DOCSLIB.ORG

The Possible Effects of the Blue Economy on Gender Equality in the Republic of Seychelles

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Possible Effects of the Blue Economy on Gender Equality in the Republic of Seychelles Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering Master’s Thesis in Economics, 30 credits | Master’s Programme in Economics Spring semester 2018 | LIU-IEI-FIL-A--18/02938--SE The possible effects of the blue economy on gender equality in the Republic of Seychelles Alexandra Allard Charlotta Bauer Supervisors: Ali Ahmed and Thérese Lind Linköpings University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden 013-28 10 00, www.liu.se English title: The possible effects of the blue economy on gender equality in the Republic of Seychelles Swedish title: De möjliga effekterna av den blåa ekonomin på jämlikheten mellan könen i Republiken Seychellerna Creole title: Bann lefe ki Lekonomi Ble i kapab annan lo egalite ant bann fanm ek zonm dan Sesel Authors: Alexandra Allard [email protected] Charlotta Bauer [email protected] Supervisors: Ali Ahmed and Thérese Lind Publication type: Master’s Thesis in Economics Master’s Programme in Economics at Linköping University Advanced level, 30 credits Spring semester 2018 ISRN Number: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--18/02938--SE Linköping University Department of Management and Engineering (IEI) www.liu.se Abstract In order to ensure the Earth’s future prosperity and welfare gender inequalities need to be tackled and our marine environment needs to be safeguarded. In this thesis we therefore evaluate the possible effects of a blue economy on gender equality in the Republic of Seychelles. Using a qualitative methodology, we have conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with a total of 35 respondents. These including people working at grassroots level, in non- governmental organisations and within the governmental bodies in Seychelles. In order to assist the collection and analysis of the data, we developed a theoretical model portraying in what ways the blue economy can affect gender equality in the country via three main components; maritime sustainability, technological innovation and new market and job opportunities. The empirical results demonstrate that the blue economy framework through these three components can affect gender equality, both in the short and long-term. If proven to be inclusive and implemented in the correct way, our findings portray that the blue economy will offer many opportunities. This affecting gender equality in diverse ways, with our main results showing that the concept will (i) help single mothers through factors such as increasing food security, water quality and new job opportunities; (ii) encouraging women to enter into more technological and/or male dominated fields; (iii) motivating boys to remain in school or help dropouts to venture into more practical fields. Keywords: Blue Economy, Gender Equality, Maritime Sustainability, Technological Innovation, New Market and Job Opportunities Sammanfattning För att säkerställa jordens framtida välstånd och välfärd måste ojämlikheter mellan könen åtgärdas och vår marina miljö skyddas. I denna uppsats så utvärderar vi därför de möjliga effekterna av en blå ekonomi på jämlikheten mellan könen i Republiken Seychellerna. Via ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt genomförde vi 21 semistrukturerade intervjuer med 35 respondenter. Dessa inkluderade individer som arbetar på gräsrotsnivå, i icke-statliga organisationer och inom de statliga organen i Seychellerna. För att förenkla insamlingen och analysen av data utvecklade vi en teoretisk modell som visar på vilka sätt en blå ekonomi kan påverka jämlikheten mellan män och kvinnor i landet via tre huvudkomponenter; marin hållbarhet, teknologisk utveckling och nya marknads- och arbetsmöjligheter. De empiriska resultaten visar på att en blå ekonomi kan, genom dessa tre komponenter, påverka jämlikheten mellan män och kvinnor på både kort och lång sikt. Om konceptet implementeras på rätt sätt samt inkluderar hela befolkningen, tyder våra resultat på att en blå ekonomi kommer erbjuda många möjligheter och påverka jämlikheten mellan könen på olika sätt. Våra huvudsakliga resultat visar att konceptet kan (i) hjälpa ensamstående mödrar genom att öka livsmedelsförsörjningen, kvaliteten på vatten och erbjuda nya arbetsmöjligheter; (ii) uppmuntra kvinnor att gå in i mer tekniska och/eller mansdominerade yrken; (iii) motivera pojkar att stanna kvar i skolan eller hjälpa de utsatta att hitta arbete i mer praktiska områden. Nyckelord: Blå Ekonomi, Jämlikhet mellan Könen, Marin Hållbarhet, Teknologisk Utveckling, Nya Marknads- och Arbetsmöjligheter Acknowledgement This research paper cannot be measured only by its pages but by the journey that lies behind it. It all started in August last year with an email sent from one of us to Erna Athanasius, the previous Ambassador for Women and Children in Seychelles. She kindly responded and guided us in the right direction, both academically and practically, by contacting and forwarding us to the right people. We are truly grateful for her response and guidance and would therefore like to thank her for setting this journey in motion. The second step was then to contact SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, to apply for their Minor Field Studies scholarship. To our great joy they found interest in our thesis which enabled us to go to the Republic of Seychelles and conduct this field study. For this and for the inspiring and enlightening course in Härnösand we would like to say thank you to everyone involved. In Seychelles our main contacts were the Blue Economy Department