RC Trebucq’s Remarks at the 2024 UN Caribbean Annual Coordination Meeting

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  

•    Senator Dr. the Hon. Shantal Munro-Knight – Minister within the PMO with responsibility for the SDGs
•    Government representatives
•    Dr. Armstrong Alexis - Deputy Secretary General – CARICOM
•    Representative of the OECS
•    Roberto Valent, Regional Director DCO
•    Fellow RCs and Heads of UN Agencies from the region
•    Representatives of government
•    Colleagues and participants,

Welcome to Beautiful Barbados!

I’m pleased to welcome you, on behalf of the UNDS and RC colleagues for the Caribbean-wide region to the 2024 MSDCF Annual Coordination Meeting. Pleased to see that so many of you could make it in person and more are with us online.

MSDCF is the most important instrument for planning and monitoring the UN development activities in 22 countries and territories of the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The Cooperation Framework guides all 6 UN country teams and UNST to mobilize the collective and coherent support of UN agencies for achieving the 2030 Agenda.

Most importantly, the MSDCF is first and foremost a partnership with the governments of the region. We are therefore grateful for your participation today. As we will jointly review the second year of implementation of the MSDCF and hear from you, our government partners, how the UN has served or can better your countries and your people to achieve the SDGs.

Ahead of the 4th SIDS conference, today is special: a crucial moment to take stock of progress achieved in year 2 of the MSDCF; discuss strategies for SDG acceleration, seize the opportunity of what the UN has to offer such as for FFD (in light of Regional and global debates; Bridgetown initiative).

The past years have been challenging for this region, grappling with multiple and compound crises. COVID-19 triggered a severe and unprecedented economic crisis, halting tourism, trade, and services, and bringing to light deep-rooted inequalities and disparities in our societies. There have been several natural disasters. The war in Ukraine resulted in rapidly increasing prices and a triple crisis of food, finance, and fuel.

Notwithstanding, our partnership with government remained strong and we were able to support our countries to achieve a number of transformational results. Allow me to highlight 4 areas:

•    Advanced the food security agenda: We supported countries to interpret the impact of price shocks on household food security through the Food Security and Livelihoods Survey. UN helps the region transform food systems in line with the regional vision to reduce the food import bill by 25% by 2025 by developing policies on the right to food, putting in place frameworks for agriculture transformation and building value chains across the region.

•    Sustainable livelihoods are key to withstand economic shocks. The UN invested in MSMEs across the region to enhance resilience to external shocks, building resilient business ecosystems in the tourism sector, promoted policies on decent employment, and scaled up our work on enabling access to finance through Integrated Financing Frameworks, debt management strategies, and scaling up investments in green energy.

•    Recognized the potential of digital transformation for Caribbean economies and public services: 2023 saw joint efforts delivering 31 digital readiness assessments, digitalization of health through the SMART Health Centres, stronger digital infrastructure in education facilities and the Artificial Intelligence Policy Roadmap for the Caribbean.

•    Disaster risk reduction is vital for the region: UN spearheaded integrated policy support for DRR, increase access to climate financing through linking risk financing instruments with social protection, scaling up multi-hazard early warning through the EW4ALL Initiative, and gender-responsive adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Distinguished participants,

We have done a lot together. But the future outlook requires us to raise the ambition even further. The 2030 mark is only six years away and the region is not on track to achieve the global goals. The disconnect between our aspirations and the current reality calls for new ideas and bold solutions. Transformation, rooted in strong partnerships and regional cooperation, is a matter of utmost urgency.

This afternoon, we will hence review strategies to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in the region. We want to hear and work with to build transformational programs at scale. And ensure they are rooted in strong evidence and improved data systems.

Last time we met virtually in 2023, there was a strong call from many member states to intensify our work on financing for development as a key enabler for sustainable development in the region. We took your message to heart and have worked together to solidify the UN offer on financing for development. Today we will present our preliminary proposal to how the UN Development System can be a relevant partner to help countries access financing for development at scale.

I would like to end with a quote from our Secretary-General: “The SDGs aren’t just a list of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights, and expectations of people everywhere.” I look forward to a thoughtful day, keeping these hopes and dreams in our minds.

Thank you!