The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) introduced the OECS Development Scorecard as a tool to help its Member States track its development progress in real time, in a move to advance the development of the region.
The OECS Development Strategy (ODS) is a product of the OECS Commission and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB and was originally launched in 2019.
It addresses the key development needs of the Eastern Caribbean States with a focus on three pillars: generating economic growth, promoting human and social wellbeing, and sustainable use of natural endowments.
A monitoring scorecard was launched on June 21 and was developed following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in recognition of the nonexistence of a regional monitoring tool which provides 40 indicators across the three pillars of the ODS, and articulates the national ambitions for each indicator.
Chairman of the OECS Economic Affairs Council (EAC0 and Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy of Saint Lucia) Wayne Girard, articulated the benefits of the ODS Scorecard.
“The ODS has been developed in collaboration with OECS Member States with a view to developing a regional strategy to address national needs and to support [OECS] countries’ ability to track progress.”
Girard also encouraged OECS countries to make full use of the scorecard in the national planning process, and to use it to support the enhancement of national capacity to develop and report data needed to sustain the scorecard.
Director of the Economic Affairs and Regional Integration Division of the OECS Commission, Jacqueline Emmanuel Flood, spoke on behalf of Director General of the OECS, Dr. Didacus Jules.
“The ODS articulates the ambitions of OECS Member States to address economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability ambitions. Several consultations were held with numerous stakeholders, and this allowed Member States to articulate their country-specific targets,” he noted.
Speaking on behalf of the Governor of the ECCB, Timothy Antoine, Dr. Valda Henry, Deputy Governor of the ECCB said the scorecard would help enhance accountability, expressing that without accountability there can be no performance.
She is confident that the scorecard would “help with monitoring performance and supporting the implementation of corrective actions where these are required.”
Her Excellency Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, noted that the EU is pleased to have provided support for the scorecard as it is an essential tool for decision-makers in the OECS.
“Through tools such as the scorecard [OECS Member States] will continue to measure the good work that the OECS has done and continues to do in enhancing regional integration.”
Director of the OECD Development Centre, Mr. Federico Bonaglia (Deputy Director), speaking on behalf of Ms. Ragnheidur Arnadottin, asserted the utility of having a scorecard.
“The regional strategy scorecard would be useful in measuring challenges and [in supporting OECS countries] to respond to [development] needs.”