Caribbean development lags as nations work in isolation
A United Nations leader has told Caribbean countries that they aren’t developing as they hope because they continue to work individually instead of finding opportunities to partner.
Diane Quarless, Caribbean director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, said countries in the region must stop working in silos if they wish to tackle development challenges and unlock the full potential of the region.
Director Quarless was speaking in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at a meeting of Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SID), where representatives from 16 countries met to plan for a major upcoming International Conference on SIDs.
“We are not small island states, we are large ocean states. We need to be taking full advantage of the potential and the possibility that you get from utilisation of the resources of the sea. We need to sit down and plan that. When was the last time we had a meeting that speaks to the potential of the blue economy among ourselves?” Quarless stated.
“We need to stop working in silos. You don’t work at the national level when you can work regionally, or inter-regionally. We all share the same challenges,” she added.
She also pointed out several challenging areas that are common among Caribbean countries. Chief among those issues was climate change and the need to implement adaptation strategies.
“Climate action. What can I say? The need for investment in adaptation and mitigation. The need for funding adaptation, loss and damage, green climate funding to be replenished, the energy transition – all the climate adaptation issues that are being discussed in the COP are critical… We need to be going green,” she stated.
Director Quarless also touched on other major challenges in Caribbean development including the vulnerability of the tourism-based economy, youth development, education, gender equality and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The countries and territories that attended this meeting include Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, and St Maarten.
All these countries are regarded as SIDS and are challenged by several issues as they try to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
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WASTE AH TIME
Seems like all we do is complain about things….how about someone proposing a viable plan that make sence that can be adopted and modified…..we just keep stating the obvious……
Sometimes, most times, we are our own worst enemy.
Ask Erica Williams. Like a hardenen child we did not listen to him.
While Europe was uniting, we were?????? Well history knows the truths and facts.
Look them up. Some today say , “research.” I could post a better comment on this, but i refuse.
Only unification of the islands, from T&T to BVI will begin the process of being able to minimally compete on the global stage.
The globalist knows this. The insular mind does not and will not…
Thus, the lag of and under development will continue.
ever heard of Caricom? they all work together and still get nowhere, thats why they are so anxious to make the BVI a full member, no thanks!
No thanks is a thoughtless response and fixes nothing. Being satified with the status quo is the mentality of the defeatist and the defeated..
What is your sggestion? No thanks? Wait for wha he name to come in, give you a minimum wage slave job and you good until the next generation.
The slave never got got his freedom by staying on the platation.
Caricom will be fixed and put to work when the people begin to deman from ts leaders that it works. ut what has criticism ever fixed?
The (not so) Honourable De Castro gave undocumented and unwarranted Covid grants to:
– Her sisters
– Her boyfriend
– Her mother
For car repairs, payment of electrical and phone bills.
She should be fired / told to resign
These countries, other than what are mentioned or what is mentioned, they reap what they sow; you want progress? Talk to the population of these countries, why are they so lazy and why do the majority of them only do what they are capable of doing, which is lie, cheat and steal and beg for handouts from wealthy countries. They act like their descendants and that vicious cycle is not going to end until they actually grow past the many shortcomings of their ancestors. Again, they deserve to live in misery and squalor.
Message to MoR:
Does it ever hurt to hate us?
Why is your mind so ugly?
Why refer to lise and false narratives to demonstrate your hatred for a race?
Oh,it makes you feel high and good.
Poor thing
Go to Martinique and see first world standards in the Caribbean. Top healthcare, top schooling, top infrastructure including 8 lane highways and state of the art ports and airports. High wages and excellent shopping. Reasonably priced utilities and there is even a modern tram service.