SDG outreach

Government will be seeking to get more buy-in from Barbadians on this country’s efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Shantal Munro-Knight made the disclosure on Monday evening as she said that Barbados would soon be signing a Country Implementation Plan with the UN.

“We have committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and we are working closely with the UN team here to implement them, but it has occurred to us that most of the discussions on them are at the policy level and not among those whom it will affect directly.

“So, to this end, we will soon be launching a public education and community outreach programme to ensure the SDGs become grounded in the everyday reality of our people,” Munro-Knight said at a lighting ceremony at UN House, Marine Gardens to mark the UN’s 77th anniversary.

Munro-Knight added that Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s recent appointment as the UN’s SDGs Co-Chair meant Barbados was now in a stronger position to advocate for the needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

“Barbados will not let size become a barrier to advocating for change and for a new multilateral system that will provide greater assistance to smaller nations. And as we consider the SDGs, we must make a united effort to face all the challenges that confront us in order for these goals to be accomplished,” she said.

UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Didier Trebucq reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to helping the Caribbean and other SIDS achieve the SDGs.

Minister Dr Shantal Munro-Knight cuts the birthday cake with UN Resident Coordinator Didier Trebucq.

“The United Nations team for Barbados and the Caribbean will continue to advocate at the highest level for the region to access the resources needed to effectively minimise vulnerabilities, reduce debt, and accelerate progress towards the SDGs,” he said.

“To this end, we have initiated a new cycle of cooperation for the Caribbean. We have spearheaded a partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank to increase access to financing for Small Island Developing States and to boost climate action. Beyond that, we have also come up with Country Implementation Plans, which will ensure tailored strategic support for each country so that we can respond as One UN to their needs and key priorities.”

Trebucq noted that over the past year, the UN opened two new regional offices in Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

He also commended the work of the UN’s regional Youth Advisory Groups.

“These groups have ensured that the concerns of the region’s youth are part of the package in any policy or programme we implement,” he said.

The Resident Coordinator thanked Caribbean governments for their belief in, and commitment to, multilateralism and the values of peace and human rights.

Going forward, he said, “harnessing the wealth of natural resources, knowledge and human resource potential across the region must now be our single focus, and the impact of these efforts must resonate among people from all walks of life, especially those who are most in need”.

Trebucq added that “now is not the time for business as usual, because countries all over the world are now facing three types of crises – food, energy and finance – while at the same time still battling the effects of climate change and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic”.