Public and private sector stakeholders are meeting at the CUNA Conference Centre over the next two days to assess the country’s performance in meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Sherilita Dore-Tyson, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, welcomed the Mid-term Review of the United Nations (UN) Country Implementation Plan (CIP) during a brief ceremony on Thursday (January 12, 2023). The review is extremely useful in helping to coordinate and capture activities being undertaken by the UN in St. Kitts and Nevis and their impact on residents.

“As the new administration rolls out its priorities and programmes, the CIP is flexible enough to take stock of progress made and adjust the approaches according to changing needs and to ensure that success is achieved,” the Permanent Secretary stated. “… This, and successive reviews of the CIP will help our Ministry to fine-tune its own monitoring and evaluating systems, keep abreast of developments across all sectors and coordinate even better with other partners and donors outside of the UN.”

The classification of St. Kitts and Nevis as a high-income country, as well as the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has made it more challenging to achieve SDGs. However, the government has committed to achieving these goals.

“In this regard, the development of financing and mobilization strategies is needed to identify and close funding gaps for implementing national priorities,” Ms. Dore-Tyson said, adding that the Ministry has fully embraced this responsibility.

The outcomes of the country implementation plan review will help to inform discussions at an upcoming regional ministerial meeting.