SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, 29 October, 2026 – Tobago's sustainable development story is being written by community groups in its villages, forests and public spaces. For United Nations Day, the UN in Trinidad and Tobago invited the international partners who help fund that work to see the results for themselves. On 26 and 27 October, diplomats and representatives of international financial institutions joined the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and the UN Country Team on a mission from Scarborough to Charlotteville. They looked at what multilateral support has delivered on the ground and where it should go next.The mission opened with a Development Partners Meeting in Scarborough, co-chaired by the Chief Secretary of Tobago, the Honourable Farley Augustine, and the UN Resident Coordinator in Trinidad and Tobago, Joanna Kazana. It centred on a practical question: with global development finance under growing pressure, how can the THA, the UN and international partners make every investment in Tobago's future count for more? Chief Secretary Augustine presented the THA's Strategic Development Planning Pathway for Tobago 2025–2045 and invited partners to align their support with it. The UN followed with its Tobago-focused Common Country Analysis 2026, giving everyone at the table a shared picture of Tobago's development opportunities and challenges, before the floor opened for discussion."This meeting marks an important step in building a more inclusive society and an economy of opportunity where every citizen can participate in Tobago's development and share in its prosperity," the Chief Secretary said. "We welcome the continued cooperation with the UN and our international partners as we pursue this shared vision and strengthen the institutional capacity we need to deliver for the people of Tobago."Ms. Kazana commended the THA's support for community-led development and congratulated the youth and community leaders putting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to work across Tobago."Tobago offers a rare opportunity to demonstrate what multilateral success looks like when global partnerships align with governance institutions and community priorities," she said. "Even after UN support for a project has ended, these innovations are being sustained by the people of Tobago — the youth, women, fisherfolk and community advocates whose commitment and local knowledge have made these possible. Tobago can become a model of coordinated, locally-led implementation of the SDGs for small island states everywhere."The Chief Secretary, the Resident Coordinator, UN heads of agency and development partners then briefed the media. Marking UN Day togetherThe THA and the UN co-hosted a reception at the Pigeon Point Heritage Pavilion to mark United Nations Day, which commemorates the founding of the UN on 24 October, 1945. The occasion brought Tobago's leadership, the diplomatic corps and the UN family together to celebrate the partnership at the heart of the day's discussions. Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, The Honourable Sean Sobers, delivered remarks and expressed the continued commitment of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to partner with the UN and the international community on sustainable development and on peace and security, in light of Trinidad and Tobago’s upcoming tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from 2027-2028. From the meeting room to the fieldAcross six site visits, delegates saw UN-supported community initiatives in health, sustainable livelihoods, clean energy, biodiversity, waste reduction and the prevention of gender-based violence. At each stop, the people leading the work told the story themselves and demonstrated how Tobagonians are ensuring there is longevity to development successes even after the project has officially ended.Scarborough General Hospital: technology and care from the first day of lifeAt Scarborough General Hospital in Signal Hill, delegates interacted with a medical health services robot introduced with support from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), under a project backed by the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. They also learned about the hospital's Baby-Friendly certification, achieved through the PAHO/WHO-supported Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, the global standard for maternity care that supports breastfeeding. Both initiatives, executed in partnership with the THA Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, mean safer, higher-quality frontline care for Tobago's families.Blenheim: a lifetime of beekeeping knowledge, now onlineAt the Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute in Blenheim, Mount Saint George, the delegation met beekeepers and entrepreneurs building livelihoods from the hive. With support from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme and implementation by UNDP (UNDP GEF SGP), Tobago has expanded its supply of homegrown honey and widened access to training. It did so through an online platform that teaches beekeeping theory, backed by a hands-on training apiary. The project draws on the knowledge of Tobago's oldest beekeeper, a key partner in the development of the training programme, and is anchored in collaborations with Tobago's police youth clubs so young people have a chance to learn the beekeeping craft. This initiative was made possible through robust partnerships with the THA Division of Education, Skills and Innovation and the THA Division of Food Security.During the visit, local entrepreneurs also showcased honey, soaps, candles, face and body creams and other products from the hive. Their stalls made the point plainly: a healthy bee population supports both Tobago's biodiversity and its small businesses. Main Ridge Forest