The countries of the Caribbean are facing important challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a context of poor economic growth, high unemployment, and growing exposure to climate change impacts. These challenges are now further exacerbated by the unprecedented socioeconomic effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the subregion’s public debt burden and the associated focus on fiscal consolidation have limited governments’ capacity to sustain investments in social development, raising concerns on how the Caribbean will advance in the promise to leave no one behind in what has been coined the ‘decade of action’ to deliver the Global Goals.
Following the massive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is now a greater agreement on the critical role of institutions and on the value of public policies to ensure adequate supply of public goods, boost growth, encourage the development of technological capacities, intervene in territorial development and promote egalitarian policies to expand rights. For the Caribbean, institutional strengthening is seen as key to addressing resilience building and it will be decisive to build institutional capacities and reinforce integrated response to act in disaster and emergency situations.
Progress has been recorded in the region in the formalization of institutional arrangements for SDG implementation, mainstreaming of the SDGs, and in building national ownership of the global agenda. In the Caribbean, this has been largely facilitated by several projects through which beneficiary countries received technical assistance in the establishment of an institutional framework for SDG implementation, the integration of the SDGs in their national development planning processes and strengthening of institutional capacities for national development planning which integrates the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SIDS agenda in the subregion.
Therefore, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caribbean countries have a unique opportunity to address institutional deficiencies that cause or accentuate structural imbalances by implementing recovery strategies that are just, human-centered, and inclusive, and which promote green growth. Efforts to promote sustainable development should also address equality, entailed in new strategic alliances that tackle poverty and address longstanding discriminatory practices in access to resources (such as land, natural, and financial resources), housing, infrastructure, and services (such as education, health, and basic urban services). These subregional priorities are and will remain critical in the recovery context, and in addressing the growing needs of its populations. Integrating these priorities and managing any resulting trade-offs thus requires a sound national institutional infrastructure for policymaking. Such priorities are aligned with the Regional Agenda for Inclusive Social Development (RAISD), in particular with the axis on Institutional Strengthening.
Within the current context and as Caribbean countries advance with SDG and RAISD implementation, it becomes clear that sustainable development outcomes cannot be achieved if development action remains within traditional social, economic, and environmental silos. Instead, a more holistic or “integrated” approach is necessary. It is, therefore, necessary to break down the barriers to collective integrated action and to promote the connections between social progress, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. Collaboration, partnerships, and exchange of experiences will be crucial to advance the integration of SDG implementation at local, national, and global levels. This series of discussions will introduce some of the existing platforms available for decision-makers to draw on when designing their own policies, programmes, and measures in line with their countries’ priorities and conditions and will aim to exchange knowledge and experience about policy coherence, particularly in the context of disaster and emergency response.
Key objectives
Initiate a discussion around issues of coherent policy decision-making in the Caribbean, including key elements of collaborative partnerships and institutional analysis for improved coordination and integrated decision-making.
Questions to motivate the debate
- What is institutional integration for the implementation of SDGs and the RAISD?
- Is there a lead institution that guides the implementation of SDGs or the decision-making on the subject is spread among a number of institutions?
- How is policy coherence for sustainable development assessed?
- Is there an entry point that could be used for information, capacity, and resource-sharing to mainstream resilience building into national and sectoral planning processes and to enable the implementation of priority actions?
Introductory webinar > 26 May
Country sessions
- Antigua and Barbuda > 26 July
- British Virgin islands > 3 September
- Dominica > 24 June
- Grenada > [at country's request, questions were answered by email]
- Jamaica > 19 July
- Saint Lucia > 17 September
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines > 22 June
- Trinidad and Tobago > 23 June
Commentaries
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