Towards the Security of Small Island States in the Caribbean – A Multidimensional Approach

1. Towards the Security of Small Island States in the Caribbean – A Multidimensional Approach Presented by Cletus I. Springer Chief Caribbean Division Coordinator, Natural Hazards, Climate Change and Energy OAS Department for Sustainable Development Committee on Hemispheric Security 13 February, 2008

2. The plea for a new paradigm “…the GDP includes air pollution, cigarette advertising, the ambulances cleaning our streets of accidents, the special locks in our doors and the prisons for those who break them. It includes the destruction of pinewoods and the death of Lake Superior. It rises with the production of missiles and nuclear heads…and if the GDP includes all this, there is more that is not comprised (such as) the heath of our families, the quality of our education or the enjoyment of games. It is indifferent to the indecency of our factories and the safety of our streets…it does not measure our ingenuity or our courage, our wisdom or our understanding . To sum up it measures everything except what makes life worth living…” Robert Kennedy Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

3. Abstract This presentation proposes a policy framework that could contribute towards the attainment of the security of small states in the Caribbean, in all its dimensions. It is set upon a foundation of evolving theories on economic vulnerability, economic resilience and social vulnerability in small states. It accepts that small states are inherently vulnerable, economically, socially and environmentally; it contends that the interplay between these various types of vulnerability demands an integrated policy and strategic response, that seeks to build resilience in all three spheres, simultaneously. The presentation will explore some of the main challenges to creating resilient economies, societies and environments through effective social policy. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

4. The Types of Vulnerability • Vulnerability – propensity of a social, economic and environmental system to suffer harm from exposure to internal and external stresses and shocks; • Economic vulnerability refers to risks faced from exogenous shocks to systems of production, distribution and consumption; • Environmental Vulnerability refers to risk of damage to natural eco-systems Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

5. Types of Vulnerability • Social vulnerability reflects “…the degree to which societies or socio-economic groups are affected by stresses and hazards, whether brought about by external forces or intrinsic factors – internal and external – that negatively impact the social cohesion of a country” (UNDP 2000). Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

6. Tracing the linkages • Links between social, economic and environmental system render SIDS more vulnerable • Inherent economic vulnerability has impeded economic growth and development • Failure to anticipate shocks and their knock-on effects have lead to only partial solutions and a deepening of vulnerability. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

7. Linkages Society Economy Environment Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

8. Features of Economic Vulnerability in SIDS • Small domestic markets • High dependence on exports • Limited resource endowments • Limited diversification opportunities • Dependence on a narrow range of products • Inability to influence international prices • High per unit transport costs • High dependence on preferential trading arrangements Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

9. Features of Social Vulnerability in SIDS • ECONOMY–RELATED issues: • Impacts of globalization • High rates of unemployment/under-employment • High dependency ratios • High poverty rates • Poor labor market flexibility; • Susceptibility to “brain drain” • Cultural penetration. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

10. Features of social vulnerability cont’d • SERVICE PROVISION ISSUES: • dispersed rural settlements with implications for cost of service provision • Small populations but high population densities in urban/peri-urban/ coastal/valley areas with implications for health and sanitation • Marginalization of women, children and the elderly • Undeveloped social sectors • High rates of internal (rural to urban migration) and international migration • High levels of crime/drug addiction Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

11. Features of social vulnerability cont’d • HEALTH-SECURITY ISSUES: • Susceptibility to infectious diseases • High unit costs of health, administrative education, judicial services • Thinness of insurance market • High transportation costs (inter and intra island) • Aging populations with implications for viability of social safety nets • Low levels of educational achievement/high dropout rates and illiteracy. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

12. Features of Social vulnerability cont’d • FOOD SECURITY ISSUES: • Increased consumption rates due to growing populations; • Insecure food situation/high food import bill with negative dietary/health implications • Poor access to land/ water links to food security and sanitation • Systems and transmission of values • Vulnerability to man-made and natural disasters Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

13. Features of social vulnerability • POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES: • Underdeveloped public and private sectors • Low institutional capacity due limited HR capacity; • Weak development planning capacity • Lack of integration between economic, social and environmental aspects of planning • Lack of integration between the national and regional aspects of planning • Lack of participation in the planning and decision-making process • Lack of effective decision-support systems Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

14. Features of Environmental Vulnerability • Increasing Water stress • Fragile ecosystems • Susceptibility to pollution effects • Extreme vulnerability to natural disasters including: • Climate change and climate vulnerability • Increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes, storms • Floods and droughts • Sea level rise • Landslides • Land and soil degradation • Coastal erosion Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

