Trinidad & Tobago

A Brief History

UNDP has had a presence in Trinidad and Tobago for over 40 years. Since 1961, UNDP has been a proud partner of development to the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and has assisted with a number of National initiatives.  

Once such project was the East Coast Seismic Survey, where during the UN Development Decade (1961-1970) UNDP gave technical assistance leading to the discovery of oil and gas in Trinidad and Tobago.

UNDP also provided assistance in the building up of human resources within the Public Sector e.g. Legal Draftsmen, Town Planners, Development Planners, Land and Hydro-graphic Surveyors.

UNDP  was instrumental in the establishment of institutions like, Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), Metal Industries Company (MIC), Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), Environmental Management Authority (EMA), and the Telecommunications Department at the John Donaldson Technical Institute and Hydro-graphic Unit.

UNDP now acts as a policy advisor and development supporter for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, with the coordinated efforts of the entire locally based UN system.

Who we Are & What We Do

UNDP works within five focus areas: Governance, Poverty Reduction, HIV and AIDS, Crisis Prevention and Recovery and Energy and the Environment.

UNDP’s role has evolved from technical cooperation to become a partner and provider of policy and knowledge advisory services to the Government.

Some of the key programmes are:

• Vision 2020 in alignment with the Millennium Development Goals

• Setting up of the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC)

• Public Sector Reform, through the introduction of competency assessments for senior officers

• Health Sector delivery and capacity building using the United Nations Volunteer modality

• Development of the Local Government Reform paper

• Strengthening of the Policy and Planning Unit of the Ministry of Education

• Strengthening the Central Statistical Office and mainstreaming the concept of the Evidence-Based Development

• Supporting the diversification of the economy and job creation by targeting non-energy sector development

UNDP is the only international organization which is part of a Technical Advisory Team to the Prime Minister on Disaster Management since 2004.

Private Sector Engagement

A critical element has been the one of Partnerships and involvement with the Private Sector. UNDP created the Development Partners Group in 2005 increasing cooperation and coherence amongst the few multi-lateral institutions European Union (EU) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and bilateral partners. UNDP also launched a very aggressive Public-Partnership Strategy with the Chambers of Commerce, the Manufactures Association and oil companies such as British Petroleum (bpTT) and Talisman.

This has resulted in a joint project for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mapping of activities in the country, the joining of private sector companies to the Global Compact and the launch of a Global Compact Local network in early 2006.

UN System Initiatives

Joint initiatives with UN agencies and the Private Sector have been programmes such as Sports for Development (HIV-AIDS and the World Cricket Cup), a partnership between UNDP/UNICEF/ UNAIDS-PAHO/WHO and the West Indian Players Association (WIPA).

The Private Sector plays a critical role in financing and participating in the development debate. In summary, UNDP is leading the way in ensuring the CSR evolved from simply philanthropy to evidence based programming and grant making.

Other Areas of Development

In addition to its portfolio of projects through which support is provided, UNDP also provides advisory services and knowledge products as required to deal with other pressing issues such food security, disaster prevention and preparedness etc.

Currently the Government funds 90% of its development efforts from its domestic resources. The remaining 10% is met form a mixture of grants, loans and technical assistance from multilateral and, to a much lesser extent, bilateral sources. In this resource rich environment, partnerships are critical to avoid duplication of effort.

Given this reality and in line with the UN reform effort the UN System is moving to a joint UN response to the country’s needs and UNDP co-operates with its multilateral partners through information sharing and mutual participation on programme and project advisory boards. Overtime UNDP has developed strong partnerships with the NGO sector and particularly within the current programming cycle, UNDP has considerably strengthened its partnership with the national and international private sector in Trinidad and Tobago.

Regional Partners

UNDP, Trinidad and Tobago also serves Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles both of which are Net Contributing Countries (NCC) countries. Aruba has not approached UNDP for assistance since 2001. Collaboration with the Netherlands Antilles has been ongoing.

This has been focused mainly in the area of governance with UNDP providing assistance for strategic planning, financial management and partnering with the Government on major negotiations with international corporations. A major initiative in Poverty Reduction, which began in 2004, was aborted when the funding government, Government of the Netherlands Antilles, withdrew financing on the grounds that the initial programme product, the Quick Scan, was unsatisfactory.

Subsequently, the Quick Scan was used by the Government of the Netherlands as the basis for determining allocations to poverty reduction programmes and projects funded by Uitvoeringsorganisatie Stichting Ontwikkeling Nederlandse Antillen (USONA). The office continues to explore opportunities with the Netherlands Antilles as they assume their new constitutional arrangements.

The year 2006 was, and 2007 will continue to be critical for the UN System in Trinidad and Tobago. The economic growth in the country and lack of programme resources from most UN agencies are imposing de facto a need for better integration, coherence and also economies of scale. The MDGs have provided a unifying framework for UN activities in the country. However, harmonizing procedures has been quite challenging since the country is host to a number of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes that have both national and regional commitments.