sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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(UNDESA, <strong>20</strong>10a) and increasing difficulties in the main economic sectors, namely financial services
and tourism (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>08a), as well as agriculture. Since many of the activities in the Barbados
Programme of Action rely on national budgets, a number of the gains achieved in the implementation of
the Programme of Action and the subsequent Mauritius Strategy are additionally being eroded by
budgetary constraints due to the repercussions of the global financial, food and energy crises.
2. Capacity constraints
Other difficulties for SIDS include constraints in institutions and technical capacity. Governance in many
SIDS is organized by sector (for example, energy, agriculture and health). Consequently, a limited
number of new policies are actually integrated across sectors or are the subject of significant public
participation. For example, economic issues are sometimes divorced from environmental considerations
and there is only limited capacity for social planning (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>10b). Existing institutions working on
<strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> are underfunded, and the migration patterns of highly skilled and professional
populations have contributed to a reliance on a project-oriented management approach that addresses
short-term needs rather than a programme and resources management approach that takes a more
integrated and long-term perspective. This has also resulted in a reliance on recruiting outside expertise at
significant cost but with no continuity, capacity-building or institutional strengthening (Greene, <strong>20</strong>09;
World Bank, <strong>20</strong>11). 11 Most of the educated residents of Caribbean SIDS emigrate, and the “brain drain”
of public sector employees who work on <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> issues further exacerbates the limited
capacity of the countries (UNDESA, <strong>20</strong>10a). Lack of funding has also resulted in decreased capacity,
such as incomplete data on the implementation of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> commitments and limited
availability of quantitative tools for effective monitoring and identification of corrective actions.
Additionally, the <strong>20</strong>10 Mauritius Strategy review indicates a clear need to better consolidate and
more effectively coordinate the existing responsibilities of the United Nations institutional entities that
share responsibility for supporting <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> of the Caribbean SIDS, perhaps
through a regional coordinating mechanism (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>10b). This would allow a higher level of
consolidation, integration and harmonization to implement the Barbados Programme of Action and the
Mauritius Strategy.
3. International cooperation
Less than anticipated international cooperation and the global trend of declining official <strong>development</strong>
assistance have also been evident in the Caribbean SIDS. Due to their classification as middle-income
countries, most are excluded from a number of <strong>development</strong> opportunities. The criterion for allocating
funds on the basis of GDP does not adequately consider the particular challenges faced by SIDS. For
instance, Caribbean SIDS that are not classified as least developed countries (LDCs) do not qualify for
debt relief assistance. In addition, they are increasingly considered ineligible for <strong>development</strong> aid
(UNDESA, <strong>20</strong>10a), despite their high debt burdens, many of which are in excess of 100% of GDP
(ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>08b).
There have been numerous efforts to gain international recognition to consider the particular
<strong>development</strong> challenges faced by SIDS. In <strong>20</strong>02, the Caribbean Community urged the International
Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico, to address this issue directly.
11
The emigration rate among the university-educated population is as high as 89% in Guyana (World Bank, <strong>20</strong>11).