In an interesting turn of events yesterday; participants of the Non-State Actors Panel were informed that the Alternative Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy has been very warmly received by the European Union Delegation in the Barbados, and with some extra time and effort invested – it could become the “official” country PRSP! According to the EU, what the Non-State Actors have done is the first of its kind in the Region, and the PRSP that was written for the Government was deemed ‘not-acceptable’ by the EU leaving the Civil Society document as the only functional development strategy for the nation at this time.
This is a really commendable development for Grenada, and an incredible opportunity to transform Grenada’s future. Ample praise and appreciation is due to the people who invested their time to consult with stakeholders and prepare the document – particularly since most of the document was prepared with volunteer resources (I will rant about the inequities of consultant contracts another day) by people who should have been paid for their work. But I know that like me – those of us who are really committed to a sustainable future for our children don’t do this work for the money so the work will get done anyway.
If this PRSP is ‘mainstreamed’ it could be used as a benchmarking tool for EU Budget Support and for this fact alone – the prospect is thoroughly thrilling! The 10th EDF budget support is worth nearly €10 million Euros. Imagine if it was spent wisely!?
For generations the world over, development strategies have been defined by powerful elite and technocrats, and that neglected community oriented priorities, indigenous knowledge and many practical considerations. The cornerstone of sustainable development is local ownership – and that means ownership at the community level – not just among the elites. Put in simple terms – imagine any team oriented sport where the players on the team are all trying to score in different nets. Practically speaking, it means that if sustainable development is to be achieved, all the players must know what the win-zone looks like and they must have a desire or at least an interest in reaching it. Without that kind of buy –in, it means people are struck with the antiquated trickle-down effect, which yields muted results at best.
So for these reasons Grenada is poised to mature as a nation in a very important way, and quite ironically the global economic slowdown has put development pressures on the private sector (such as electricity prices) that have moved all the non-state actors closer together in terms of how they perceive the win-zone.
Now it is up to those of us who are good at communications and strategic planning to enable this momentous opportunity! As one local activist said yesterday, ‘It is time to inspire’ [people]. Development from the bottom up, that is informed by sound fiscal policy and technocratic experience is in my view, the best and most durable approach for getting on (and staying on) a sustainable development path that respects the economy, society and the environment.
As far as the Hotel and Tourism Association and my company are concerned, our contribution to this will be our efforts to bring some energy justice to Grenada through our lobby for price reductions, energy liberalization and ultimately the conversion to renewable energy. There is no way we can consider a sustainable future for this nation if our energy production leaves us import dependant in an unstable global environment – and there is no way we can be a sustainable nation if households earning $800 XCD a month (yes, that’s a full time wage for some people here!) have to pay $20 XCD a month for every fan they use to keep the mosquitoes and heat away from them at night.
So we will be contributing to the PRSP process by defining our energy goals that will very likely become part of the Strategy’s action plan. I am quite confident that the GHTA’s plans will be adopted by the Non-State Actors Advisory Panel and eventually mainstreamed as a national development priority.
How amazing is that!!????
Maybe just maybe, I will be able to look into my daughters eyes when she grows up and tell her ‘I did all I could to preserve your future and it made a difference’. I shudder to even think what kind of a world she will inherit if we fail.