and the Ministry of Family Affairs. We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all involved parties for the support during this journey with contacting possible respondents and making it possible for us to visit the islands of Praslin and La Digue. Especially we would like to thank Phillianne Albert, who became our rock. We will be forever grateful for your friendship and hard work that made it possible for us to conduct the majority of our interviews. Even though we got help from other parties we do not know if we would have made it without you. Also, we would like to thank all of our respondents for sharing their stories and knowledge with us. Without you there would not be a thesis and we wish you all the best of luck in the future. We would further like to thank the Leon family for opening up their home to us and easing our transition into Seychellois society. During this trip we lost count of how many times we said thank you but we would like everyone to know that we truly meant it every single time. Lastly, a final thanks goes to our support system in Sweden and Spain. We would like to show great appreciation to our supervisors; Ali Ahmed, Professor at Linköping University, and Ph. D. Candidate Thérese Lind for their inspiration, input and guidance. Further, we would like to thank our opponents and seminar group for their contribution through constructive criticism and new insights. We would finally like to recognize our families and friends and thank them for their constant support and encouragement. Linköping, May 2018 Alexandra Allard Charlotta Bauer Table of Content 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 4 2.1. Gender equality definition ........................................................................................... 4 2.2. Our model .................................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Blue Economy ............................................................................................................. 6 2.3.1. Maritime sustainability ......................................................................................... 8 2.3.2. Technological innovation ..................................................................................... 9 2.3.3. New market and Job opportunities ..................................................................... 10 3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 12 3.1. Stages of qualitative research interview .................................................................... 14 3.2. Interviews .................................................................................................................. 14 3.3. Sampling .................................................................................................................... 17 3.4. Content analysis ......................................................................................................... 20 3.5. Methodological criticism ........................................................................................... 21 3.6. Ethical issues ............................................................................................................. 23 4. Results ............................................................................................................................... 23 4.1. Blue economy ............................................................................................................ 23 4.1.1. Maritime sustainability ....................................................................................... 27 4.1.2. Technological innovation ................................................................................... 30 4.1.3. New market and Job opportunities ....................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Discursive Analysis of Women's Femininities Within the Context Of
    A Discursive Analysis of Women’s Femininities within the Context of Tunisian Tourism A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Heather Jeffrey Middlesex University Business School February 2017 Abstract Tourism has been hailed as a vehicle for gender equality and women’s empowerment and yet the relationship between these is far from simple. As tourism is created in already gendered societies, the ability of the industry to empower is shaped by existing gender norms and discourses. Therefore utilising a postcolonial feminist frame, the primary focus of this thesis is to critically explore both the discursive role of tourism and its influence in (re)constructing feminine identities in Tunisia. Informed by the works of Michel Foucault, and postcolonial feminism a critical discourse analysis is performed to identify discourses on femininity within the (re)presentations of Tunisian women in the Tunisian National Tourism Office’s brochures and website. Critical discourse analysis often risks disempowering the communities it seeks to analyse and as such fifteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were carried out with Tunisian women involved in the Tunisian tourism industry. The interviews were shaped by a terrorist attack targeting tourists that had happened just two weeks before. Interestingly both the promotional materials and the interviews display two particular discourses on femininity, the modern and uncovered daughter of Bourguiba, and the southern covered Other. Of these discourses, it is the daughter of Bourguiba who is privileged and the southern veiled Other who is excluded. These discourses have been fomented since independence from France in 1956 and the rule of President Habib Bourguiba, but they still have a very material impact on the lives of Tunisian women today as evidenced in the interviews.
