Government of Grenada makes successful VNR Presentation in New York

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development,  Roxie McLeish-Hutchinson underscored Grenada's commitment to the SDGs and leaving no one behind, despite several challenges including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the unique challenges facing SIDs, including limited access to concessional financing.

"Notwithstanding our challenges, Grenada is poised and ready to demonstrate progress with the SDGs. Grenada's first Voluntary National Review (VNR) focuses on seven SDGs: Goal 4-Quality Education; Goal 5- Gender Equality; Goal 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth; Goal 13- Climate Action; Goal 14- Life below Water; Goal 15- Life on Land and Goal 17- Partnerships to achieve the Goals," the Permanent Secretary told  delegates attending the UN High-level Political Forum in New York.

In terms of progress on SDG 4 - the Grenada representative told the forum significant advancements were made in quality education which was a transformative tool for national development.

Regarding progress on SDG 5 - she underlined "numerous advancements were made towards achieving gender equality in Grenada. Gender themes are reflected in several policy frameworks including the Medium-Term Action Plan."

The Permanent Secretary also singled out the EU-UN supported Spotlight initiative, which aims to ends all forms of violence against women and girls, as another milestone in their efforts to achieve gender equality.

In terms of SDG 8 which promotes decent work and economic growth, McLeish-Hutchinson noted that high unemployment rates remained a challenge to SDG progress and with regard to SDG 13 she underscored that SIDs like Grenada remained vulnerable to climate change-related impacts.

Addressing progress on  SDG 14 - Life below Water ,the Grenadian official noted that the creation of additional marine protected areas  and legislative and policy frameworks ,  supports marine areas management on the island. In the case of SDG 15 she maintained that with a  35% forest to total land area ration, Grenada had made advancements in its  measures to protect forests.   

With regard to SDG 17 - the Grenada representative maintained that multi-stakeholder partnerships paved the way for SG advancement in Grenada.

 Emphasizing the challenges faced by Caribbean SIDs , which has a direct impact on Government's ability to  advance the sustainable development agenda ,  McLeish-Hutchinson said the government of Grenada was firm in its determination to achieve the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  and   "remained steadfast in its commitment to creating a path towards sustainability and promoting diversity, with sustainable development at the core of its national policy agenda."

Making a strong call for additional support for SIDS given their vulnerabilities, the Government official charged  that the inadequate access to financing, particularly concessional and grant funding, was  due in part  to Grenada's Gross National Index classification which does not take into consideration SIDs' unique vulnerabilities.

 "There is, therefore, a need for a globally accepted Multidimensional Vulnerability Index , to increase our access to available financing to expand the fiscal space,"  she concluded .