SUNS4509 Thursday 16 September 1999

Caribbean: The threats loom large

Port of Spain, Sep 14 (IPS/Wesley Gibbings) -- Recent research projects in the Caribbean appear to have withheld a final verdict on the impact of structural adjustment and globalisation on countries of the region, but they all conclude that serious threats loom large and in some instances already exist.

Sonia Cuales, Social Development Officer in the Caribbean Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), argues that even as some macro-economic strategies have yielded impressive statistical results there has been little easing of some pervasive social problems.

"While some countries have experienced significant economic growth rates, high levels of crude and persistent poverty exist," Cuales says and cites "the deteriorated situation of children: high infant and child mortality rates" and refers to the situations in Haiti, Guyana, Grenada, St Kitts/Nevis, British Virgin Islands, St Lucia and Suriname.

"Child mortality is a most important indicator of the state of human development in a country," she argues.

"A growing equity gap in social and economic well-being and the exclusion of a significant proportion of the population from the benefits of economic growth have contributed to the deterioration of the social fabric in the sub-region," Cuales says.

A study conducted by researchers Judith Wedderburn and Bridgette Levy for a recent ECLAC-hosted sub-regional review of progress since the 1995 Social Summit in Copenhagen seems to support Cuales' view.

"There are undoubtedly benefits to be gained from international trade, new investments and new and more efficient communication and information," the study says. "But there are also real threats."

The study refers to the phenomena of international competition, rapid movements of short-term capital and fundamental changes in social and cultural norms "which themselves could result in destabilisation, political instability, and the weakening of important social norms and institutions".

"In addition," the study says, "economic reforms and structural adjustment programmes have constrained the ability of governments to provide an enabling environment for their citizens."

This, the Caribbean Office of the ILO says, has generated "increasing understanding that time has come to identify and set social targets to protect long-term development potential of the economies".

The ILO cites the "accelerated development of human resources to seize the opportunities that exist", permitting "freedom of initiatives and removing obstacles to enterprise, increased productivity and competitiveness while finding new ways to regulate markets" and "developing new ways of social dialogue and partnerships in meeting the development challenge".

Even so, the ILO questions the true gains earned from trade and economic liberalisation.

"During the nineties and particularly in the second half of this decade," an ILO paper says, "much progress was made in the area of macro-economic stability and economic growth."

"Notwithstanding great strides made by many countries in the region to regain growth, create employment and reduce unemployment nearly by half, the rates of unemployment generally did not go below the two digit levels," it says.

Youth unemployment figures have been of particular concern to researchers. Regionally, young people under 35 account for more than 30% of the unemployment figures. In Jamaica, Belize and St Lucia, more than half of the unemployed population is under 25. "Unemployment in the Caribbean still remains mainly a problem of young people."

Wedderburn and Levy also identify several other "subgroups" specifically affected by economic adjustment and trade policies. These include the elderly, children, women, young, males, unskilled workers, small-scale farmers, indigenous groups and people with disabilities.

The authors argue that the poor bear the brunt of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and that an important function of the government in "fostering an enabling environment" would be to "adopt and execute programmes that function to reduce the burden of SAPs on these vulnerable groups, especially the poor".

"Poverty," they say, "impacts on the country's ability to promote economic growth. As can be seen, people who are poor do not have the human capital of adequate health care and education to fully participate in and contribute to development."

"Despite the universal call in Copenhagen for greater coherence between social development policies and economic development policies, the link between economic development and sustainable social progress is still difficult to find in the Caribbean," Cuales adds.

"The real challenge facing Caribbean countries is how to engage in a competitive game on a playing field that is not level," say Wedderburn and Levy. This, they contend, is necessary while the region is learning from and utilising "the best global practices as well as designing and implementing effective national policies which will eventually lead to sustainable economic and social development".