    [Show full text]
  • Republic of Seychelles
    REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES MINAMATA INITIAL ASSESSMENT REPORT 2016 Document title Minamata Initial Assessment Report 2016 Document short title MIA Report Date 15th Mar 2017 Consultants AAI Enterprise Pty Ltd Lead Consultant, Mr Cliff Gonzalves, and Inventory Team, Ms Janet Dewea, Mrs Shirley Mondon and Ms Elaine Mondon First draft contributions from Mr Dinesh Aggarwal. Second draft contributions from Dr David Evers, Dr David Buck, and Ms Amy Sauer. Acknowledgements We would like to thank everyone who participated in the development of this document, including experts at the UNDP. Cover page photos by Mr. Cliff Gonzalves and the late Mr. Terrence Lafortune. Disclaimer This document does not necessarily represent the official views of the Government of Seychelles, the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, or the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. 2 Table of Contents ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................. 7 Foreword (draft) .................................................................................................... 9 Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 10 I. Results of the national mercury Inventory .............................................................................................. 10 II. Policy, regulatory and institutional assessment ...................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sixth Periodic Report Submitted by Seychelles Under Article 18 of the Convention, Due in 2017*
    CEDAW/C/SYC/6 Distr.: General 22 June 2018 Original: English English, French and Spanish only ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Sixth periodic report submitted by Seychelles under article 18 of the Convention, due in 2017* [Date received: 14 June 2018] * The present document is being issued without formal editing. CEDAW/C/SYC/6 Background information 1. The Seychelles is an archipelago of about 115 islands, divided into two main typographical groups: the Mahé group is mostly granitic islands of 43 islands, characterised by relatively high mountains rising out of the sea with very little coastal lands, whereas the coralline group of 73 islands are mostly flat, with few geographical inland features. The land mass is 453 km2, compared to more than 1.2 km2 of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Mahé is the main island and lies between 4 degrees South latitude and 55 degrees east longitude. 2. Politically, the country is relatively stable with regular parliamentary and presidential elections held nearly every five years. In terms of history, Seychelles gained independence from Britain in 1976 and remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In 1977, there was a coup d’état and a single party state was established in 1979. In 1992, a multiparty system took effect and a new constitution was adopted in 1993. 3. Ethnically, Seychelles is diverse due to the various ethnic origins of the population: Africa, Europe and Asia. The society is relatively harmonious in terms of race and there are intermarriages. The estimated population, according to Seychelles in Figures 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016) was 93, 400, with 46, 300 males and 47, 100 females.
    [Show full text]
  • STATE-SPONSORED HOMOPHOBIA a World Survey of Laws: Criminalisation, Protection and Recognition of Same-Sex Love
    MAY TH EDITION STATE-SPONSORED HOMOPHOBIA A world survey of laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition of same-sex love Lucas Paoli Itaborahy & Jingshu Zhu ILGA - International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association www.ilga.org INDEX FOREWORD BY ILGA COSECRETARIES GENERAL GLORIA CAREAGA AND RENATO SABBADINI ........................................................ FROM THE AUTHORS ................................................................................................ REFUGEE CONTEXT CONSIDERED JENNI MILLBANK AND EDDIE BRUCEJONES ................................................... MENA, THE MIDDLE EASTERN & NORTH AFRICAN REGION: TERRA INCOGNITA YAHIA ZAIDI ................................................................................................................ LGB RIGHTS GLOBAL OVERVIEW ............................................................................. AFRICA FOREWORD PAN AFRICA ILGA LINDA RM BAUMANN & REV ROWLAND JIDE MACAULAY ................................. LIBERATION IS WITHIN REACH ERIC GITARI................................................................................................................. ALGERIA .......................................................................................................................................................... ANGOLA .......................................................................................................................................................... BOTSWANA ...................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sources on Lesbian Subjectivities for the Production of Lesbian of Color Identity Formation Through Literature, Art, Film, Or Do
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research CUNY Graduate Center 2008 Sources on lesbian subjectivities for the production of lesbian of color identity formation through literature, art, film, or documentation: An annotatated bibliography Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz CUNY Graduate Center How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/187 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] QUEENS COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK SOURCES ON LESBIAN SUBJECTIVITIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF LESBIAN OF COLOR IDENTITY FORMATION THROUGH LITERATURE, ART, FILM, OR DOCUMENTATION AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO DR. COLLEEN COOL OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AS REQUIREMENT FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LIBRARY SCIENCE BY SHAWNTA SMITH FLUSHING, NEW YORK MAY 2008 Sources on Lesbians 2 Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by my undergraduate work in Queer Women’s Studies with the City University of New York’s (CUNY’s) Baccalaureate Program and my advisors Professor Paisley Currah and Professor Flavia Rando. Post undergraduate degree study was primarily influenced by my volunteer year at the Lesbian Herstory Archives with direct access to Maxine Wolfe as well as to texts and collections by lesbians from around the world. All helped to contextualize my studies even further. This thesis is a compilation of these many learning experiences for which I am grateful and hope is reflective of this collective understanding of lesbian subjectivities and the organization of this field of study when overlaid with the dynamics of race.
