New York, September 30 (teleSUR-RHC)-- President of the Dominican Republic Danilo Medina addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, saying economic inequality is the root problem that needs to be tackled.

On the second day of the 70th U.N. General Assembly, Medina made inequality the central challenge in his speech, saying Latin America faces the greatest inequality in the world alongside Sub Saharan Africa.

“Ten percent of the richest Latin Americans have 32 percent of all the income, Medina said.  To battle this, he emphasized, we need an active and efficient state to redistribute wealth and create opportunities, based on a report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Dominican head of state said inequality breeds violence, transnational crime and drug trafficking, which have become employment opportunities for those excluded by the current economic model.

“Look at our young people, they have had more years of school yet have less employment opportunities, he added. 

Reallocating resources, investing in small and medium businesses, changing the structure of production, Medina suggests, would bring in an end to old ways and help transition to a model that benefits everybody.

Where there is political will no challenge is big enough, Medina affirmed. The moment is now, equal opportunity, equal access, equity solidarity, fair allocation of resources. 
 
And the president of the Dominican Republic concluded his speech by saying that the “international community has made real historic progress.  What has been achieved shows we can move ahead when we focus our efforts.”