Barbados and the OECS

Map of the Caribbean

MDGs play a key role in targeting poverty reduction and development in the Eastern Caribbean. MDGs were created as a global approach towards achieving a better world, and not all of the goals are directly relevant to the needs of the countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Indeed, selected goals have already been achieved or will be achievedby 2015 in some of the countries, while others have never been a burning issue in the region. Particular attention has been paid to the first Millennium Goal, the most urgent one: halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. With regard to the global ideas, relevant MDGs must now be identified in each region concerned.

It is UNDP's role to analyze regions in order to assist in the identification of national goals, hence 'making the MDGs local'. This may entail tailoring a stipulated goal to the specific region, or creating additional Goals - not perceived a global problem in development, but specific to the region. In 2005, UNDP in collaboration with the Social Development Unit of the OECS will begin pilot activites at the national level to "localize" or "nationalize" the MDGs, seeking to integrate these into the efforts to finalize Poverty Reduction Strategies. At the same time, the OECS SPU will also undertake an effort to "regionalize" the MDGs. It is anticipated that these efforts will result in improved MDG reporting and will contribute to an MDGR/HDR for the region in 2006.

These efforts are critical since it is recognized that the same problem may have different root causes or present itself differently across regions - and it is thus crucial the methodology used in combating the problem is made specific to the region.

In the Eastern Caribbean projects mentioned [link to the web-pages] such as CoRICS have proven a useful tool in addressing issues related to poverty and creating sustainable livelihoods.

Joint efforts have been made with such institutions as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to address the problems associated with poverty and assisting countries to meet their targets. Furthermore, conferences targeting the region specific problems are held on a regular basis addressing crucial issues concerning the progress, monitoring and achieving of the MDGs.  One recent example is the Trinidad Conference [link to the conference and presentations made there].

Moreover efforts to reduce poverty and identify country specific problems and how to alleviate these are the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). These are based on a World Bank initiative, which aimed at reducing poverty through analyzing the economic situation of a specific country, identifying its problem areas and reasons for poverty. The analysis and a specific strategy is then to be written up and followed. This allows for a specific strategy, targeting the true country problems at its core, and allows close monitoring and progress reports.