18 Teams, 1 UN Family: 2024 Strategic Retreat

So numerous are the strands of sustainable development that it takes many UN teams working together to support countries in achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

That's why it's important to bring together the leaders of these UN teams, so collaboration is well-coordinated towards shared objectives. Our UN in T&T family kicked off 2024 with a strategic planning retreat from January 17 to 18 in Port of Spain. The two-day discussions identified needs and opportunities to innovate the way we work and cemented priorities for the UN's joint work in Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten.

Heads of Agency and programme staff from 18 UN agencies attended. Most participated in-person, while others attended virtually from regional offices in Jamaica and Panama. 

Agencies represented include:

• UNICEF
• IOM
• ILO
• UNDP
• UNHCR
• UN Women
• UNIC
• UNFPA
• FAO
• PAHO/WHO
• ECLAC
• ITU
• UNAIDS
• UNDRR
• UNCDF
• WFP
• UNEP

During her welcome remarks, UN Resident Coordinator, Joanna Kazana, spoke about the extensive commitment the UN has made to supporting national development agendas in T&T and the Dutch Islands. She suggested points of reflection for the team.

"Looking at the size of our UN Country Team which covers these four countries, there is clearly a significant investment of expertise and capacity being made by the UN into sustainable development in this part of the Caribbean. There are nearly 250 of us based in Port of Spain, and many more of us with responsibility for these countries from other bases in the Caribbean or regional offices in Panama. In Trinidad and Tobago, as a high-income country, what is the value added that the UN can bring to the country's sustainable development agenda? What is the value added we want to bring to Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten? These are key questions we must continue to consider as we plan for 2024."

Strategic sessions focused on the UN Country Team's key achievements in 2023 and lessons learned; the global and regional context for human rights, economic progress and climate financing; progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in Trinidad and Tobago and the Dutch Islands; and priorities for joint advocacy, strategic planning and resource mobilisation.

To gain insights into financing for development, the UN team heard from EU Ambassador, His Excellency Peter Cavendish, CAF Trinidad and Tobago Representative, Mr. Bernardo Riquena, and IDB Senior Climate Change Specialist, Mr. Gerard Alleng. They spoke about their organisations' priority areas for development support, from digitalisation to food systems.

Reflecting on the rich discussions among the UN teams, FAO Representative ad interim for Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, Gillian Smith, said, “The Coordination Retreat was an excellent opportunity for the agencies to meet with each other and key partners, to reflect on the agenda of T&T and the Dutch Islands to achieve the SDGs and how we can work collaboratively to contribute to this. The outcome of the retreat clearly indicated that working together will reinforce our capacities and our results.”

UNDP Trinidad and Tobago Resident Representative, Ugo Blanco, said the strategic dialogue between UN agencies underscored the UN's "commitment to addressing the interconnected challenges that nations face in the 21st century, particularly on areas related to digitalisation for inclusive development, promoting economic diversification to enhance resilience and implementing strategies to combat climate change while accelerating energy transition."