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, 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 Sustainable Development Goals. 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.

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. Therefore, capacity strengthening at institutional and individual levels is crucial for resilience building in the Caribbean. Of particularly importance is the consistency with which Caribbean countries acknowledge in their Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports presented to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development their need for capacity strengthening. Therefore, within the DA16 project, ECLAC, in collaboration with the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, delivered a capacity strengthening training in cost-benefit analysis in Saint Lucia from 30 June to 4 July 2025 to enhance evidence-based, cost-effective decision making in the public sector. In furtherance of the DA16 capacity strengthening activities, ECLAC is now organising a national training course in project proposal preparation and effective project implementation for policymakers and technical officers of the Government of Saint Lucia, in fulfilment of OP1.4 of the DA16 project. This training will be conducted in Castries, Saint Lucia during 16–26 September 2025.