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Trinidad and Tobago Post 2015 Development Agenda/ SIDS consultations Executive Summary
In May 2013 and March 2014 the United Nations system held national consultations on the post 2015
development agenda /SIDS conference in Trinidad and in Tobago respectively. The consultations were held in
conjunction with the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Tobago House of Assembly with the
country’s major development stakeholders. A combined total of ten (10) thematic areas which stakeholders
found key to the country’s development prospects were addressed. There were as follows:
(1) Poverty Eradication and Gender Equality
(2) Managed Migration
(3) Climate Change - Alternative Energy, Disaster Risk Reduction, Waste Water Management and Waste
Water Systems;
(4) Food Security
(5) Human Security – Citizen Security and Gender Based Violence;
(6) Health and Wellbeing;
(7) Youth & Ageing
(8) Diversification Growth & Employment and
(9) Governance and
(10) Environmental Preservation
Participants at the Trinidad consultation emphasized sustainable jobs and social inclusion as a prerequisite to
poverty eradication while Tobago stakeholders, who shared similar views also indicated that implementation
of the National Gender Policy is a means to the social inclusion end.
Alternative energy concerns were similarly noted as an area of concern in both consultations. Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG) development as an alternative fuel for vehicles was cited as one potentially viable
interventionist strategy during consultations in Trinidad while the utilisation of solar energy to feed household
grid ties (which also feed energy back to T&TEC) was proposed in Tobago.
Food security was shown to be an issue that continues to plague both islands in the twin isle state, as was
evidenced by stakeholders’ concerns, in both consultations alike, that the country continues to be a huge net
importer of its food due.
The issue of Food security was further featured in discussion for the youth thematic group as youth were
highlighted as a priority area of agriculture and food security during Trinidad’s consultation while the need to
reignite youth interest in agriculture through the introduction of innovative farming practices was brought to
the fore during the course of consultations in Tobago.
Participants at the Trinidad consultation also highlighted the role of the youth of Trinidad and Tobago as
pivotal to the implementation and sustainability of the knowledge driven economy.
The special characteristics of Trinidad and Tobago’s social, economic and environmental conditions permeated
the discussions and the deliberations yielded many common positions. Stakeholders outlined key issues and
challenges faced within each theme group and posed recommendations which they thought were required for
positive change to be realised.
The key overarching challenges cited by stakeholders were challenges concerning a lack of coordination,
inadequate data and a lack of proper communication as well as legislative shortcomings. Stakeholders present
at the Trinidad consultations lamented the difficulty with data management noting that the proposed model
for integrating the MDG agenda into the context of post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is

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heavily dependent on the availability, on a sustained basis, of reliable and comprehensive data and in the
Trinidad and Tobago data collection on this scale has proven to be a key challenge in monitoring the
implementation of the MDGs. This was one of the many issues emphasized consistently throughout both
consultations as evidenced by the point made by Tobago stakeholders in the Health and Wellbeing thematic
group who noted that, as in many other sectors, there is dearth of data in the area of health. They recommended
that a STEP survey be undertaken for Tobago. In the course of their discussions on health they further brought
to bear another overarching development challenge to Trinidad and Tobago – the challenge of coordination.
They noted that integrating health into every sector is an effective way to tackle this problem which requires a
lifestyle change from Tobagonians. This issue was tackled under the broader framework of policy coherence
during the consultations held in Trinidad, with participants agreeing that there must be policy coherence to
ensure that there is consistency and constancy in what is to be achieved. This, they noted, is closely associated
with inter-agency coordination and collaboration. Poor governance is manifested when agencies and
departments operate in silos.
Participants present at the Trinidad consultation noted that equitable economic growth through a process of
diversification of the economy will be realised through creating greater opportunities for all through
employment and the building of knowledge based economy. Tobago participants broadened this argument by
insisting that there is a need to ensure that society at large is well informed about the issues of diversification
before a knowledge based economy can be created. They stressed on the need to change dominating attitudes
and perceptions on the ground through educational drives, sensitivity training and multi sectorial engagement
and insisted that there is a desperate need to introduce concepts of diversification throughout the school
system, to change “the culture of dependency and the notion of entitlements” among the citizenry and to
engage CBOs, FBOs, NGOs, The UN system, the THA, the country’s major universities, CARICOM,
NEDCO, the IDB and a proposed Tobago think tank, among other agencies, in order to tackle the issue of
growth and employment and diversification from a requisite multi-dimensional approach.
Other common themes which were seen as necessary for Trinidad and Tobago’s development prospects were
inclusive participation – through building strong communities via local government bodies and community
groups and equity, equality and rights (the application of strong social policy to ensure that no one is
excluded from the development process).
Despite several consistent themes of discussion in both consultations it was pointed out that in seeking to
develop Tobago, attention should be paid to the fact that Tobago is an island within an island state and as such
it is subject to shocks to the local economy which could be created internally from within the twin island
republic or externally from the global system. It is also a limited land mass which affects production and the
volume of exports.
It was therefore agreed that there is an immediate urgency for strategies which ensure that the Tobago
economy become diversified in the shortest possible time. While Tourism will remain important to the
economy, there must be innovative ideas including one which relates to diversification of the tourism product
itself. In this regard, ideas such as health tourism, sports tourism, naturopathic tourism, and cultural tourism
linked to carnival were explored. Other areas mentioned which could be developed were agriculture and agro
processing, fashion, carpentry, community tourism, plastics, creative industries and SMEs.
The lion share of participants in both consultations agreed that keys to Trinidad and Tobago’s sustainable
development include both making decent work a sustainable goal as well as paying equal attention to the three
pillars of development, namely economic, social and environmental development. Each pillar of development
must be given equal attention if growth and development are to be sustained and enjoyed by all citizens and all
initiatives must be overlaid with good governance practices, creativity and innovation. The importance of
effective spatial planning, especially as a SIDS, is also crucial.