Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, delivered powerful remarks on social development at the 40th Session of Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) held in Lima Peru, from October 9 to 11, 2024.
The agenda focused on the identification of strategies to address impediments to the achievement of sustainable development in the region.
The meeting was intended to stimulate discussion and solutions in four key areas of development: productive development, inequality and social inclusion, sustainability, and financing for development. It was notable for the official launch of the ECLAC document “Development Traps in Latin America and the Caribbean: Vital Transformations and How to Manage Them”.
Mr. Humphrey, in his address on the topic “How to reduce inequality and foster inclusion and social mobility”, noted the redoubled efforts of ECLAC to include the Caribbean in meaningful dialogue.
He also lauded the renewal and increased stridency of Caribbean SIDS voices in international financial and development forums such as ECLAC’s.
The Minister also highlighted the need for the region to create an enabling environment to spur national and regional development characterised by relevant, fit for purpose institutions that reflect our respective capacities.
Mr. Humphrey warned against the phenomenon of “isomorphic mimicry”, where institutions are created to address problems but are not endowed with the resources or capacity to fulfil their mandate, thus being doomed to failure.
While addressing the matter of persistent inequality, the Minister identified the recent historic trajectory of development in the region, recalling the progression from agricultural-based societies to the emphasis in the English-speaking Caribbean on a services-based economic model.
In noting this, Mr. Humphrey remarked that the region became so good at the provision of services that the goal posts were moved despite the fact that we were ‘playing by the rules’ of the international financial regime.
He posited that the constant framing and reframing of the global financial rules continues to stymie the abilities of the region to achieve fundamental and sustainable development for its citizens.
The Elder Affairs Minister acknowledged the efforts of Barbados and other English-speaking Caribbean countries to frontally address inequality in their societies noting substantial and continuing investments in public goods citing Health, Education, National Insurance, Social Protection and progressive taxation policies, even in the face of low levels of regional and international economic growth.
While noting these are vital yet insufficient efforts, Minister Humphrey exhorted the international financial and development community to reshape their operations and take full cognizance of the existential realities of the Caribbean and other Small Island Development States.