Poverty & Social Development: A Caribbean Perspective

Trinidad & Tobago: Vision 2020 (and its operational plan)
I’m just a bit late on that one.... Nonetheless, it’s still a piece of news with great resonance, as it carries out the roll-out of Vision 2020 for Trinidad & Tobago.
And in case that some of you out there, don’t already know, this is the blue-print of the T&T government to carry the country toward a developed nation status by 2010.

And responding to the main development challenges that surround us, this plan calls for all segments of civil society to work and create coalitions for change to build the institutional capacity and policies needed to address poverty reduction, education, health, gender equality, HIV/AIDs among others.

So, enough rambling from my side, have a look at the launch of the Operational Plan 2007-2010. More >>>

Tags: Capacity Development Caribbean Development Trinidad & Tobago Human Development Poverty Reduction Strategies Economic Growth Social Development institutional Strengthening Monitoring & Evaluation

FDI in Focus

If Foreign and Direct Investment (FDI) can be described as an integral component for effective international economic system, yet some questions are still pending regarding the distributional effects of this mechanism, and its sectoral and local impacts among others.

In a nutshell for host countries (developing nations), the pre-requisites for development effectiveness invite the establishment of transparent and enabling policy guidelines to strengthen investments.
And in a new book released by CGD non-resident fellow, Theodore Moran the arguments deconstruct what make FDI Work, in terms of policy environments to counter the effects of corruption, and strengthen local capacity to monitor expenditures between foreign companies and host governments.

More >>>

Tags: Foreign Direct Investment Development Effectiveness Economic Growth Monitoring & Evaluation Caribbean Development Center for Global Development Aid Effectiveness

Minimum Wage Laws and the Context of Poverty Reduction
Well! That’s quite a serious matter trying to reconcile minimum wage laws and their impacts on output and employment. And during one of those timeless internet searches of mine, these issues came to my mind after reading about the upcoming debates set to unfold in the Cayman Islands about minimum wage laws and future strategies to revamp its structure.
_________________________________________________________________________

“I Know first-hand some of the exploitation that goes on,” he said. “It’s not just exploitation of the foreigners….its how (that exploitation) distorts the labour market for the locals…who are unwilling to work for $3.50 an hour.”

_________________________________________________________________________

The implications of minimum wage have always been described as some kinda “hard-punches” in experts’ circles in regards to the questionable value of such instrument in policy mechanisms. As a matter of fact, many tend to question the effectiveness of such tool, which at times has raised eye-brows re the relationships behind the improvement of living conditions for the working poor, and short and long-run disemployment outcomes.
We can all agree that this not a simple matter when taking into consideration the position of unskilled and disadvantaged people in the labor market, and the distortions that might emerge in the development of indicators for low-income, the definition of poverty and the concept of substitution in labor-market dynamics. More >>>

Tags: Caribbean Development Cayman Islands Minimum Wage economics living wage labor Social Security Poverty Reduction Strategies Monitoring & Evaluation

An Interesting One…. (But not too long)
Based on the assumption that good governance is a pre-requisite to conduct effective application of conceptual and operational synergy, this process underlines the imperatives to fashion the best lessons and experiences toward the development of a holistic approach, as institutions have to consider and respond to the needs of regional and local communities.

However, how easy as it seems on principles, some major attributes such as the process of empowerment and participation should come to play, as various stakeholders (not only vested interests) need to articulate and steer the wheels of change to support the adaptation of effective policies, to pursue the quest for inclusiveness, accountability and the rule of law, as means to achieve development effectiveness and capacity development.

Tags: Caribbean Development CARICOM Regional Integration CSME Development Effectiveness Capacity DevelopmentGovernance Human Development Social Development Institutional Strengthening

Education Reforms and Content Delivery in Puerto-Rico: Riding the Waves of Change
One of my views regarding education reforms is that before all, any attempt to overhaul a system within this body, should pay close attentions to ensure that recruitment and quality of teaching are reflective of effective preparation and training practices.
And due to the growing and challenging conditions that confront this discipline, we have been observing over the last decades or so, of a clear trend where the integration of new educational goals and standards have to strongly measure and assess the contemporary demands that comes with change and transformational dynamics in societies.

Whether in terms of programmatic approaches to tackle and engage innovative teaching methods, this praxis calls for the development and implementation of various scenarios as to better understand the student-teacher relationships, and ways to channel, manage and strengthen knowledge transfer.
As a matter of fact, these issues draw upon the role of effective evidence-based policy to carefully weigh the impacts and systemic consequences that come with certain administrative reforms, and curriculum development, in order to stand the test of time.
In this regard, one example to follow or rather look into, is this initiative set in motion by the government in Puerto-Rico to address teachers’ training/recruitment, and the regulations needed to incorporate the development of curriculum to promote the mantra of Universal Access to Education in public schools. More >>>

_________________________________________________________________________

Related Link(s):

Q&A with Dr. Barbara Joseph - Some Reflections about the State of Education, Literacy and National Development in Trinidad and Tobago

_________________________________________________________________________

Tags: caribbean development Puerto-Rico education Universal Access to Education Capacity Development human development
Special Education monitoring and evaluation poverty reduction strategies public policy