SOCIAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
16
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
solution; and the persistence of questions of
viability of the independent Caribbean in light of
its economic, social, political and environmental
challenges.
The regional institutions outlined in Box 2.1
have been very effective in promoting regional
integration in the area of education, health,
agriculture, disastermanagement,meteorology,
crime and security, trade and investment, quality
and standards and fisheries management.
4
In the subsequent section, regional social
development and the programmes and policies
executed by the various regional institutions in
the Caribbean will be highlighted in more detail.
2.3 REGIONAL SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
1. P
OVERTY
R
EDUCTION
Poverty continues to be a pervasive issue for
many nations in the Caribbean. However, strides
are being made to reduce poverty in alignment
with the Millennium Development Goal 1 –
“Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger”.
This was articulated in the MDG Report 2013,
launchedbyUNSecretary-General BanKi-moon
in Geneva. It indicated that the region is on track
to meet the target of halving the proportion of
the population suffering from hunger by 2015.
The proportion of undernourished people in
the total population has decreased from 15% in
1990–1992 to 8% in 2010–2012
5
.
In the Caribbean, various initiatives have been
implemented to address the issue of poverty
reduction in the region.Theannual“LACRegional
4 REGIONAL COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION –
CONTINUING SUPPORT. Replenishment Negotiations for the
Special Development Fund - Eighth Cycle, July 2012
5 Poverty and hunger reduced in Latin America and
the Caribbean,
php?story=20130701140032268
Community of Practice (CoP) Meeting on MDGs
and Poverty Reduction” was held in El Salvador
fromDecember 12–13, 2012.The purpose of this
meeting was to outline the latest best practices
in MDGs and MDG Acceleration Framework
(MAF) achievements in the LAC region, aswell as
to review the challenges regarding the fulfilment
of the MDGs in the region by 2015. Special
emphasis was also placed on “Delivering as
One UNDP” concerning MDGs and crosscutting
themes, such as environment, gender, security,
HIV/AIDS, knowledgemanagement andcapacity
development. There were also discussions on
the elaboration and implementation of the post
2015 agenda from the LAC perspective
6
.
The Programme Manager for Poverty Reduction
at UNDP Barbados and the OECS, presented an
overview of the socio-economic situation in the
Caribbean and the status of MAF application
in Grenada which was at the agreement phase
regarding solutions to remove bottlenecks. The
country decided to prioritise country-specific
interventions geared at accelerating MDG 1
through all related targets including dimensions
of poverty beyond income such as housing
conditions, education, health, unemployment
and other correlates of poverty.
The decision is to address the following as
country development priorities (all related to
MDG 1):
• The need for activities todrive the economy
to generate employment and growth;
• The need to stimulate the private sector;
• The need to create jobs for youth;
• The need to provide households with
assistance to close gaps in housing
conditions; and
• The need to protect advances made in
health and education from slippage.
In developing regions as a whole, children living
in rural areas are almost twice as likely to be
6 MDGs in LAC. A bulletin for and by the MDG Community
of Practice in the Latin America and the Caribbean region,
January 2013.
CHAPTER 2: THE CARIBBEAN SOCIAL SITUATION
