared vision for our country and tailor our respective missions
accordingly. Our success as a country will be very much linked to our heritage and
endowment, political stability, inserting ourselves in the global economy, helping the
vulnerable and marginalized in our communities, increasing choices and opportunities and
respecting all human rights, and achieving sustainable environmental practices and optimal
population will become more challenging than ever before.
For us to improve the quality of
life for BVIslanders, we need a sound and stable economic framework, a renewed emphasis on
social development, enhanced participation in political affairs, greater participation by
women, good governance, practices that are environmentally sustainable and enhanced
systems for conflict resolution and problem solving.
The quality of BVIslander life
could be improved by reducing the number of persons living in poverty, increasing the
disposable income of workers and a providing better and an extended range of economic
opportunities including equity participation in key sectoral investments.
In the area of social development
we want to see substantial progress in primary education performance, rapid progress
towards gender equality and the empowerment of women. But there should also be major
improvement in the delivery of health care, health promotion and family planning. A good
quality of life empowers citizens to increase participation in economic, political and
cultural life. We believe that the quality of life would be much improved if there were
better gender equality in education so as to promote fairness and equity.
We want to improve health and
nutrition for the most vulnerable groups in our society. We are especially cognizant of
the need to improve access to health and nutrition goods and services for the children and
the elderly in our society.
The quality of life can be improved
by providing better reproductive health services through the primary health care system.
Our people should be in a position to make and implement active choices on their
reproductive behaviour thereby allowing a better degree of predictability in population
growth.
The government of the British
Virgin Islands is cognizant of the issues regarding environmental management
in the
BVI and it is committed to meaningfully address them in a sustained way. We have
demonstrated this with our commitment to the principles of UNCED and our policy position
paper on Sustainable Development for SIDS. We are determined to improve the quality
of life for BVIslander through improved environmental management including the
implementation of measures to reverse environmental resources loss such as forests,
fisheries, soils, biodiversity etc.
Government of the British Virgin
Islands will improve the quality of life through the promotion social integration leading
a stable and just society on the protection and promotion of all human rights. A society
governed by democratic accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law will
be more transparent, participatory and ultimately improve the quality of life for all
British Virgin Islanders.
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