The Barbados-based Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is planning to build a case for debt relief and restructuring for countries in the region.
Richard Jones, Officer in Charge of CPDC, made the disclosure on Wednesday as he maintained that wealthy, heavily industrialized countries owe Small Island Developing States (SIDS) who are on the frontlines of the accelerating climate and debt crisis.
“CPDC aims to coordinate a Caribbean civil society, solutions-oriented regional policy and advocacy campaign to highlight and address the adverse effects of high debt levels, exacerbated by public health crises, climate change effects, and the historical development deficits caused by small and vulnerable developing states like Barbados and those in the Caribbean,” he said.
“CPDC, through this advocacy campaign, is aiming to build a case for Caribbean debt relief as a priority, and also restructuring of existing debt based on the region’s inherent climate and economic vulnerabilities.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organisations’ Caribbean Debt Workshop at United Nations House, he said the level of debt that currently hampers economic growth in SIDS is largely due to the colonial financial frameworks still found in smaller economies, particularly in the Caribbean.
“To delve into the debt and climate crisis facing the region and proper solutions on the way forward, we must understand the role history has played in influencing and promoting the systemic, historical, economic, oppression, which in part can account for the underdevelopment of the Caribbean region.
Source-Barbados Today
