by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- National Sustainable Development Plan 2030 was launched in May 2015
- Consultations will resume in January 2019
The absence of a comprehensive long-term Strategic Development Plan for Grenada has been identified by the Committee of Social Partners as a hindrance to Grenada’s long-term developmental agenda.
Acting on the committee’s advice, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell commissioned a National Sustainable Development Plan 2030 which was launched on 27 May 2015 to chart the development of Grenada over a 15-year period.
Consultations on the development of the plan will resume in January 2019 and will involve public engagement and input into the final document in order to receive ideas and concerns that must be addressed through targeted programmes within this document. A new timeline was presented for the completion of the plan document to coincide with the 2019/2020 Budget Cycle. Dr Kari Grenade is the new Head of the Technical Working Group. She replaced Dr Patrick Antoine following his decision not to continue in that capacity.
Dr Grenade has identified April 2019 as the deadline for the first draft of the documents to be completed. “We should have the first draft of this document by April 2019 and at that point, we will go back and engaged stakeholders again so that they can validate their views and then we can share our findings as to what came out of the sectoral consultation and eventually we are going to have and eventually a final document by November 2019 in time with the 2020 budget document.”
Several documents have already been useful inputs for the National Sustainable Development Plan 2030. These include:
- National Strategic Development Plan 2007
- Alternative Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2013
- Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2014
- Social Compact 2015.
This document Dr Grenade said will help guide Grenada’s developmental agenda in future and should not be viewed as just another document to be shelved. “This document should be rooted in our Grenadian culture and heritage and rooted in the Grenadian people… We want to buy-in for the plan, we don’t want this to be another voluminous document that sits on people’s shelves, we want this plan to really change and shape Grenada’s future.”
The consultation has brought to the fore a number of developmental challenges including poverty said to be higher among young women. A major priority area for the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse is having policy and programs targeting the root cause for the rise in these crimes against young girls. Coordinator of that committee Lorice Pascal said this must be paramount for the protection of the rights of nations children. “Administrative data shows which is showing that there is an increase of incidences of sexual violence towards our children in Grenada, so we are talking about how we are going to prevent that, so prevention has to include procedures, policies, and programs that can be put in place so that we can eradicate all forms of violence against our children.”
The technical working group’s chairman said the development of such a document presents an opportunity for the country to confront its challenges head-on. “A lot of issues, challenges have been identified, and this gives us an opportunity to address this issue and challenges and articulate specific strategies and programs to really facilitate a change in the status quo to that future state that we want.”
The vision for the National Sustainable Development Plan 2030 to ensure that Grenada is a prosperous and resilient nation, with a conscious and caring citizenry, promoting human dignity and realising their full potential through sustainable economic and social progress for all.
The technical working group comprises Dr Kari Grenade (Chair), Dr Linus Spencer Thomas, Fitzroy James, Pauleen Finlay, Lidonne Glasglow, Dr John Telesford and Dr Nicole Phillip-Dowe.
