The Associate Members' panel at the 30th Session of the CDCC held from September 9-11, 2024. The Virgin Islands' interests were represented by Special Envoy to the Premier Mr E. Benito Wheatley, 2nd from right. Photo: Office of the Premier

Caribbean Territories have received strong backing from Governments across the Caribbean to deepen collaboration with the United Nations (UN) system on sustainable development ahead of the 40th Session of the UN Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Lima, Peru. Photo: Caricom/Facebook/File

In preparation for the upcoming meeting where representatives of the countries and territories of the region will gather from October 9-11, 2024, to discuss their priorities and assess progress and development made since their last session in 2022, the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), a subsidiary body of ECLAC for the Caribbean, approved the establishment of an official ECLAC Associate Members Working Group on Sustainable Development to facilitate engagement with the UN system on greater access to assistance by the Associate Members under the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States (ABAS).

Challenges highlighted

According to a press release from the Office of the Premier, the representatives of Anguilla, Aruba, Virgin Islands, Curacao, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Monserrat and Sint Maarten, who participated in the recent 30^th Session of the CDCC in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, highlighted their challenges and the importance of UN support as they strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 30^th Session of the CDCC was held from September 9-11, 2024.

During the high-level panel on the sustainable development challenges faced by the Associate Members, presentations were made by the representatives of Aruba, Virgin Islands, Martinique and Montserrat who pointed out Associate Members’ need for access to development and climate finance; capacity building support; technology transfer; and technical expertise in critical sectors.

The Associate Members also held a caucus meeting in the margins of the CDCC where they agreed to continue working together within the scope of their constitutional arrangements; coordinate advocacy efforts regionally and internationally for Associate Members’ access to development and climate finance; encourage Associate Members’ involvement in the wider regional cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean; and collaborate with ECLAC on organising the 2^nd High-Level Meeting of the Associate Members of ECLAC on Sustainable Development in 2025.

VI to take the lead…

It was also agreed that the British Virgin Islands would serve as Associate Member lead in the operationalisation of the ECLAC Associate Members Working Group.

In response to the Associate Members call for greater UN assistance to support their sustainable development, the Chair of the CDCC Hon. Pennelope Beckles-Robinson, Minister of Planning and Development of Trinidad and Tobago; the Executive Secretary of ECLAC Mr Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs; and the Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain Mrs Diane Quarless, reaffirmed the CDCC’s and ECLAC’s commitment to leave no behind in the region’s pursuit of sustainable development and climate resilience, the press release informed.