Our projects
We work with the Government, the private sector, civil society, academia and other development stakeholders to help Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten drive and sustian growth that improves everyone's lives while protecting the environment. UNDP Trinidad and Tobago Multi-Country Office focuses expertise on four programme areas: poverty policies and strategies; open and participatory governance; citizen security and justice; climate change and disaster resilience.
Poverty policies and strategies
In response to the government commitment to eradicating poverty and ensuring alignment with the sustainable development goals agenda, UNDP collaborates to advance development policies primarily through interventions focused on improving data and information capacities; restructuring social safety-net programmes; and fostering citizen participation in poverty policies. UNDP responds to the limitations in data capacities, recognized by national counterparts, that hinder poverty policies and their implementation. Technical support is provided to the Central Statistical Office and other government bodies in the areas of development-related (a) data generation, collection and disaggregation; (b) statistical analysis; and (c) public acess to data.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government (MRDLG) plays a pivotal role in securing the functional cooperation necessary for national initiatives in Trinidad and Tobago. By virtue of its remit, the local government system has a more direct and constant connection to citizens than central government. In the execution of the Ministry’s functions, municipal corporations and special purpose enterprises assist communities by pooling resources in targeted areas such as infrastructural development, disaster management, public health, and sanitation. Currently, documentation of existing policies, programmes, operating procedures and proposed works at the Ministry and its municipal corporations has been both digital and paper-based with little adherence to best practices when documenting the status of these activities. The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government through partnership with the UNDP is seeking to develop an Enterprise Content Management System for the Ministry. It is intended that by embarking on this project, institutional capacity can be built and data collection can have integrity to fulfil the theme of Goal 2 under Goal II of the National Development Strategy 2016-2030 (Vision 2030), ‘The public service will have modern, effective and efficient management systems.’
| Project | End date |
| Enterprise Content Management System – Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government (MRDLG). | December, 2019 |
Open and participatory governance
Modernizing the institutions of government into responsive and inclusive decision-making structures has been a priority of successive governments in Trinidad and Tobago since independence. UNDP works to ensure that principles of good governance are upheld and strengthened. UNDP supports government efforts to bolster mechanisms that support the proper use of national resources and integrity in public office. It aims to reduce bureaucratic practices, improve autonomy and advance transparent public management for government bodies through strengthening of the Parliament and support for local government reform efforts.
UNDP will support government efforts to bolster mechanisms that support the proper use of national resources and integrity in public office. It will seek to reduce bureaucratic practices, improve autonomy and advance transparent public management for government bodies through strengthening of the Parliament and support for local government reform efforts.
| Project | End date |
| Capacity development for nation building of Curacao | March, 2018 |
| Building a nation: Sint Maarten National Development Plan & Institutional Strengthening | December, 2018 |
Citizen security and justice
The prevention of crime and violence is an overarching national priority. UNDP adopts a multi-pronged approach focused on strengthening crime prevention capacities and the response of agencies, with special attention to gender-based violence. With respect to violence involving children, UNDP works together with UNICEF in prevention and response actions protecting children.
UNDP promotes a citizen security approach and supports the Government in developing a national citizen security policy and strategy. The policy promotes interventions targeting at-risk-youth, gender-based violence, and community policing. UNDP works with the judiciary and police to strengthen criminal information systems, by addressing data gaps and incompatibilities, as a means of increasing the effectiveness of those institutions. This enhances evidence-based decision-making on crime prevention and response strategies, particularly interventions-enriched information disaggregated by gender and other factors to address gender-based violence.
UNDP provides technical support to the judiciary in creating a restorative justice policy focused on the rehabilitation of offenders and reparations to victims. These components of criminal justice system reform provide an important opportunity for citizen participation through collaborations with civil society organizations, youth councils and networks of non-governmental associations, private sector entities, and state agencies. This is accomplished through training workshops and increased communication across all levels of government and civil society.
| Project | End date |
| Trinidad and Tobago Juvenile Court Project | April, 2018 |
Climate change and disaster resilience
Following the 2015 Paris climate change accords, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago developed new strategies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the country (mitigation) and safeguarding those most affected by local climate change effects (adaptation). UNDP takes a multi-dimensional approach integrating policy, capacity-building and local community measures. The interventions will leverage women's knowledge, promote their agency, and address particular vulnerabilities for increased resilience.
On the policy side, UNDP supports the inclusion of disaster risk reduction principles in national and sectoral development frameworks and planning processes. It is accomplished through evidence-based policy advisory support, incorporating local knowledge provided by women.This will reduce the vulnerability of communities to the effects of climate change and natural hazards, including seismic, man-made and hydro-meteorological events. Given the potential climate change effect of increased vector-borne diseases in temperature and precipitation scenarios, adaptive actions will include national interventions to mitigate health risks.
Institutional capacity is strengthened through assessments and subsequent implementation of capacity-building programmes to support the sustainability of climate-resilience approaches, including low-emission development strategies and comprehensive disaster risk reduction principles that reflect obligations under relevant global agreements to which Trinidad and Tobago is a party, including (a) the UNFCCC; (b) the Sendai Framework; and (c) the Montreal Protocol.
To advance local initiatives addressing climate and disaster resilience, UNDP stimulates public, private and civil society partnerships to leverage the strengths and resources of stakeholders to carry out innovative actions and illustrate how communities can implement national carbon-reduction strategies. The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP) plays an instrumental role, given its successful relationships with local actors, particularly in ongoing pilot projects such as those on renewable energy, climate change resilience, paper recycling, and emergency evacuation for persons with disabilities.
| Project | End date |
| Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Project, Phase 2 | December, 2019 |
| Towards creating a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Aruba | June, 2018 |
Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF)
What is the programme about:
The programme is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as a corporate programme, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the GEF partnership, and executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).The programme provides grants of up to US$50,000 directly to local communities including indigenous people, community-based organizations and other non-governmental groups for projects in: Biodiversity, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Land Degradation and Sustainable Forest Management, International Waters and Chemicals.
Some of the projects implemented under this programme:
Building Sustainable Farming Practices
Find the details of above mentioned projects through the link 'Map of projects' below:
