Dear Editor,

The Jamaica Observer article of Friday, May 3, 2019 entitled ‘ECLAC says fulfilment of UN’s 2030 Agenda in the Caribbean at critical point’ is commendable in highlighting the significance of the UN’s 2030 agenda, which includes the 17 sustainable development goals, and the small-island development states (SIDS) programme of action.

The ongoing efforts by Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) of support to the Caribbean ought to be commended. The executive secretary of ECLAC, however, highlighted some of the development gaps and challenges with the existing multilateral system which should be restructured. Achieving the sustainable development goals requires a sound platform to build the threshold for the actions required to pursue the path towards sustainable development in the Caribbean.

Just as important, in the Caribbean there is the need for governments to take on stronger ownership of the national and regional implementation plans. This is an important factor to facilitate greater support to overcome the many bottlenecks facing the Caribbean. In addition, to complement national ownership there is the need for Caribbean governments to document their development experience. Far too often in the Caribbean not only is development performance difficult to determine because of the lack of data, but this situation is further compromised by the very poor documentation of the development process. As a result, many governments revert to donor agencies for their interpretation of outcomes, which often undermines the building of national capacity and further complicates the decision-making process.

These situations often compound the development experience of many small developing states, including those in the Caribbean which are generally ‘footnoted’ in significant official international reports. Given these circumstances, Caribbean policymakers need to provide stronger leadership in support of the efforts by ECLAC in addressing the sustainable development agenda of the small island development states.

As vulnerable, at-risk developing countries, small island developing states’ concerns should be elevated from the end notes of development reports to the front pages.

Garfield Barnwell

Maryland, USA

garfieldbarnwell@gmail.com