Background 

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean is currently implementing a Development Account (DA) project titled “Strengthened capacity to design and implement policies to enhance resilience in Caribbean SIDS.” Under the 16th tranche of the Development Account, the objective of this DA16 project is to strengthen national capacities of Caribbean countries to design and implement policies and strategies for accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and building resilient economies. Six Caribbean countries, namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Suriname will benefit from the project, which is expected to enhance the technical skills of decision-makers of the target countries in the development of policies and projects to promote sustainable development and build resilience to shocks, while strengthening national institutional capacity to facilitate greater synergy in the implementation of the SDGs and the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States (ABAS). 

The midterm review of progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a sobering account of the slow pace of achievement of the SDGs. The COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts have negatively affected progress on SDG targets related to poverty, hunger, and climate action, while earlier gains recorded in promoting health and wellbeing, advancing quality education, and reducing inequalities are seriously threatened, if not reversed. More recently, the higher tariff regime being pursued by the new United States administration is disrupting global financial markets and has introduced new uncertainties for global trade that could constitute barriers to trade in goods and services for Caribbean SIDS. These events have severe implications for foreign exchange reserves of nations. Furthermore, global crises and their impacts exacerbate the subregion’s existing vulnerabilities, which include susceptibility to the impacts of climate change, exposure to natural hazards and disasters, increasingly unsustainable public debt, and limited technical and institutional capacity to effectively manage development challenges.

Considering the global environment in which Caribbean SIDS operate, and noting that the timeline for the 2030 Agenda is now just five years away, there is an urgency to accelerate action in implementing the SDGs. This will require strengthening national and subnational capacity, accountability, and public institutions to deliver accelerated progress towards achieving the SDGs. In its call to action for the transformation required to fully achieve the global Goals and their targets in the remaining years of the 2030 Agenda, the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 underscores the need for capacity building at individual, institutional and network levels. Capacity development is also prominently emphasized across thematic areas in ABAS, the Outcome Document of the Fourth International Conference on SIDS (SIDS4). 

Due to the human capital limitations that Caribbean countries face, there have been notable implementation gaps relating to sustainable development initiatives in sectors critical to resilience building. In contrast to its high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and disasters, and prohibitive costs of reconstruction after a climate-induced extreme weather event or disaster, the Caribbean has received less than proportionate levels of climate finance from funding entities such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Adaptation Fund. The subregion is also underperforming in attracting private climate finance for resilience building. The International Monetary Fund identified an essential role for policy in attracting private sector capital toward climate investment opportunities and alluded to capacity limitation, including lack of expertise in project preparation and governments’ limited administrative capacity for project evaluation and appraisal, as major obstacles for Caribbean SIDS in attracting the much-needed capital for green investment. Therefore, capacity strengthening at institutional and individual levels is crucial for resilience building in the Caribbean.

To this end, and in fulfilment of OP1.4 of the DA16 project, ECLAC, in collaboration with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, is organizing a national training course on project proposal preparation and effective project implementation in Antigua and Barbuda during 16–20 June 2025. The training course aims to strengthen national capacity to design and implement projects and reduce implementation gaps in the execution of development projects in the country.

Schedule

16 June 2025: Workshop on project proposal preparation and effective project implementation

Morning session

Launch of DA16 project in Antigua and Barbuda

Afternoon session

• Introductions
• Ice-breakers: Mentimeter on background preparation of course participants
• Course project: Practical exercise in project proposal writing

17 June 2025: Course in project proposal preparation and effective project implementation

Morning session

• Understanding development grant makers and their funding cycles 
• Identifying funding opportunities that match your needs
• Forming a winning team

Afternoon session

• The grant application process
• Responding to RFPs
• Defining and assigning tasks
• Compelling justification for grant

18 June 2025: Course in project proposal preparation and effective project implementation

Morning session

• The Theory of Change/Logical Framework

Afternoon session

• Group Exercise on the Theory of Change
   

19 June 2025: Course in project proposal preparation and effective project implementation

Morning session

• The grant application process
  • Defining project activities, output, and outcomes
  • Preparing the budget
  • Submission of grant
  • Responding to requests for resubmission/reformulation/changes to proposal
  • Handling rejection

Afternoon session

• Implementing a funded project
  • Hiring the right complement of skills
  • Implementing a dynamic workplan
     
•  Managing project budget
   

20 June 2025: Course in project proposal preparation and effective project implementation

Morning session

• Monitoring and Evaluation of funded projects
  • Purpose and tools of M&E
  • Performing M&E
  • Preparation of project reports

Afternoon session

• Group exercise on M&E
• Course evaluation