Cognizant of the role that regional governments must play in harnessing the development of a sustainable region—a high-ranking technocrat says it is imperative that the welfare of each citizen be taken into perspective.
As the region charts a path of progressive development for its people and to foster greater correlations, discourse continues with focus on the essential components necessary to undertake this journey—and to overcome the challenges along the way.
For a region vulnerable to natural disasters and to compound matters, having to readjust from the impacts of Covid-19 and other global issues, such as international trade hampered by the Russia- Ukraine war; it is a challenging time that calls for resources to be tapped into and adequate structures and methodologies be put in place.
President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Hyginus Leon, is adamant about the need for regional people to look at the broader picture and aspire for a better life.
“One of the elements that define an improvement in the ‘development space’ is that people – everybody has what we can call broadly, sustainable livelihoods,” says Dr. Leon.
Speaking to reporters at last week’s media forum on plans for the CDB’s 53rd Annual General Meeting, the CDB president noted: “The underlying word here is sustainable, meaning livelihoods that you have and livelihoods include your entire way of living; your social, your access to services and your general wellbeing.”
Dr. Leon stressed that the process must have continuity, so “that you can keep it and maintain it going forward …not that it is there today, and tomorrow it’s down.”
He added: “So a sustainable livelihood will define the goal that we are looking to achieve, to be able to state that we are ‘developing’ or that we have developed.
However, Dr. Leon said, “sustainability in itself cannot be at one level, where you say everybody is rich …because there will be no distinction between rich and poor. So, there will always be ‘levels of sustainability’. But at the very minimum we should be able to define what is a minimum level of sustainability and a concept of fairness and equity in society that everybody has …but there will always be gradations of some people having more than others, but that’s a fact of modern living.”
In relation to the Youth Economy, Prime Minister Phillip Pierre spoke of the wider functions within that department.
PM Pierre disclosed that a Statutory Board will be established to oversee the operations of the Youth Economy, with a Youth Department or unit in place “to conduct the business called the YEA – the Youth Economy Agency”.
He said the purpose of this department “is to have a flexible agency, flexible and agile, so that it will have its own board, its own rules and regulations, and so, we can limit the frustrations that young people have (to undergo) when they look for finance.”
PM Pierre said young people most times face stiff hurdles when they try to seek out loans and other financial assistance to embark on business start-ups. “They ask them for experience, collateral, business plans etc…and so, they will need to have that. But initially, a young person who has an idea and needs in the range of $2,000 to $5,000, you can’t ask them for all those things,” he contended.
In an effort to provide more equitable measures to assist those young persons, Pierre said, “We are going to help those people with small amounts of money in the beginning, whilst they develop, so it’s not going to be just ‘freeness’ money, just giving money out.”
He explained, “We are going to assist with a grant for those who are just starting, which will graduate into a loan at some point. The idea is to have access to finance, but that doesn’t come without training or mentorship …you can’t just come in and get money. There is a process, but you want to make it easier and affordable for young people to be able to get, in a pretty quick manner, what they need to start their businesses.”