SIDS need support of international community

Any decision on the creation of a new regional programmatic framework for sustainable development must have at its core the means of implementation.

This was made clear today by Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Senator Jepter Ince, as he addressed the opening ceremony of a national consultation on the United Nations Caribbean Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework 2017 – 2021.
 

Senator Ince told his audience that the means of implementation must be the foundation on which the new multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework was based.

He said: “Means of implementation must encompass far more than financing. It must embrace the concept of durable partnerships which facilitate the strengthening of institutional capacity in data and information systems for decision-making, the sharing of tools and methodologies and good practices in monitoring and evaluation…”

He submitted that there must also be a mechanism to support Caribbean governments in designing and putting in place a monitoring and evaluation system to facilitate the implementation of the post-2015 Agenda at the national, regional and international levels.

While maintaining that the Barbados Government was fully cognisant of the responsibility which developing countries bore towards achieving their development goals, he argued that the reality was that in seeking to meet these goals, they did so on an uneven playing field.

“The global financial and economic system and the governance process that accompanies it, continues to operate in an exclusive manner,” he declared. Senator Ince said Barbados therefore reiterated its call for “a more transparent architecture” that was supportive of development objectives.

The Parliamentary Secretary said that in its design, delivery and implementation, the multi-country sustainable development approach must, as a priority, address the unique and particular vulnerabilities and challenges of Caribbean Small Island Developing States like Barbados.
 

“Our new and emerging challenges require us to develop ecosystems that support, inter alia, economic, social and environment development objectives, while facilitating resilience building as a means to withstand, adapt to or recover from exposure to exogenous shocks.”

He said that work on developing Vulnerability Resilience Country Profiles was important, given that too often middle income countries’ status was based on GDP per capita alone as the sole defining criterion which restricted them from accessing concessionary financing.

He added that Barbados was proud to host the Vulnerability Resistance Country Profile Sub-Regional Workshop later this month, as this important work would provide an alternate indices case in determining graduation from concessional resources.

joycspring@gmail.com