KINGSTON - The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented disruptive effects on the lives of people in the Caribbean while exacerbating inequalities among already disadvantaged groups in society, finds the UNESCO Knowledge Series on Inclusive COVID-19 Recovery in Caribbean SIDS. The UNESCO publication released on 17 June 2021, highlights vulnerabilities and development potentials in the Caribbean and offers policy recommendations for a more inclusive, equitable, and people-centered COVID-19 recovery in the sub-region.
In ten Think Pieces, experts from academia and civil society discuss how COVID-19 has impacted groups in vulnerable situations such as people with disabilities, youth, LGBTQIA+ persons, female-headed households, and indigenous people in Caribbean Small Island Developing States, SIDS.
Addressing the foreword of the Knowledge Series, Saadia Sanchez-Vegas, Director and Representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, urged for a “swift and coordinated response that mandates multi-stakeholder coalitions that have sufficient evidence available to make sense of the complex new reality for people and take appropriate actions.” The launch event on June 17, which was held virtually under the theme "UNESCO Talk: Spotlight on inclusive COVID-Recovery," provided an opportunity to engage with the contributing authors who discussed concrete policy recommendations grounded on Caribbean realities.
Providing a regional snapshot, Prof. Dr. Clive Landis, Chairperson of the Regional COVID-19 Task Force, University of the West Indies, Barbados, examined the resilience of people in the Caribbean in dealing with crises. In his Think Piece "COVID-19 among Caribbean SIDS: an effective public health response rooted in resilience, " he argues that lessons learned from the annual hurricane season has prepared many Caribbean SIDS in stockpiling strategic supplies and preparing front line services to deal with the emergency.
"Caribbean people are remarkably resilient and generally willing to abide by public health and safety measures invoked for the common good. This level of public and private awareness of health and safety measures that need to be observed when tackling an emergency may explain in part how the Caribbean was able to mount an effective public health response to COVID-19," he adds. However, Prof. Dr. Landis warns that the worst economic consequences are yet to come, which can further impact the widening of social inequalities and the deepening of vulnerabilities in the Caribbean.
Rural or low-income women, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, youth, and single-parent households are among those most affected by the pandemic. Often these groups face multiple forms of discrimination and exclusion. Dr. Deborah McFee, Outreach and Research Officer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, analyzed through her Think Piece, the gendered impact of COVID-19. She highlights how COVID-19 has revealed the importance of women both on the frontline, but also at home, exposing significant structural inequalities. Thus, women in the Caribbean have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Carla Moore, lecturer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona Unit, Jamaica, argues in her Think Piece "Leaving no one behind: Assessing the needs of vulnerable groups in Jamaica", for the need of an intersectional analysis of inequalities as a necessary tool to develop concrete measures to ensure that no one is left behind in the COVID-19 recovery efforts.
With around one million people in the Caribbean living with some form of disability, in his Think Piece, Senator Floyd Morris, Ph.D., CARICOM Special Rapporteur on Disabilities and Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Jamaica, highlights the impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities during and after COVID-19, and highlights the importance of their meaningful inclusion,
"In order to prevent the exclusion and isolation of persons with disabilities from any COVID-19 related activities, governments within the Caribbean must make a deliberate and strategic effort to include these individuals” states Senator Floyd Morris, Ph.D.
