Selected online learning experiences in the Caribbean during COVID-19. Policy Brief

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread closure of schools and disruption of education systems worldwide, requiring unprecedented adaptation to ensure learning continuity for students. In place of classroom learning, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been adopted to support online distance learning – with mixed results. While Caribbean governments have piloted a range of online learning modalities, many children in the subregion, especially those from poor and rural households, were not able to leverage those facilities. As a result of a lack of access to the Internet …

The Caribbean and the post-2015 development agenda

This paper will contend that the post-2015 development agenda presents a major opportunity for Caribbean countries to reverse decades of lagging economic performance and make the transition to balanced, holistic, and people-centred growth and development. The MDGs, while valuable in promoting gains in poverty reduction, health, education, nutrition, and maternal well-being were not tailored to the growth and development needs of the region. This can now be changed by a post-2015 development agenda which goes beyond improving the welfare of citizens by meeting basic needs and enhancing access t…

Redoblar el compromiso y aumentar las capacidades: claves para alcanzar el cumplimiento de los ODS en complejo contexto internacional

“Ningún actor social, por sí mismo, puede lograr el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). Sin cooperación y sin alianzas no hay Agenda 2030”. Con esa sentencia del Secretario Ejecutivo de la CEPAL, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, se inauguraron oficialmente este martes 1 de abril los trabajos de la octava reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, principal encuentro intergubernamental sobre la Agenda 2030 en la región, que se realiza cada año bajo los auspicios de la CEPAL. Altas autoridades de gobiernos d…

Monitoring trade agreements: improving export performance and promoting industrialization in the goods-producing economies of the Caribbean

This study focuses on the identification of the challenges and capacity constraints faced by enterprises in the sub-region in exploiting trade opportunities provided by Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Partial Scope Agreements (PSAs). It concentrates on the goods sector and case studies for Belize, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, and seeks to develop a strategic framework aimed at addressing these challenges and constraints, thereby creating a platform for economic diversification and export expansion. It explores the recent trade performance of the countries in question under selected trad…

Policy Brief: Evidence based policy-making in the Caribbean

There is much advocacy in the Caribbean regarding the need for evidence-based policy making, that is – policy making that is based on timely and reliable data regarding a particular economic and/or social problem, to promote good governance and facilitate enhanced policy and programme outcomes. However, the reality remains an elusive one for many Caribbean policy makers, who implement policies based on ideas, as well as ad hoc or outdated data. Outside of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America are countries where polic…

Conceptualizing a circular economy in the Caribbean: perspectives and possibilities. Policy Brief

Although the notion of a circular economy (CE) has been conceived and debated for more than half a century (Henrysson and Nuur, 2021), it has gained considerable popularity in the lexicon of economists, ecologists and other development thinkers over the past two decades. The increasing evidence of the existential threat of human-induced climate change and the related imperatives of decarbonizing the global economy, have led to greater focus on strategies for a more sustainable use of the natural and environmental resource base.…

Report of the twenty-ninth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

A cinco años de que se cumpla el plazo de la Agenda 2030, altas autoridades y expertos examinarán los desafíos de América Latina y el Caribe en la octava reunión del Foro de los Países sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

Altas autoridades de gobiernos de América Latina, el Caribe y otras regiones del mundo, así como funcionarios y expertos del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas, organismos internacionales y regionales, sector privado, academia y sociedad civil, se darán cita en la sede de la CEPAL en Santiago de Chile del 31 de marzo al 4 de abril en la octava reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible para examinar los progresos y desafíos en el logro de la Agenda 2030 en la región, a cinco años de que se cumpla su plazo. Ya está confirmada la asiste…

Policy Brief: Planning for resilience: an integrated approach to tackle climate change in the Caribbean

The Caribbean subregion is exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Vulnerability is a key multidimensional concept at the heart of resilience building, relating to each country’s multiple spatial and socioeconomic risks and conditions. In fact, due to its geographical location and concentration of population and activities in low-lying coastal areas, the Caribbean is the second most hazard-prone region in the world...Moreover, impacts of extreme weather events on Caribbean small economies are of national proportions. For example, in the hurricane s…

Secretario Ejecutivo de la CEPAL compartió con el cuerpo diplomático los principales temas y acciones que abordará el próximo Foro sobre Desarrollo Sostenible 2025

El Secretario Ejecutivo de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, sostuvo este lunes 10 de marzo una reunión informativa con Embajadores y representantes del cuerpo diplomático acreditado en Chile para presentar los preparativos, principales temas y acciones que abordará la octava reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, que se realizará del 31 de marzo al 4 de abril en la sede central del organismo regional de las Naciones Unidas en Santiago, Chile. A la reunión, que se realizar…

Caribbean in Brief: an information document for Caribbean Small Island Developing States

This brief is intended to provide general information on the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference on scaling up ocean actions based on science and innovation for the implementation of Agenda 2030 - Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), with a view to stimulating more active, engaged participation of the Caribbean in the discussions. The United Nations Ocean Conference will be co-chaired by Kenya and Portugal, and hosted by the Government of Portugal in Lisbon, during 2021. The objective of this conference is consistent with the 2017 UN General Assembly proclamation on the Decade of Oce…

Expert survey on priorities for the information society in the Caribbean

An on-line survey of experts was conducted to solicit their views on policy priorities in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Caribbean. The experts considered the goal to “promote teacher training in the use of ICTs in the classroom” to be the highest priority, followed by goals to “reduce the cost of broadband services” and “promote the use of ICT in emergency and disaster prevention, preparedness and response.” Goals in the areas of cybercrime, e-commerce, egovernment, universal service funds, consumer protection, and on-line privacy rounded out the top 10. S…

Advancing the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

CEPAL acogerá tercera reunión del Foro de los países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) acogerá del 22 al 26 de abril la tercera reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, en la que representantes de gobiernos, instituciones internacionales, sector privado, academia y sociedad civil se darán cita para revisar los avances y desafíos de la implementación de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible en la región. El encuentro se realizará en la sede central del organismo regional de las Naciones Unidas, ubicada en Santiago de Chile. El Foro es convocado anualmente por e…

Inauguración de la octava reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

Sr. Félix Denegri, Viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores del Perú, en su calidad de Presidente del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, Sr. Li Junhua, Secretario General Adjunto de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales de las Naciones Unidas, Señores y señoras Ministras, ministros y representantes de los gobiernos miembros del Foro y de la CEPAL, Autoridades nacionales y cuerpo diplomático, Coordinadoras y coordinadores residentes, Directoras, directores y colegas de la CEPAL, Colegas del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, Representantes de la…

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival

Strategies for Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Caribbean

Enhancing data for development: policy imperatives for tracking the implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean. Policy Brief

For small island developing States (SIDS), sustainable development is a delicate balance of pursuing economic growth, social development and environmental stewardship in the context of economic volatility, social challenges, climate change threats and global uncertainties while striving to build resilience. Recognized as a special case for development since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, SIDS remain highly vulnerable to external shocks due to their small economies, limited connectivity and reliance on external markets. Over the years, global frameworks such …

A Blue Path for the Caribbean: Ocean Sustainability for Prosperity and Resilience