    [Show full text]
  • General Assembly Official Records Twenty-Third Special Session
    United Nations A/S-23/PV.10 General Assembly Official Records Twenty-third special session 10th meeting Friday, 9 June 2000, at 3 p.m. New York President: Mr. Gurirab ............................................. (Namibia) In the absence of the President, Mrs. Ismail The Acting President: I first give the floor to (Nigeria), Vice-President, took the Chair. Her Excellency The Honourable Indira Thacoor- Sidaya, Minister of Women, Family Welfare and Child The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m. Development of Mauritius. Mrs. Thacoor-Sidaya (Mauritius): On behalf of Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the the Government and the people of the Republic of expenses of the United Nations (A/S-23/6/Add.3) Mauritius, I wish to thank the United Nations for this The President: I should like to draw the attention special session of the General Assembly, which of the General Assembly to document A/S-23/6/Add.3. symbolizes the march that we women started in Beijing In the letter contained in that document, the Secretary- in 1995. Five years later, our march continues as we are General informs the President of the General Assembly gathered here to measure our progress, to learn from that since the issuance of his communications our mistakes as well as our successes and to chalk out contained in documents A/S-23/6 and Addenda 1 our common future. and 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made the necessary My country signed the Convention on the payments to reduce its arrears below the amount Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against specified in Article 19 of the Charter.
    [Show full text]
  • National Gender Report for the Elaboration of a Sub-Regional IOC Gender Strategy
    Seychelles National Gender Report for the Elaboration of a sub-regional IOC Gender Strategy September 2008 GENDERCOI/SEZ/JB Table of Contents Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________ 4 Acronyms_______________________________________________________________ 5 List of Tables and Figures____________________________________________________ 6 Executive Summary (in French)________________________________________________ 7 Chapter 1: Context and Introduction 1.1 Introduction, Context and Objectives of Study____________________________________ 9 1.2 Methodology__________________________________________________________ 9 1.3 Brief Country Profile_____________________________________________________ 9 Chapter 2: Gender Profile – the Country in Figures 2.1 Table on human resources: capabilities________________________________________ 11 2.2 Table on economic resources: opportunities_____________________________________ 12 2.3 Table on social resources: agency____________________________________________ 13 Chapter 3: Evaluation of Gender Profile 3.1 Social Aspects - Capacity__________________________________________________ 14 3.1.1 Household composition_________________________________________________ 14 3.1.2 Education - general ___________________________________________________ 15 3.1.3 School Enrolment and National Educational Attainment__________________________ 15 3.1.4 Curricula and Gender in Education_________________________________________ 17 3.1.5 School Dropouts _____________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010
    Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010 https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284413737 - Tuesday, January 14, 2020 7:24:23 AM IP Address:184.74.191.186 Copyright © 2011, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Global Report on Women in Tourism 2010 ISBN: 978-92-844-1373-7 (UNWTO) ISBN: 978-1-936291-36-6 (UN Women) All rights reserved Published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Printed by the World Tourism Organization, Madrid, Spain First printing 2011 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinions whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) or the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Calle Capitán Haya, 42 the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) 28020 Madrid, Spain 304 East 45th Street, 15th Floor Tel.: (+34) 915 678 100 New York, NY 10017, United States of America Fax: (+34) 915 713 733 Tel: (+1) 212 906 6400 Website: www.UNWTO.org Fax: (+1) 212 906 6705 E-mail: [email protected] www.UNWOMEN.org All UNWTO and UN Women joint publications are protected by copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender, Education and Development - a Partially Annotated and Selective Bibliography - Education Research Paper No
    Education research gender, education and development - A partially annotated and selective bibliography - Education Research Paper No. 19, 1997, 250 p. Table of Contents Colin Brock (University of Oxford) Nadine Cammish (University of Hull) with Ruth Aedo- Richmond, Aparna Narayanan and Rose Njoroge January 1997 Reprinted January 1999 Serial No. 19 ISBN: 0902500767 Department For International Development Table of Contents Department for International Development - Education papers Acknowledgements Introduction Global Annotations Sub-Saharan Africa Individual countries Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Congo Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Uganda Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe Annotations - Sub-Saharan Africa Individual countries Zimbabwe Sudan Niger Nigeria Ivory Coast Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe North Africa and Middle East Individual Countries Algeria Bahrain Cyprus Egypt Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen Annotations Individual countries Bahrain Saudi Arabia Asia Annotation South Asia Individual countries Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Annotations Individual countries Bangladesh India Pakistan Sri Lanka South East Asia Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Papua New Guinea Phillipines Singapore Thailand
