STATEMENT BY MS CHIKA CHOW, DELEGATE TO THE 71ST SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 23, ON ERADICATION OF POVERTY AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT ISSUES, SECOND COMMITTEE, 17 OCTOBER 2016

Thank you, Madam Chair

1              Singapore aligns itself with the statements made by Thailand on behalf of the Group of 77 and China; and Cambodia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for the report on this agenda item.                                          

Madam Chair,

2              It is fitting that the general discussion on this agenda item coincides with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  Though we have come a long way in the fight against poverty in recent decades, if we are to end poverty in all its forms in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must redouble our efforts.                                                               

Madam Chair,

3              Singapore celebrated our 50^th year of independence last year.  At independence, nearly three quarters of our population lived in housing akin to informal settlements. We were a city with poor infrastructure, deplorable sanitation, and traffic congestion.  However, through decades of collective hard work and perseverance, we have become a city with a high quality of life; a competitive economy; and a sustainable environment.                       

4              In Singapore, the government continues to tackle poverty in a determined manner.  In this regard, Singapore firmly believes that continued efforts in providing quality education, adequate housing and basic healthcare are critical in the fight against poverty.  Allow me to elaborate.                                                       

5              First, education and lifelong learning opportunities are key for poverty eradication and social mobility.  As a small island-state with no natural resources, Singapore focused on our single and best resource – human resources.  Every Singaporean child between the ages 6 to 15 has access to quality education regardless of their socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity or religion, ensuring near-universal education at the primary and secondary levels.  The success of our education policy for all can be seen from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which showed that a high proportion of our students excelled academically, despite coming from less well-off families.  A good education would allow young Singaporeans to fully develop their potential and find work to improve their socio-economic status.  But our education efforts do not stop there.  Last year, Singapore launched “SkillsFuture”, a national lifelong learning movement to enable all Singaporeans to use SkillsFuture credits to continually renew their skills to remain relevant in a changing economy.              

6              Second, home ownership is key for poverty eradication.  Security of tenure enables residents to own a tangible stake in their country, and make private investments towards improving their quality of life.  Through effective housing policies, more than 9 in 10 Singaporeans own their own homes and more than 8 in 10 call a public housing apartment home today. This is mainly due to a responsible and sustainable financing plan devised by the Government wherein all residents have a long-term savings plan used to finance their housing needs.

7              Third, as the saying goes, “health is wealth”.  Unexpected large medical bills can and do push people into poverty.  Singapore continues to work hard to provide affordable and high-quality basic healthcare for all.  Singaporeans have a basic compulsory individual medical insurance and receive subsidies of up to 80 per cent on their total bills in public hospitals.  There are also various assistance schemes for lower-to-middle income families for long-term care services, such as home care or nursing homes. But more still needs to be done, and moving forward, we will be looking into addressing intermediate and long-term care. The Singapore government has also recently reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen our social safety net, to help those in need to improve their lives. We will be reviewing legislations and policies, and looking at ways to improve services to ensure that no Singaporean is left behind.                                           

Madam Chair,

8              Singapore was only able to accomplish what we have with the assistance of the international community, not least the UN (United Nations), whose leadership and expertise was vital then, and is still crucial now.  We also learnt a lot from other countries.  Today, we give back by sharing our own development experience and expertise with other developing countries.  We have trained over 100,000 government officials from 170 countries through the Singapore Cooperation Programme, and collaborate with over 40 other countries and international organisations, including UN (United Nations) entities, to provide technical assistance under our Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) framework.                                                           

9              The road to 2030 will not be easy, and requires us all to intensify our efforts, both individually, and together. Singapore remains fully committed to ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, and we look forward to working with everyone in this endeavor.                                                 

10         I thank you.