Govt of Dominica signs MSDC Framework for Caribbean on March 16

Dominica: The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica has signed the United Nations Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework (MSDCF) for the Caribbean for 2022-2026 on March 16, 2022 (Wednesday).

As per the Dominican Government, this Framework will mainly focus on providing benefits to the people of the region. Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit informed, “The Framework focuses on four areas: economic resilience and shared prosperity; equality and wellbeing; resilience to climate change shocks and sustainable natural resource management; and peace, safety, justice, and the rule of law.”

PM Skerrit, on behalf of the whole Dominican community, further expressed gratitude towards the United Nations Secretary-General for his leadership and advocacy.

“I asked H.E Didier Trebucq, the UN Resident Coordinator, to express Dominica’s gratitude to the UN Secretary-General for his leadership and sincere advocacy on behalf of small-island developing states like Dominica, especially in these very difficult times,” Prime Minister outlined.

He further lauded the United Nations for always supporting as well as helping the Caribbean country in time of need. He underlined that the UN has always backed Dominica through providing provisions like – technical support, advice and resources.

“The United Nations has been a valuable partner in our response to Tropical Storm Erika, Hurricane Maria, and the COVID-19 pandemic, through the provision of technical support, advice, and very importantly, the mobilization of resources and supplies to respond to these shocks,” PM Skerrit stated.

The Government of Dominica has been working towards the benefit of residents of the country. Recently, the government launched the Kalinago Development Fund (KDF). The objective behind this launch was to credit the community to build resilience, sustain livelihoods and most importantly, create employment.

“The Kalinago Development Fund (KDF) was launched today to provide easier access to credit for our Kalinago people to build resilience, sustain livelihoods, increase earnings and household incomes, launch financially viable businesses and create employment,” the government of Dominica mentioned.

Dominican PM further mentioned, “An amount of eight hundred and sixty thousand dollars ($860,000.00) has been disbursed to the AID Bank to begin capitalizing the Fund for lending to people of Kalinago ancestry, at an interest rate of two percent (2%). I also pledged an additional $1million per year to the Fund, which will be included in the national budget over the next five years.”