WILLEMSTAD – PAR Member of Parliament Shaheen Elhage is demanding that the government explain what concrete and measurable results it has achieved in fighting poverty, after figures cited by Curaçao’s Council of Advice showed that 30.4 percent of households were living below the monetary poverty line in 2023.
In a letter dated August 17, Elhage submitted 23 questions to Minister of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW) Charetti America-Francisca. The questions are based largely on findings in the Council of Advice’s 2025 annual report and on the government’s constitutional responsibilities under Article 23 of Curaçao’s Constitution.
According to the letter, the Council of Advice warns that poverty in Curaçao is structural and cannot be addressed solely through policy documents and studies. It requires concrete measures, financial resources, clearly defined priorities and results that can be measured periodically.
The 30.4 percent figure refers specifically to monetary poverty among households. The Council also emphasizes that poverty is multidimensional and can involve income, employment, education, healthcare, housing, debt, social participation and child development.
Elhage points to another concern raised by the Council: fighting poverty has appeared as a priority in almost every government program since 2010, but many plans were either never implemented or only partially implemented.
According to the letter, efforts to modernize social assistance, reform social security and improve pensions for the elderly have also not yet produced sufficiently concrete results.
Government's constitutional responsibility
Elhage connects those findings directly to Article 23 of the Constitution.
The first paragraph establishes government responsibility for the population’s security of existence, distribution of prosperity and welfare. According to the Council of Advice, this means the government has an obligation to make efforts to structurally alleviate and combat poverty, while Parliament has a responsibility to verify whether the government is meeting that obligation.
Elhage therefore wants America-Francisca to identify the government’s specific and measurable objectives for reducing structural poverty.
For each objective, he is asking for the corresponding budget, key performance indicators and implementation dates. He also wants the minister to explain why, despite poverty reduction being identified as a government priority for more than 15 years, nearly one-third of Curaçao households were still below the monetary poverty line in 2023.
The PAR parliamentarian also asks what concrete improvements SOAW has achieved so far in strengthening residents’ economic security and how those results are being measured.
Another question concerns the long-awaited comprehensive poverty policy. Elhage wants to know when it will be completed and submitted to Parliament and whether it will contain SMART objectives and measurable performance indicators.
Poverty extends beyond SOAW
Elhage argues that poverty cannot be treated solely as the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Development. The letter identifies connections with education, healthcare, housing, employment, economic policy, debt and transportation.
He therefore asks how America-Francisca is coordinating poverty reduction with the ministries responsible for Finance, Economic Development, Education, Health and Infrastructure.
Elhage is also proposing an annual “Poverty and Security of Existence Report” to Parliament.
Such a report would track monetary and multidimensional poverty, child poverty, poverty among senior citizens, working poverty, debt and financial vulnerability, housing and energy, access to social assistance, government spending and actual results for residents.
According to Elhage, government reporting should go beyond how much money was spent or how many programs were implemented. Parliament should be able to determine whether those expenditures actually improved residents’ lives.
He is asking the minister to answer the questions in writing with concrete statistics, budget information, implementation data and measurable results so Parliament can exercise its oversight role effectively.