OECS Development Charter Works to Balance Regional Integration, Globalization, and Human Development
July 11, 2003
by Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
The OECS Development Charter puts member states in a position to address concerns about the absence of a development framework for the region, and issue identified within the wider CARICOM area as a problem affecting development.
The Charter also provides the OECS with a guide to how the intergovernmental body deals with international trade negotiations.
The Charter also provides an instrument with which the OECS can now engage international financial institutions to discuss financial assistance.
These provisions all function within the context of the move towards an OECS Economic Union, and plans to spur economic growth and transformation in the sub-region.
The Charter, developed over several years by the OECS Secretariat and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, maps out a vision for the long term development of the region, with strategies at the national and regional levels.
On the sectoral front the Charter speaks to economic transformation through Agriculture, Tourism, non-tourism Services, the Financial Services Sector, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Information and Communications Technology.
The Charter also addresses human development with emphasis on reducing poverty through education, and substantially increasing the number and quality of jobs. It focuses on improving access to health care and provision of adequate shelter. The document also promotes the empowering of disadvantaged groups to enrich their lives and advance development in the region.
The human development agenda also involves development of sports, environmental sustainability, good governance and the role of the media in seeking and disseminating information.
The framers of the Charter acknowledge that the majority of proposals fall within the remit of the public sector, but say there are vital roles for the social partners in shaping and supporting the proposed strategies and the policies and actions necessary to implement them.
Link: http://www.oecs.org/news_dev_charter.htm# [4 KB HTML]
Keywords: development, trade, finance, education, Caribbean