Barbados and Saint Lucia

Brief programme description

Five UN Agencies in the Eastern Caribbean are collaborating to support the governments of Barbados and Saint Lucia, as well as the OECS Commission, to reduce poverty and inequality and strengthen people’s resilience through predictable access to universal adaptive social protection. Partnering UN Organizations include: ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women and WFP.

Approach

The Joint Programme will support the development of an adaptive model of universal social protection and ensure that people’s resilience to the impacts of climate change is enhanced. This will be achieved through a combination of community, national and sub-regional efforts supporting changes to social protection policy/legislation and programme design and delivery. 

Social protection coverage and efficiency, through strengthened systems for evidence-based policy and programming, including data analysis and systems to inform targeting and planning, will be improved. Additionally, concrete, shock-responsive social protection mechanisms will be developed and piloted at the community level, informed by analysis of livelihoods, seasonality and risk.

The intention is to replicate this model across the Eastern Caribbean in partnership with the OECS and, more specifically, through the development of an adaptive/ shock-responsive Social Protection Strategy and Implementation Framework.   

Target groups

Particular attention is being paid to the needs of women, children, and older persons. Indirectly, the programme also benefits youth, persons with disabilities and migrants who, in the event of shocks, could be further left behind.