UN General Assembly
2019

This multidimensional strategy, to which President Danilo Medina Sanchez himself has dedicated great effort, as in the case of the surprise visits he has carried out, has enabled us to obtain good results. The extreme poverty rate in our country fell from 9.9 per cent in 2012 to 2.9 per cent in 2018, representing a tremendous achievement. Overall poverty decreased from 39.7 per cent to 23 per cent in the same period. The greatest decrease was in the countryside, where rural poverty fell from 49.3 per cent in 2012 to 25.6 per cent in 2018 thanks to the continuous support that the Government has been offering to our agricultural producers. In addition, over the past decade, our country has had more success in reducing hunger than any other country in Latin America. We are one of only four countries in which that trend has remained stable over the past two years, while many neighbouring countries have, unfortunately, seen their progress slow.