wfn.org | ACNS Focus on Haitian-Bahamian Relationships at Provincial

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ACNS 4060     |     WEST INDIES      |	   28 OCTOBER 2005

Archbishop Gomez: Focus on Haitian-Bahamian Relationships at Provincial Synod

Anglicans attending the 105th session of Synod were informed about four
major areas of concern in The Bahamas, including HIV/AIDS and Bahamian
Haitian relations.

In his charge on Monday, October 17th at the opening of the week-long
Synod of the Diocese of The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands,
Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies and Diocesan Bishop, His
Grace Drexel Gomez said the Church must play an integral role in
awareness building.

"If the Church is to serve credibly in this role of 'awareness
building', the Church must ensure that she speaks from an informed
position with a clear grasp of the issues," said the Archbishop.

The other two causes adverted to by the Archbishop were National Health
Insurance and poverty in The Bahamas.

The Archbishop is urging immediate attention in the following areas;

A nation-wide campaign on National Health Insurance to provide the
general public with all the relevant information so that persons may
respond in an informed manner.
The involvement of all Anglican parishes in the national HIV/AIDS
programme.
The urgency for the government to address the Haitian migration problem.
He cautioned against vigilantism. The act of citizens taking the law
into their own hands, must never happen in our country. The law must be
allowed to take its own course.
Church leaders becoming familiar with the contents of the government's
Report of The Bahamas Living Condition Survey 2001 to enable them to
gain a clearer perspective on the state of poverty in The Bahamas as
they continue to minister to persons in need.
"While no one disputes the existence of poverty in our nation, there has
existed a noticeable reluctance to determine the extent of poverty
prevalent in our society,"said the primate.

He said he received a copy of the recent communication to Parliament by
the Honourable Melanie Griffin, Minister of Social Services and
Community Development on the Report of the Bahamas Living Conditions
Survey 2001.

In her presentation, the Minister stated:

"This report is a first for The Bahamas and provides information on
household expenditure on food and non-food items, use of health
facilities and social programmes and general characteristics of the
population."

It is intended to provide a general picture of the conditions under
which Bahamians live and in particular the aim was to produce a poverty
line with which to estimate the proportion of the population or
households unable to afford the basic necessities for living.

The national poverty rate for The Bahamas was determined to be 9.3 per
cent.? The rate is slightly lower in New Providence and Grand Bahama,
but significantly higher in other regions with the highest found in the
southern islands, 21 per cent. It should be noted, however, that 76 per
cent of all poor people live in New Providence and Grand Bahama. It was
also found that nearly 75 per cent of poor households have five or more
members, 45 per cent of all poor households are headed by single female
parents and that children 14 years and younger comprise 50 per cent of
the nation's poor.

The Archbishop strongly recommend that all Church leaders become
familiar with the contents of this report to enable them to gain a
clearer perspective on the state of poverty in The Bahamas as they
continue to minister to persons in need.

"Several of our churches are already actively involved in the Urban
Renewal Programme launched by the Prime Minister in 2002, and I urge all
our churches in New Providence and Grand Bahama to participate in
meaningful outreaches to the poor and needy as we together seek to
extend the safety net to provide meaningful assistance to those in
need," he stated.

On the issue of HIV/AIDS, the primate reminded Synod that the church has
supported the National Aids Programme over the past 20 years.

The Church assisted directly in the following:

Prevention and Care and Support of persons living with HIV/AIDS
According to Archbishop Gomez, the Church facilitated the creation of
community-wide awareness and education of HIV/AIDS by providing its
facilities to be used as venues. He said clergy workshops have been held
and AIDS was addressed in Synod. Also, Church groups have organized
seminars on HIV/AIDS and priests have addressed issues in their sermons.

"The Anglican Diocese was involved in care and support by organizing the
support group known as SOP (Sharing Others Pain). This Support Group
functioned for a number of years but is now defunct," said the
Archbishop.

He emphasized that the Church is now being challenged to join with the
National Aids Programme to:

Scale up its prevention activities especially among the youth.
Assist further in care and support of persons infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS
Assist in the plight of orphans of AIDS.
"I call upon Synod to accept those challenges and encourage all of our
parishes to participate meaningfully in this national crisis," he
stated.

The Archbishop informed Synod that at the Fifty-eighth World Health
Assembly held in Geneva Switzerland May 2005, member countries were
urged to:

Ensure that health-financing systems include a method for prepayment of
financial contributions for health care, with a view to sharing risk
among the population and avoiding catastrophic health-care expenditure
and impoverishment of individuals as a result of seeking care;

Ensure adequate and equitable distribution of good-quality health care
infrastructures and human resources for health so that the insurees will
receive equitable and good-quality health services according to the
benefits package;

Ensure that external funds for specific health programme or activities
are managed and organized in a way that contributions to the development
of sustainable financing mechanisms for the health system as a whole.

World Health Organization (WHO) also noted that prepayment and pooling
of resources and risks are basic principles of financial risk
protection.

"The Blue Ribbon Commission," said the primate, "was appointed by the
Prime Minister to look into the feasibility of a National Health
Insurance Plan; one that would ensure that health care for all could be
guaranteed, protected and free from financial burden at the time of
use." The Blue Ribbon Commission reported and recommended Social or
National Health Insurance as the most affordable and equitable way of
financing health care based on the same principles as pronounced by WHO
in May 2005.

A Steering Committee has been appointed to look into all matters related
to the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

We call on the government to ensure that a national campaign is launched
to provide the general public with all the relevant information so that
persons may respond in an informed manner. We also call upon the
leadership of the churches to assist in this awareness building process.

Focusing on Bahamian Haitian relations, the Archbishop said the longer
this matter is left unaddressed, the worse it will become.

"The issue of the number of illegal immigrants in our country," he said,
"especially those from Haiti, has been the topic of heated debates for
many years." We commend the valiant efforts of our law enforcement
offices in stemming this flow, even as we acknowledge the tremendous
challenge that they face in doing so.

It must be said from the outset that the laws of The Bahamas must be
upheld by all in our country visitors and citizens alike!

Having said that, all enforcement of the law has to consider the human
factor and the rights and dignity of all concerned. Vigilantism, the act
of citizens taking the law into their own hands, must never happen in
our country. The law must be allowed to take its own course."

Archbishop Gomez is urging the government to move as expeditiously as
possible to address the pressing issues related to the challenges of
illegal migration, including shanty towns, which are often created in
violation of our laws, as well as other unsanitary, inhumane conditions
under which many live.

"Additionally, we respectfully request government to conduct a labour
needs assessment to determine the number of non-Bahamians needed in the
workforce at present and in the near future," he stated. "Persons who
are needed, especially those 'documented immigrants' who have been here
for a long time, ought to have their status regularized and the others
be made to leave. The longer this matter is left unaddressed, the worse
it will become.

"We acknowledge with much gratitude the tremendous contribution that
many of these Haitian nationals have made to this country, especially in
areas where Bahamians have been unwilling to work.

"Finally, in this regard, I remind Synod and the Bahamian nation, that
in everything we do, we must exercise the utmost of Christian charity in
thought, word and deed, bearing in mind that we are all brothers and
sisters regardless of our different national or ethnic backgrounds."

Article from: The Voice by Clunis Devaney

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