Governance essential

Barbados has seen what it means when it has failed to invest in institutions.

Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Marsha Caddle, highlighted this during her remarks at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Barbados and OECS 2019 Retreat at the Hilton Barbados Resort on Monday.

In her earlier remarks, Minister Caddle had spoken about the success of the country’s debt restructuring and the re-emphasis and rebuilding of social partnerships. On the topic of social partnerships, she explained that the model of governance is one where labour, the credit sector, government and civil society have a say on how decisions are made for Barbadians.

“People’s feelings, thoughts and ideas are reflected in policy… [the] true spirit of democratic governance [is] that people feel a part of the decisions that are being made,” said Caddle.

She noted that through the present Government, governance through solidarity and consultation have been important. Caddle added that governance through evidence has been fundamental, citing the ongoing work of the UNDP.

Caddle, who has worked with UNDP in the past, discussed the importance of assessing social challenges beyond economic statistics and measurements. She explained it is not only about GDP per capita of a country and she mentioned Barbados as an example.

“We can’t invest in people, we can’t invest in infrastructure and before long that GDP per capita will stand for nothing at all because what we saw in Barbados, because of the unsustainable levels of debt, because of big deficit, the fact is that there was almost zero fiscal space to be able to invest in all of the things mentioned for future development,” said Caddle.