NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas recently signed onto a framework with the United Nations called the Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework (MSDCF). But what exactly is this framework, and how will it benefit Bahamians? Eyewitness News takes a look:
The MSDCF is the primary roadmap for UN partnership with member states of the Caribbean. It allows for greater strategic engagement by the UN on the instruction of the Bahamian government.
Frameworks like this have been developed for countries around the world with an aim of achieving Agenda 2030 and with it, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the globe.
Dr Garry Conille, the UN resident coordinator, traveled to The Bahamas with a delegation of UN Country Team members to participate in the signing.
He said the MSDCF is “very much aligned” with this administration’s Blueprint for Change.
He outlined the MSDCF’s four priority areas and the common threads with the Bahamian government’s priorities:
- Shared prosperity and economic resilience. The UN will support the country’s agenda to recover, rebuild and revolutionize the Bahamian economy through the technical expertise and mobilizing power of the UN and its partners.
- Equality, well-being and leaving no one behind. The UN will continue to see UN agencies supporting the government’s response in ending the health and socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and building resilience and preparedness for future health emergencies.
- Resilience to climate change and shocks and sustainable natural resource management. Just days after assuming office, Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis addressed the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, calling for greater climate financing. Then, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 26, Davis appealed to world leaders for specific and concrete efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. The UN Country team is on the ground working with Bahamian officials to help ahead of the 2022 hurricane season.
- Peace, safety, justice and the rule of law. In an effort to address gender inequalities, the UN takes note that the government has moved to initiate progress towards the implementation of a Gender-Based Violence Bill to be passed in the coming months. The historic National Gender-Based Violence Discriminatory Law Review Forum was held last week.
On hand for the February 11 signing were Davis; Minister of Works and Utilities Alfred Sears, who signed the official document; Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis; and Acting Director General Eugene Newry, among other officials.
This partnership framework is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity, according to the UN. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom.
The UN sees eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, as the greatest global challenge, and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.
Conille said: “I can say, unequivocally, that these steps, and the Country Implementation Plan we will develop and tailor together, will, with our unwavering mutual commitment, result in sustained progress for The Bahamas and its people.”
The UN Mission to The Bahamas included: Dr Eldonna Boisson, representative, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands; Karen Moss-Timothy, head of mission, IOM Bahamas; Denise Antonio, representative, UNDP Multi-Country Office for The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Turks & Caicos Islands; Ava Whyte, assistant resident representative, UNDP Multi-Country Office for The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Turks & Caicos Islands; Tonni Ann Brodber, representative, UN Women – Multi-Country Office Caribbean; Mariko Kagoshima, representative, UNICEF Jamaica; Etoile Pinder, consultant; and Aneesah Abdullah, country coordination officer, The Bahamas (UNRCO).
