USAID launches Caribbean RESET Program to promote climate-resilient growth and economic stability

Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 October 2024, 19:39 by Writer

The United States (U.S.) government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), launched RESET, the Caribbean Resilient Economies and Sectors activity on October 7 at the margins of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA). The CWA took place from October 7-11 at the UWI Open Campus in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Caribbean RESET reflects USAID’s ongoing commitment to safeguard the development gains of countries and advancing sustainable and resilient development, especially in the context of a changing climate.

Caribbean RESET will support more than 10,000 businesspeople, including small farmers, artisanal fisherfolk, and cooperatives, to advance the sustainability of their businesses by adopting and applying climate and/or disaster-smart practices.

This USAID initiative will also scale access to finance for small and medium businesses, using tools such as debt swaps and parametric insurance and other de-risking tools that will result in significant leveraged resources to benefit the eleven countries in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission for the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, Karin Sullivan said at the event, “RESET will contribute to preparing Caribbean countries to mitigate and adapt to adverse economic shocks resulting from climate events. We will collaborate with governments, the private sector, women, youth, and marginalized communities as partners and friends to tackle the issue of climate resilience and adaptation together.”

Caribbean RESET is led by Abt Global in collaboration with the CARICOM Private Sector Organization and Willis North Inc. The RESET Chief of Party Patricia Shako explained, “For the past 60 years, USAID has worked steadily on its mandate to advance safer and more prosperous Caribbean communities. The ESC region remains the second most disaster-prone region in the world, which underscores the timeliness of this program given the increasing frequency, intensity and unpredictability of extreme weather-related events. RESET adopts a holistic approach to resilience building, including focus on the most vulnerable groups, who need help now more than ever.”

The Caribbean RESET Program will benefit Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.