Just days after Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) president, Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, had expressed skepticism regarding the likelihood of Caribbean countries realising the 2030 time frame for the achievement of the United Nations-designated Social Development Goals (SDG), the government of Trinidad and Tobago has publicly stated its commitment to attaining those goals, the hurdles placed in its way by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding.
Last week, the twin-island republic’s Minister of Planning and Development, Camille Robinson-Regis, used the July 6 – 15 virtually convened 2021 high-level forum of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to renew the country’s commitment to the realisation of those goals within the stipulated time frame.
The deliberations that ensued at the recent high-level ECOSOC forum were guided by its theme “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.” According to the UN body, the COVID-19 pandemic had “inflicted a significant impact on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,” having undermined decades of development effort.
Last year, more than 100 million people were pushed back into poverty and hunger; an equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs were lost; and an additional 101 million children and the youth fell below the minimum reading proficiency level, wiping out the education gains achieved over the last two decades. Violence against women and girls has intensified and child marriage is also expected to increase. The economic slowdown associated with COVID-19 has done little to slow the climate crisis.
The deliberations had further agreed that the pandemic had reinforced and exacerbated existing inequalities and threatened the achievements of the SDGs though it had also “led to scientific breakthroughs with the development of effective vaccines, demonstrating the power of science, innovation, and public-private partnerships.” The forum noted, however, that the vaccine breakthroughs notwithstanding, poor countries were, nonetheless, hamstrung by challenges associated with access to vaccines. “Vaccine equity remains a prerequisite for a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 everywhere,” the forum agreed.
During the deliberations, however, the Trinidad and Tobago minister reiterated that the challenges associated with the accessing of vaccines notwithstanding, the realisation of the deadlines for the achievement of the Social Development Goals, remained very much on Trinidad and Tobago’s radar. Even within the context of the considerable health threat which COVID-19 continues to pose, the minister reiterated her government’s position to seeking to ensure that the holistic health and safety of everyone remain in focus as a primary responsibility. She said that the country’s pursuit of these goals was aimed not only at combatting the virus but also at demonstrating her government’s commitment to SDG 3, ensuring healthy lives, and promoting well-being for all at all ages.
Robinson-Regis alluded to her government’s efforts to seek to ensure that the country remained on track for attaining the SDGs within the stipulated time frame by establishing a ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ committee in 2020. The committee, she told the ECOSOC forum, is charged with providing the requisite strategic focus on three immediate-term priorities: (a) addressing and mitigating hardship inflicted by COVID-19; (b) restarting the economy; and (c) laying the foundation for sustained economic recovery. She said that in addition to stabilising the country’s social, economic and environmental wellbeing, the focus on these immediate priorities was also meant to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago’s progress towards achieving the stated objectives of its National Development Strategy, Vision 2030, and the SDGs were not irreparably derailed.
Beyond the short-term priorities occasioned by the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister stated that Trinidad and Tobago was currently giving intensified attention to the achievement of SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Robinson-Regis is also reported to have told the forum that in an effort to achieve SDG 1: No Poverty, and SDG 2: Zero Hunger, the government of Trinidad and Tobago is exploring new measures for the implementation of a more responsive, multifaceted social support system, which includes the digitalisation of all social support grants and services and the continued rollout of a Social Mitigation Plan.
