Barbados Government Advancing on the SDGs

Bridgetown, 5 June 2023: As the 2030 deadline approaches, the Government of Barbados is forging ahead to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to ensure prosperity for both people and planet.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley gave assurance of this yesterday during an SDG National Stakeholder Consultation, ahead of Barbados’ presentation of its first Voluntary National Review of SDG progress to the United Nations’ High Level Political Forum in July.

The meeting brought together a wide cross section of stakeholders, including Government, civil society, private sector, academia, and trade unions, to glean additional insights into ongoing work to advance the global goals, as well as to hear diverse perspectives to better frame the island’s historical context and current vulnerabilities.

In addressing the forum, that also included high-level UN participation, Prime Minister Mottley noted that long before the Millennium Development Goals, the precursor to the SDGs, “there was a commitment to see people and to hear people.” 

 She underscored that the gathering was “more of a “family conversation” that allowed the country to “check where we are and where we need to go.”

 “When people speak about peace, people, prosperity, they're speaking to the journey that we've chosen in spite of our limited size and limited resources,”

the Prime Minister added, while calling for more effective data collection, monitoring, and measurement, as well as more innovative and structured approaches to national development.

Attendees benefitted from the presentation of two critical consultant reports - the National SDG Mapping Report and Rapid Integrated Assessment (RIA) Report – that substantively provided insights into planned and ongoing programmes and flagship initiatives that were helping the country move closer to achieving the SDGs. 

According to the Mapping Report, Barbados made substantial progress with 43 of 95 SDG targets having been already met or in train to be met by 2030, with 52 or 54.7% of the 95 targets showing fair progress, with need to accelerate implementation in some target areas. All together the Report highlighted 89 national initiatives, with cross-cutting elements, that were supporting SDG Progress.

The RIA, which was based on an analysis of 27 national policy documents, including sectoral plans, national strategies, and legislation, revealed 92 % were either fully or partially aligned to the SDGS, with 48% aligned with gender and disability inclusion targets.

While commending the Government of Barbados for its notable progress, UN Resident Coordinator, Didier Trebucq, lamented the fact that halfway through the  timeline of the 2030 Agenda “we are leaving more than half of world behind.”

“Let me emphasize, however, that it is not too late to turn the tide. And we are determined to do just that through our support to Barbados and other SIDS in the Eastern Caribbean,”

He concluded while giving assurance of the UN’s commitment to helping to closing the  remaining gaps of SDG implementation in Barbados, as it relates to vulnerable groups such as youth, women, the elderly, sexual minorities and persons living with disabilities.



In his contribution to the meeting , Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, David Commissiong, lauded the 17 global goals and emphasized the need to publicize them at the community level.

He also underscored that achieving the SDGs will call for a whole of society approach.

“It must be an all hands on deck…everybody needs to come to the table to solve our problems,” he opined.