    [Show full text]
  • Situational Analysis of Education of Girls/Women in Tanzania
    The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article. UTAFITI (New Series) Vol. 3 No. 2, 1996:39-90 Situational Analysis of Education of Girls/Women in Tanzania Ruth Meena* 1. Introduction In the field of education, women lag behind globally. Out of 948 million illiterates in the world, two thirds are women. In 1990, 130 million children had no access to primary school, of these, 81 million were girls. Gender disparities are widest in the following regions: South Asia, Middle East., North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The high illiteracy rates in most of the developing countries and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa has been singled out as the most severe impediment to the advancement of women and to the, development process in general. Furthermore, education is said to remain the most powerful tool for the social, economic and political integration of women. Education is also said to be instrumental in promoting tolerance, democratic values, political awareness and respect for the human person. Existing data indicate that, women in Sub-Saharan Africa have an average of less schooling than in any other region of the world, that is just one year compared to a male average of two years. There are however, variations per country. Women in Seychelles, for instance, have on average the largest amount of schooling in Africa (4.4 years) although the gender gap is large.
    [Show full text]
  • Utility of Silhouette Showcards to Assess Adiposity in Three Countries Across the Epidemiological Transition
    Utility of silhouette showcards to assess adiposity in three countries across the epidemiological transition Tyler Reese ( [email protected] ) Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6881-2521 Pascal Bovet Universite de Lausanne Candice Choo-Kang Loyola University Chicago Kweku Bedu-Addo Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Terrence Forrester University of the West Indies Jack Gilbert University of Chicago Julia Goedecke University of Cape Town Estelle Lambert University Cape Town Brian Layden University of Illinois at Chicago Lisa Mickleseld University of Cape Town Jacob Plange-Rhule Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Dale Rae University of Cape Town Bharathi Viswanathan Unit of Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Disease Amy Luke Loyola University Chicago Lara Dugas Loyola University Chicago Research Keywords: silhouette showcards, adiposity measure, obesity, body size, BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, multi-country, the epidemiologic transition, survey tool Posted Date: July 24th, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-46029/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Page 1/11 Abstract Background: The Pulvers’ silhouette showcards provide a non-invasive, easy-to-use, and possibly cross-culturally acceptable way of assessing an individual’s perception of their body size. This study examined, in three different populations: 1) the relationship between silhouettes and body mass index (BMI), 2) the predictive performance of silhouettes to predict dichotomous adiposity categories, and 3) whether silhouette ranking performed similarly in predicting BMI, waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHR).
    [Show full text]
  • Seychelles Millennium Development Goals: Status Report 2010
    2010 Seychelles Millennium Development Goals: Status Report 2010 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Seychelles August 2010 Seychelles Millennium Development Goals Status Report 2010 2 | Page Seychelles Millennium Development Goals Status Report 2010 3 | Page Seychelles Millennium Development Goals Status Report 2010 Prologue The Republic of Seychelles has and continues to make tremendous strides in its development. Indeed, it has achieved most of the Millennium Development Goals, especially in the fields of health, education, poverty eradication and the environment. Many have qualified the success of this small nation as outstanding, in the face of great limitations and severe constraints, such as its size, remoteness, and lack of many of the natural resources which many other countries are blessed with. As President of this blessed nation, I know that these achievements have been due to a dynamic, forward-thinking, dedicated, and hardworking people and a pro- active and just leadership. Together, all partners in our society, be they from the public and private sectors, as well as civil society, have not only believed in our potential to rise to greatness in spite of numerous natural and structural obstacles, but also learned to make the most of what Nature and God Almighty have endowed us with. Seychelles has been wise and judicious in its use of its most valuable asset – its environment – engaging in sustainable and eco-friendly tourism, thus providing its people with stable and meaningful employment in this service sector. The country, with its bilateral and multilateral partners, has sought and succeeded to exploit the bounty of its seas to create for today and tomorrow vibrant industries for both local and international trade.
    [Show full text]