Top 5 Moments for the UN in T&T in 2023

With 2023 being the halfway mark for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, it was a year for delivering strong impetus to accelerate progress as we inch closer to the deadline to fulfill the 2030 Agenda.

Let's look back at 5 key moments for the UN in T&T in 2023.

5. Arrival of a New UN Resident Coordinator

On June 5, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, announced the appointment of Ms. Joanna Kazana as the UN Resident Coordinator for Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten. Ms. Kazana arrived in Trinidad and Tobago and immediately began coordinating preparations for the first official visit of the UN Secretary-General to Trinidad and Tobago. She presented her credentials to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. the Honourable Amery Browne, on June 30. This is the second Resident Coordinator posting for Ms. Kazana, the latest advancement in a two-decade long career in development work in the UN. Resident Coordinators help optimise synergies across the UN agencies working in each country, coordinating joint work priorities and administering the UN's cooperation framework to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. 

4. Big Data Forum 2023 Explores the Power of Big Data and A.I.

More than 400 participants turned out for the first-ever in-person incarnation of the UN in T&T's Big Data Forum in November. With the previous two editions of the Big Data Forum hosted online during the pandemic, this year's edition was ambitious in its goal to bring tech experts, innovators, business leaders and government movers and shakers into the same room to explore ways to harness Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for development. During the two-day event, 9 panel discussions and presentations showcased the limitless opportunities to apply Big Data and A.I. in advancing sustainable development, peace and security, revolutionising business models and developing a regional robotics industry. A key thread throughout the conversation was the need for regulators and legislators to keep pace with fast-changing developments in A.I. to ensure guardrails are put in place to protect users. The highlight of day two of the Forum was the Secondary Schools Battle Bots Competition, hosted in partnership with Teleios and Huawei. The tournament pitted teams from 20 secondary schools against each other to hone the students' prompt engineering skills, giving youngsters a rare opportunity to use natural language (instead of complex coding!) to compete in a tech competition. 

3. SDG Roundtable 

With Trinidad and Tobago holding the presidency of the UN General Assembly from 2023 to 2024, the country is in a unique position to help catalyse acceleration of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. To support the country in fine-tuning its own plan to kick momentum into high gear, the UN in T&T partnered with the Ministry of Planning and Development to hold an SDG Roundtable consultation in September to shape the country's contribution to the SDG Summit which took place during the High-Level Week at the UN General Assembly in New York. More than 100 representatives from Government, the private sector, civil society and the international development community attended to contribute their expertise to T&T's SDG Roundtable. The conversation identified peace and security, monitoring and evaluation and education among the areas for prioritisation as Trinidad and Tobago charts a plan of action to meet the 2030 deadline.

2. Spotlight Initiative Hands Baton to National Authorities to Continue Momentum on Ending Gender-Based Violence

After three years and a US $5.3 million investment, the United Nations Spotlight Initiative Trinidad and Tobago is leaving behind a solid framework for national authorities to build on improvements in systems, data collection, resources and collaboration as they work to protect and support women and girls who experience violence. The Spotlight Initiative, which received dedicated funding support from the European Union, held a two-day conference in November to mark the "transitioning" of the programme, which boasts the implementation of the region's first-ever Clinical and Policy Guidelines for Healthcare Workers to Respond to Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence, the updating and costing of a National Strategic Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence (GBV), training of nearly 600 judicial officers on GBV case management, development of a joint workplace policy on GBV and sexual harassment, training of 400+ police officers on gender-responsive policing, strengthening of the national GBV Registry system, improvements to the Child Protection Information Management System used by the Children's Authority, and capacity-building grants for nearly 20 civil society organisations who serve vulnerable women and girls. Participants at the transition conference reflected on Spotlight's achievements, identified opportunities for continued investment and collaboration and recommitted to sustaining the network of cross-cutting partnerships built by Spotlight since its launch in 2020.

1. UN Secretary-General Celebrates CARICOM's 50th Anniversary with First Official Visit to Trinidad and Tobago

The UN in T&T had the privilege of hosting UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, during his visit to Trinidad and Tobago to join CARICOM Heads of Government in celebrating the regional organisation's 50th anniversary in July. The Secretary-General's three-day visit included a tour of the Asa Wright Nature Centre to witness the benefits of biodiversity and conservation collaboration between civil society, the UN and the private sector; a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley, and a keynote address during the CARICOM 50th Anniversary celebration. This was the first time Secretary-General Guterres had visited Trinidad and Tobago. He used his time here to advocate for urgent action to bring peace and security to Haiti and to reiterate his solidarity with Small Island Developing States as they seek reforms to the international financial system which would bring more equitable access to development financing. The attendance of the UN Secretary-General to CARICOM's milestone anniversary underscored the value placed by the UN - at its highest levels - on the membership of Caribbean states in the global family of nations.

2024 promises to sustain the excitement and momentum that built throughout the past year as the UN in T&T spearheaded new initiatives and strengthened existing collaborations. With the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States happening in Antigua & Barbuda in May 2024, and the Summit of the Future set to reimagine the way the UN works in September 2024, the coming year is poised to offer many opportunities for the UN in T&T to partner with Trinidad and Tobago as it participates in watershed moments in regional and global affairs.