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Life in Dominican bateyes at United Nations’ 65th Annual Conference

21 August, 2014

NEW YORK. – As part of its International Education Program, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) will present a workshop entitled, “Building a better life in the ‘Bateyes” of rural Dominican Republic,” at the United Nations/Department of Public Information (UN/DPI) 65th Annual Conference.

The program will feature remarks by Ulrick Gaillard, BRA’s founder/CEO and the premiere of a new documentary on BRA’s humanitarian work entitled, “The Batey: a forgotten reality”. The session will also address the ills that persist within Dominican Republic’s sugarcane plantations rural communities known as “bateyes,” including high rates of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, malnutrition, maternal and infant mortality, unemployment; extreme poverty; the lack of public services; and the non-legal status of the populations – and the collaborative efforts with the Dominican State to reverse the status quo.

Sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Public-Private Alliance and BRA Dominicana, the workshop will be held on Thursday, August 28 from 4:45-6:00PM at the UN’s Language Room 6, North Lawn Building, 2nd Floor in New York City. The event will be moderated by David Stillman, founder/CEO of Public-Private Alliance and directed by BRA’s UN Youth Representatives, Sonia Etelis and Bharat Ghai.