Reserve: citizen science on the Blue Copper TrailTuesday began with an early drive to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve Visitor's Centre near Parlatuvier. Designated a reserve by law since 1776, the forest is among the oldest protected forests in the Western Hemisphere and the lifeblood of eastern Tobago's watersheds and biodiversity. Solar photovoltaic panels provided through an EU-funded project implemented by UNDP keep the Visitor’s Centre off-grid, so the THA Division of Environment, Climate Resilience and Energy can welcome tourists without generating carbon emissions. On the Blue Copper Trail, delegates joined the Trinidad and Tobago Bird Observatory and Research Centre (TTBO), an implementing partner in the FAO-supported BIOREACH conservation project, to tag the White-tailed Sabrewing. The globally-threatened hummingbird is found only in Tobago and north-east Venezuela, and was feared extinct in Tobago after Hurricane Flora in 1963.Tobago has worked to rebuild this fragile population, most recently through the BIOREACH partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the THA Division of Environment, Climate Resilience and Energy, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), TTBO, the Tobago Reforestation and Watershed Rehabilitation Programme (TRWRP) and the Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development. The project has delivered regular tagging operations using nets erected in the forest and trained and certified local foresters and community residents who can safely capture, handle and tag the birds while overseeing data collection. Local residents are now driving the citizen science that protects a globally significant ecosystem.Roxborough: putting plastic waste to workAt the Roxborough Police Youth Club, delegates saw community-led efforts to scale up plastic upcycling in Tobago. With funding from UNDP GEF SGP and support from the THA Division of Environment, Climate Resilience and Energy  and the THA Division of Education, Skills and Innovation, the police youth club partnered with Flying Tree Environmental, a Trinidad-based NGO, to set up a Plastics Upcycling and Learning Centre.The centre keeps plastic out of landfills and teaches the public, particularly school-aged children, about the intricacies and benefits of upcycling. Delegates fed waste plastic into the centre's two machines, observing how one crushes bottles into chips that are melted and molded into plastic lumber, fence posts, benches, pallets and aggregate for concrete. They also witnessed a demonstration of how the second machine compacts bottles so larger volumes can be transported from communities to the centre. The Roxborough Police Youth Club is working towards the next step in creating an island-wide upcycling system, which would establish drop-off and collection depots in communities to allow residents to bring in more waste plastic.Louis D'Or: young artists speaking out on gender-based violenceAt the Louis D'Or Recreational Ground, delegates saw a mural created by young Tobagonian artists to raise awareness of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, particularly against women and girls. The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and delivered by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in partnership with the THA Division of Youth Empowerment and Sport. It is producing murals in two communities in Tobago and three in Trinidad, building on an earlier mural by the Government of Canada and UNFPA at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain.Set in a space where residents meet every day, the artwork puts young people at the front of difficult conversations about respect, violence and online safety. It also displays hotline numbers people can call to report gender-based violence and seek support.Charlotteville: a biosphere reserve shaped by its communityThe final visit took the delegation to the Environmental Research Institute of Charlotteville (ERIC), a lead community partner in governing the North-East Tobago Biosphere Reserve. The reserve was designated under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in October 2020. Representatives of ERIC and the Tobago Biosphere Management Alliance explained how the reserve is managed, with leadership from the THA Division of Environment, Climate Resilience and Energy, and what communities have achieved over the last six years:a pilot that trained young people to revive oyster farmingcoral reef restorationa growing library of images and video of life in the reserveshark and ray conservation effortspublic education that builds support for conservationIn North-East Tobago, healthy forests, coastline and sea underpin fishing, tourism and daily life, and residents are leading the effort to protect them.From Scarborough to Charlotteville, the mission carried one clear message for partners: in Tobago, international support goes furthest when communities lead.Who took partThe international development partners on the mission included delegates from the Delegation of the European Union to Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Embassy, the High Commission of Canada, the High Commission of India, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Germany, the Embassy of France, the Embassy of Spain, the Embassy of China, the Embassy of the Republic of Chile, the High Commission of Nigeria, the Consulate of Guyana, the Consulate General of The Bahamas, the Association of Caribbean States and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.The UN system was represented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), PAHO/WHO, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNFPA, FAO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV).The mission was organised by the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in Port of Spain.