Barbados ‘faces challenges’ with Sustainable Development Goals

Barbados has some way to go to meet its United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) despite having achieved or being on track for 45.3 per cent of targets, according to Chad Blackman, minister in the Ministry of Economy Affairs and Investment

Speaking at a national consultation on priority indicators for the SDGs at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Blackman emphasised the urgent need for renewed commitment and strategy revision with only six years remaining until the 2030 deadline.

“While we’ve achieved a significant set of those goals and targets, we’re just six years away. Therefore, we have to now redouble or perhaps triple our efforts in ensuring that we can reach this,” Blackman said. He did not specify which goals Barbados had achieved.

The minister highlighted that 92 per cent of the country’s policy documents are aligned with the SDGs, placing Barbados among the top performers in the region. However, he stressed that complacency was not an option.

He sought to link persistent challenges threatening to derail Barbados’ efforts to the rise in global hunger in particular. He noted that the number of undernourished people worldwide increased from 774 million in 2014 to 821 million in 2017, compounded by a decline in agricultural investment between 2001 and 2017.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated matters, eroding both local and international progress towards the SDGs, said Blackman, arguing that the pandemic “imposed a severe human and economic toll”.

In response to these challenges, the minister called for a multi-pronged approach to accelerate progress, urging intensified efforts and inclusive participation from government officials to ordinary citizens.

Blackman proposed a nationwide campaign to increase awareness and ownership of the 2030 goals.

“Whether they’re in a shop corner or in a small community in a rural part of Barbados or an urban corridor, there should be a campaign, in my view, where people can now own the process of road to 2030,” he said.

The minister pledged the government’s support through effective policies, data analytics, and public education initiatives.