15. From Vulnerability to Security/Resilience • Originally: used in narrow context to mean the ability/capacity of a country to recover from external shocks and disturbance; • Now: goes beyond mere survival and envisages the capacity of a country to (a) return at least to the status quo; (b) go beyond status quo to address ability to “thrive”. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

16. The Role of Social Policy • Social policy is state intervention that: • directly affects social welfare, social institutions and social relations • Involves overarching concerns with redistribution, production, reproduction and protection • Works in tandem with economic (and environmental policy) • Establishes and enforces standards and regulations that shape the role of non-state actors and markets in social provisioning UN Research Institute for Social development - Policy Brief #5 Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

17. The Tasks of Social Policy • Social policy concerned with: • Redistributive effects of economic policy • Protecting the vulnerable from the vagaries of the market • Enhancing the productive potential of the members of the society • Reconciling the burden of reproduction • Sharing the burden of reproduction Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

18. The Case for an Integrated Approach • Social policy goals are naturally synergistic and complementary • The pursuit of one social policy goal to the exclusion of others can impede the attainment of the chosen goal • Distributive functions cannot be pursued without a focus on productive functions and vice versa • A focus on productivist approach alone will breed disunity. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

19. Social Policy Functions • Investment in human capital (education, health, housing etc)- prerequisite for economic growth and resilience • Social compensation ( stable, predictable, social protection networks) • Influences the levels and structures of demand as well as supply • Social cohesion (“…creation of an integrated society in which the population behaves according to socially accepted norms and patterns and an adjustment is created between cultural goals, the structure to attain them and the acquisition of the necessary skills to take advantage of these opportunities.” ECLAC, 1997:III.73 Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

20. Social Policy Imperatives • Effective social policies are those that are: • Arrived at with full participation of major actors • Are fully ventilated • Reinforced in Constitutions, Social Charters, laws and other written policy statements • Kept under constant review • In consonance with local value systems, cultures structures and institutions • Aligned with institutional capacity Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

21. Integrated Development Policy Imperatives • Strengthening development policy analysis, formulation and implementation arrangements across and within sectors • Developing institutional and technical capacity to formulate and implement integrated development policy • Strengthening channels for continuous participation in policy and planning processes Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

22. Imperatives for policy Implementation • Establish IDP arrangements that: • Reflect a common set of guiding principles ; • Allow for incorporation of physical and/or social impacts of economic activities or for environmental protection measures; • Routinely incorporate environmental, social, physical and spatial consequences of planning Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

23. Imperatives for Policy Implementation • Develop the capacity of key national and regional institutions; • Increase the supply, use and retention of trained human resources; • Institutionalize dynamic planning and decision-making frameworks based on participatory processes; • More participation by CSOs in dev. process Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

24. Imperatives for Policy Implementation • Generate sustained and comprehensive labor market information to better guide interventions in the labor market; • Reform education systems to ensure better fit between trained HR and national/regional development goals • Enhance labor market flexibility to meet productivity/competitiveness targets Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

25. Social Policy Imperatives • Develop national and sub-regional policy frameworks for poverty eradication using the sustainable livelihood approach; • Provide social safety nets for the poor; • Undertake macro-economic and social analyses of social development programs; • Enhance human and physical infrastructure Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

26. Social Policy Imperatives • Promote conflict resolution at h/hold, community and national level • Empower marginalized groups • Ensure the livelihoods and income security of older persons • Build leadership capacity at community level • Better management of the expectations of the population Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

27. The Monitoring Challenge • Some progress since the mid-1990s • Declaration on Statistics for Social Progress: • Monitoring the attainment of outcomes of social policies and programs (e.g changes in unemployment levels, income distribution and population’s health; • Identifying those factors that seem to be linked to specific outcomes (desirable or undesirable) and that are a target for intervention via social programs or policies. Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

28. The Monitoring Challenge • The Millennium Development Goals – 48 indicators relating to 8 goals: • Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty • Achieve universal primary education • Promote gender equality and empower women • Reduce child mortality • Improve maternal health • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other Diseases • Ensure environmental sustainability • Develop a global partnership for development Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

29. The Monitoring Challenge Social indicators must be: • simple in their construction • Relevant to the national/regional context • permit accurate measurement of progress towards the attainment of social (development) policy • Enable the knock-on effects of economic, social and environmental policy to be properly assessed Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development

30. THE END • THANK YOU! • MERCI BEAUCOUP! • MUCHAS GRACIAS! Cletus I. Springer OAS - Department of Sustainable Development CP19610T