Financing for Development

Background

The COVID pandemic triggered a global economic contraction and various economic shocks that placed the most vulnerable developing countries in a financial and policy crisis. In many countries, government budgeting was severely damaged affected. Basic social safety nets, health care, programs in support of equality, and many other government supports have become threatened or unsustainable. Hundreds of millions of people became, or became more, food insecure. Even before the pandemic, CARICOM countries faced the challenges of being small-island developing states. See Small Island Developing States page.

Canada-CARICOM Partnership

In trying to address these problems, an important Canada-CARICOM partnership has emerged. On 28 May 2020, the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica and the United Nations Secretary-General launched the Initiative on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond (FfDI) at a High Level event to identify and promote concrete financing solutions to the COVID-19 health and development emergency. While work on identifying approaches to ensure financing for development is now taking place across the United Nations, and the international system of global institutions, the collaboration between Canada, Jamaica and the United Nations has provided the basis for what follows. This collaboration and partnership continues.

The process was launched at a High-Level Event on 28 May 2020 that was convened by PMs Holness and Trudeau and the UN Secretary General. Following this, six discussion groups, several of which were chaired by CARICOM countries, were convened to address a number of key issues: