Resident Coordinator's Remarks at Closing Ceremony E-training programme on Social Protection Policy and Quantitative Techniques

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Chairperson/Moderator: Ms Costanza de Toma, Programme Officer, International Training Centre of the ILO
• Hon Cynthia Forde, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Barbados
• PS gabrielle springler
• Mr Dennis Zulu, Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean
• Colleagues from ITC and other UN entities such as UNICEF.
• Prof Chris de Neubourg, Professor of Economics, Maastricht University in The Netherlands (representative of tutors)
• Ms Deidre Perch, Senior Welfare Officer, Welfare Department, Barbados (representative of participants) TBC
• Represnetatives of Participants and tutors

Good Morning,

• I wish to welcome you to this Closing Ceremony for the E-training Programme which is part of the UN’s SDG fund Joint Programme for Universal Adaptive Social Protection in the Eastern Caribbean. 
• Caribbean social protection systems are evolving and now being recognised as central to the region’s overall development. it’s even being considered a pre-requisite to be able to achieve the SDGs; By becoming more shock responsive and protect the most vulnerable.
•  While the Joint Programme was initially intended to help countries like Barbados prepare for future shocks, and accelerate progress towards the achievement of the SDGs, multiple crises facing the region have had an adverse ripple effect.   
• The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in major social and economic dislocation, particularly among those most vulnerable.
• In fact speaking at an event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the World Summit for Social Development, the UN Secretary General said while COVID-19 had wiped out important development gains in months, it could open the door to necessary transformational changes needed.
• In Barbados, for example, great strides were made in designing a system that is more comprehensive and responsive to the differing needs of vulnerable persons and groups, and this must be commended. However, there were some gaps in both design and coverage.
• To address these types of gaps, this Joint UN SDG fund Programme was designed to create an enabling environment for poor and vulnerable people to have predictable access to universal and adaptive social protection. It also seeks to support countries’ ability and capacity to reduce structural inequality, and build resilience to leave no one behind.  
• The Core Diagnostic Instrument – CODI for short – was identified as the ideal mechanism to respond to Barbados’ needs as it provides the necessary tools to identify bottlenecks and gaps in the system, while providing recommendations to further policy reform.    
• The eight months training that you all would have just completed is an integral part of the CODI process. I have no doubt that over this time, you would have honed your skills and strengthened your capacities, to better assess the existing social protection landscape, and provide recommendations to make it more comprehensive, responsive, and adaptable.
• As people on the front-line of providing social assistance you have key insight and knowledge about what works and what doesn’t.   I encourage you to seize this opportunity to provide your invaluable experience while directly servicing beneficiaries. I am sure Minister Forde will strive as usual to innovate and support the most vulnerable with this approach.
• Minister, the collaboration between the participating UN agencies, such as ILO, ITC or UNICEF, and the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs has been critical in progressing towards achieving the goals of this Joint Programme.
• I want to commend you and your team for the fine work in pushing Barbados’ social agenda forward.  I also wish to express appreciation to the ILO office in the Caribbean and ITC for this well designed and pertinent training programme which supports Government’s overall efforts to care for the most vulnerable persons in the society.
• I wish to give my assurances, that the UN System will continue to stand with you and support you in your socioeconomic recovery efforts from the pandemic.
• Congratulations once again, and I look forward to hearing from the participants on the impact that this training will have on their work. 

Thank you.