Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles-Robinson is set to chair the 30th meeting of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), at which ministers and other high-level representatives from over 20 Caribbean member countries, along with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Jose Manuel Salazar Xirinachs, will gather to discuss the sustainable development of the subregion.
Representatives of observer countries, regional and international organizations as well as agencies of the wider United Nations system will also participate. The meetings will take place from 9-11 September in Port-of-Spain and will feature the Caribbean Development Roundtable – a meeting of development experts, policy makers and people.
This year, the CDR (9-10 September) will feature discussions on the five important areas of: climate change and resilience building; operationalizing the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI); improving access to climate finance; improving productive development policy and revisiting economic diversification for development. These topics of discussion are integral to the pursuit of sustainable development and critical in addressing the multiple challenges and crises that small island developing States face. Notably, Executive Secretary Salazar Xirinachs will present the Commission’s rethinking of strategies to transform the subregion’s development model to make it more productive, inclusive and sustainable.
Deliberations at the meetings follow the adoption of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), a 10-year multilateral commitment to support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in achieving sustainable development and resilient prosperity. CDCC Members and Associate Member Countries will consider practical solutions for resilient growth and economic transformation, in the context of the multidimensional vulnerabilities of the subregion.
Director of ECLAC Caribbean Diane Quarless says the upcoming meetings come at a time when the axis for development in the Caribbean needs to be adjusted. “The CDR and CDCC are being held shortly after the robust discussions held and renewed commitments made at the Fourth International Conference on SIDS (SIDS4) in Antigua and Barbuda in May. Our policy makers are tasked with the formidable challenge of repositioning Caribbean development strategy, to take advantage of renewed opportunities to pursue a path towards resilient growth and prosperity, in partnership with the wider international community. Yes, there was general acknowledgement at SIDS4 that our states need special attention. We now have the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index acknowledged, and there have been promises made. But will these be promises kept? How will we get these commitments converted to greater access to climate finance, to more climate action? To sustainable borrowing, to fair debt repayment terms? How do we do all this together? These are vexing questions that the meetings will tackle.”
Minister Beckles-Robinson says, “As Chair of this Session, I am honored to collaborate with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean at this critical time in Caribbean development.” Trinidad and Tobago will assume the chair of the CDCC for the period 2024-2026, which means that the Trinbagonian minister will preside over the meeting, make key interventions in discussions and host the attending countries. T&T has hosted the CDCC on previous occasions, and will this year host the 30th Session of the Committee (11 September) as well as the 8th Caribbean Development Roundtable.
Minister Beckles-Robinson says, “The global agenda for small island developing states (SIDS) has been set and we are at the cusp of possibly making a turn for the better, regarding the global climate crisis. Trinidad and Tobago is proud to be facilitating our regional counterparts and leaders in this critical Session, which I am confident will be brimming with rich and influential discussions to guide the Region’s continuous path towards sustainable development. As we welcome all delegations, we look forward to constructive engagements and productive discussions amongst all participating nations, in furtherance of the benefits of sustainable regional development for all the peoples of the Caribbean.”
Established in 1975, the CDCC is the intergovernmental subsidiary organ of ECLAC that meets at ministerial level in the Caribbean. It promotes and strengthens economic and social cooperation and integration among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Development Roundtable (CDR) is the premier forum for development discussion in the Caribbean. It is where policymakers meet thinkers and people. It is the engine room for development thinking and cooperative action in the Caribbean.