Caribbean Regional Report for the Five-Year Review Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean LIMITED LC/CAR/L.258 4 May 2010 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH CARIBBEAN REGIONAL REPORT FOR THE FIVE-YEAR REVIEW OF THE MAURITIUS STRATEGY FOR THE FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BARBADOS PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES (MSI+5) __________ This document has been reproduced without formal editing. Acknowledgements ECLAC is appreciative of the support of representatives of all countries who cooperated in completion of the questionnaire. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Mr. Reynold Murray of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Barbados; Ms. Leonie Barnaby of the Office of the Prime Minister, Jamaica; Dr. David Persaud of the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment, Trinidad and Tobago; Dr. Paul Flowers of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Belize; and consultants, Mr. James Finlay and Mr. Navin Chandarpal. We also acknowledge the comments on the first draft from CARICOM, UNDP, Barbados, and UNEP that have helped to add relevant detail to the document. Finally, we acknowledge, with much appreciation, the assistance provided by consultant Dr. Vasantha Chase in preparing the final report. i CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................................................vi INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................................xi I. THE CARIBBEAN REGION ........................................................................................................................1 II. A POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW ....................................6 A. The political overview .....................................................................................................................6 B. The economic overview ...................................................................................................................9 C. The social overview .......................................................................................................................20 1. Population Trends ............................................................................................................22 2. Ageing of the population .................................................................................................22 3. Migration .........................................................................................................................23 4. Youth and adolescents .....................................................................................................24 5. Literacy and education .....................................................................................................25 6. Health ...............................................................................................................................27 7. Poverty and social protection ...........................................................................................30 8. Crime and violence ..........................................................................................................34 9. Gender issues ...................................................................................................................35 10. Culture .............................................................................................................................36 D. The Environmental overview - Climate change, vulnerability, and resilience ...............................38 1. Trade in environmental goods and services .....................................................................42 2. International environmental and health standards ............................................................44 3. Green economies .............................................................................................................46 4. Institutional reforms and partnerships .............................................................................47 5. Environmental value of the Caribbean Sea ......................................................................48 III. NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ENABLING ENVIRONMENTS .............................................................50 A. National Sustainable Development Strategies ...............................................................................50 B. Regional policy frameworks ..........................................................................................................54 1. Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat .............................................................54 C. Regional mechanisms ....................................................................................................................56 1. Association of Caribbean States (ACS) ...........................................................................56 2. Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) ................................................56 3. The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) .................................................56 4. Regional Coordinating Mechanism for the MSI ..............................................................57 D. The role of international partners ...................................................................................................58 1. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) .........................................................................59 2. The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) ..................................................60 IV. PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MSI .................................................................................61 A. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................61 B. Results .........................................................................................................................................62 1. Part A. National Sustainable Development Strategies .....................................................62 2. Part B. Thematic Areas in the MSI ..................................................................................68 ii V. FIVE YEARS AFTER MAURITIUS ........................................................................................................117 A. Finance .......................................................................................................................................118 B. Capacity-building .........................................................................................................................120 C. Science, technology and innovation .............................................................................................122 D. Knowledge management ..............................................................................................................122 E. Monitoring and Evaluation ..........................................................................................................123 VI. THE WAY FORWARD .............................................................................................................................125 A. Recommendations ........................................................................................................................125 B. Outcomes .....................................................................................................................................128 1. National and Regional Enabling Environments .............................................................128 2. Assessment of MSI implementation in addressing vulnerability in the Caribbean .............................................................................................................128 3. Recent trends and emerging issues ................................................................................ 129 4. Interlinkages and cross cutting issues............................................................................ 129 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................130 Tables 1. Caribbean region: selected geographical data ........................................................................................................2 2 Thirteen selected Caribbean countries: Central government balances, 2005-2009 ..............................................12 3 Thirteen selected Caribbean countries: Public debt, 2005-2009...........................................................................14 4 Six selected countries: Merchandise import composition, 2008 ..........................................................................16 5 Fifteen selected countries: Human Development Index trends, 1980-2008 .........................................................21 6 Sixteen selected countries in the Caribbean: Adult literacy rate and education index .........................................26 7 Nine selected countries: Public expenditures on education as a % of GDP .........................................................27 8 Caribbean HIV/AIDS statistics ............................................................................................................................29 9 Fourteen selected Caribbean countries: