Country representatives from the English and Dutch-Speaking Caribbean (EDSC) will discuss the population challenges and opportunities facing the Caribbean’s sustainable development on March 27-28 in Montego Bay. Facilitated by UNFPA, the regional meeting is aimed at government authorities, civil society, academia and youth and will seek to influence the global development dialogue for multilateral and bilateral cooperation, as well as funding and partnerships.

Countries in the English and Dutch-Speaking Caribbean continue to face sustainable development challenges with their vulnerability to natural hazards, low economic growth and high external debt. Despite the middle-income status of many of these countries, there is a need for widespread support if they are to meet the targets of the global sustainable development agenda.

Since the review of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action in 2013 and 2014, several key sustainable development global outcomes have been adopted in 2015.  Subsequent regional intergovernmental conferences, including the Caribbean Forum on Migration, Population and Development, in Georgetown, Guyana which generated a Road Map and the First Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean which yielded the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development also contributed to the global agenda.

This Consultation is a follow-up to the Regional Meeting on Population and Sustainable Development in the Caribbean which was convened in Barbados in 2015. Leading Caribbean experts will facilitate the different working groups at the Regional Consultation in Montego Bay as they discuss and produce recommendations on regional priorities, with an emphasis on population and sustainable development issues, and how best to implement and monitor these recommendations.