From May 21 – 23, Ministers of Social and Sustainable Development of the Caribbean met in T&T for the second UNESCO Management of Social Transformation (MOST) to discuss the theme: Promoting Equity and Social Inclusion: Pathways to Prosperity for All. There were more than 30 speakers.
Recently I attended two events that highlight the challenges we face in our Region as we seek to move forward collaboratively.
The concept note for the conference states: “According to the premiere Human Development Report for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Region is considered the world’s most unequal Region; largely because of the high and persistent nature of inequality which has led to the Region falling into what has been described as an ‘inequality trap’ (NDP 2010)…discussions about social development within the region must not only treat with the inter-relationship and impact of poverty, inequality and social inclusion, but consideration must also be given to the varying levels of exclusion and groups that have been historically marginalized.”
The conference ended with the adoption of a Declaration (see CCSJ’s website) which recommended that “the governments of the Caribbean region collaborate in order to advance the agenda for equity, social inclusion and prosperity for all” and that “policies be adopted for coherent and coordinated national and regional action”. The challenge is to move from Declaration to action.
The policies are included under the following headings: “Redefining the Blueprint for Social Policy in the Caribbean”; “Harnessing Resources Towards a Research Agenda – The Nexus between Research and Policy and Capacity Building in Social Research”; “A Caribbean Vision of Prosperity for All” and “Mechanisms for Effective Collaboration – Communication and Mechanisms to increase collaboration”.
Prof Karl Theodore, UWI delivered one of the most interesting papers, entitled: “The Role of Values in Development”.
I agree with him that “values are important because it is values which determine the problems that will be given priority and it is values that substantially determine how we respond to problems. Having the facts about a problem is crucial but the decision to do something about it, and the way we choose to respond to it reflect what values we hold dear. There is no question that when faced with choices it is our values that guide what we do. Our attitudes are also value driven…
“Values are often linked to ethics: precisely because of what values are they will always lead us to judgements about human behaviour. We routinely make judgements about standards such as honesty, truthfulness, and compassion…development is primarily a matter of values.”
Dr Eric Williams Memorial Lecture
The second event I attended was the 26th Dr Eric Williams Memorial Lecture held at the Central Bank. Sir Shridath Ramphal delivered a scholarly paper entitled: “Labouring in the Vineyard”. His paper is included in his recently published book Caribbean Challenges. Inter alia, he recounted the history of our region in terms of our inability to establish a regional Federation. He raised some pertinent questions:
“Had there been a Federation, with a region-wide regulatory agency, could it have done better in preventing the debacle of CLICO and BAICO…Would we have been in a better position to feed our growing population by mobilising the land resources of Guyana, Surinam and Belize, the capital of Trinidad and the skills of Barbados and other countries to create a viable food economy that reduces our import bill of over S $3 billion?…
“Would we have been better able to manage the security of our borders…Would the Federation not have created a larger space for the creativity, productivity and advancement of our people especially the youth? And, could we not have done better in keeping at home the over 60% of our tertiary educated people who now live in the OECD countries?…
“Fifty years ago the moving finger of history wrote out ‘federation’, and having ‘writ’ moved on. But in writing out solutions, history does not erase needs…How have we acted to change the present disgraceful state of fragmentation of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries…What success has attended our labours in the vineyard? Have we been labouring?”
He ended with a quotation from Tagore’s Gitanjali and prayed, “Let the West Indies awake!”