UN Reviews Support to Saint Lucia under 2024-2025 Country Implementation Plan

CASTRIES: Government officials, UN representatives and project beneficiaries in Saint Lucia today participated in a hybrid meeting to review United Nations support to the country in 2024, relative to progress made under the 2024–2025 Country Implementation Plan (CIP), and within the context of the regional UN Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (MSDCF).

Addressing the UN accountability session  at Saint Lucia's Finance Administrative Centre in Castries, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Economic Development, Paul Hilaire, thanked the United Nations for its support in advancing the country's sustainable development agenda, and for adhering to the principles of transparency and accountability. 

“This multi-sectoral approach has served to advance the sustainable development of Saint Lucia, socially, economically and ecologically, whilst benefitting the most vulnerable and marginalized in our society,  including children, persons with disabilities, women and girls and the less fortunate."

Mr. Hilaire, who is also Saint Lucia’s MSDCF Focal Point, told the gathering that as of March 2024, the UN had undertaken some 50 interventions in-country, covering myriad sectors, including: agriculture health, education, citizen security, social protection, climate resilience, biodiversity, natural resource management, gender equality and many other areas. He, however, called for an even greater focus on on boys.

"We are losing our young boys and there needs to be more interventions to ensure that they take their proper place…and not at  the jail where many of them are heading today."

While pledging his department's commitment to ensuring that Saint Lucia’s cooperation with the UN is “mutually rewarding and synergistic,” Mr. Hilaire urged beneficiaries to be “open, candid, and solutions-oriented, in an effort to strengthen the cordial relations between the UN and Saint Lucia.”

In addressing the forum , Head of the UN Resident Coordinator Office, Kenroy Roach, thanked the Saint Lucia Government for its strong partnership with UN Development System over the years. He noted that the review process was very timely as the UN prepared to embark on the new Cooperation Framework. Mr. Roach also commended the Government, for its continued strong leadership on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and for being the first country in the OECS which will submit a second Voluntary National Review (VNR) before the UN’s High Level Political Forum in July this year, thus giving  frequent accounts of national SDG progress.

“There is a symbiotic relationship between the VNR and  the CIP review that we are undertaking today, in that they both support the Government in achieving the SDGs. The reviews today, should serve as valuable inputs for Saint Lucia’s VNR report."

The UN Head also lauded the Saint Lucia Government for submitting its revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) earlier this month, and for its bold steps and ambitions towards climate resilience, in terms of preparing its Multi-Vulnerability Climate Response Profile and pledging to reduce greenhouse gases by 2034.  

“This has reinforced your position as a leader in climate development, you are providing a good model for the region,” he concluded.

UN Country Coordination Officer, Dr. Lorraine Nicholas, who is based in Saint Lucia, welcomed the initiative as another strategic opportunity  to co-create strategies on how the UN could enhance its cooperation with Saint Lucia.

“While as a region we share common development challenges, these vary from country to country. For instance, while citizen security may be a general challenge to the region , it may be of greater concern for some countries than others. For this reason, the CIP seeks to localize this regional MSDCF framework to ensure that it is aptly tailored to the individual country context.”   

Noting the current scope of UN support in country, the Saint Lucia-based  official maintained: "every nook and cranny in Saint Lucia is impacted by the work of the UN."

The  highly-interactive session, saw input from beneficiaries, government stakeholders, as well as representatives of UN Agencies , Funds and Programmes, who discussed current  initiatives, existing needs,  as well as pending and future programmatic  strategies aimed at enhancing SDG progress, and building resilience across Saint Lucia, in keeping with the principle of leaving no one behind.