THE BASIC NEEDS TRUST FUND'S (BNTF) 10TH CYCLE BENEFICIARY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE HAS BEEN COMPLETED. THE ASSESSMENT WAS DONE BY A DELEGATION FROM THE SAINT LUCIA SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (SSDF) AND THE CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (CDB). THE REVIEW EXERCISE IS VITAL, AS IT ASSESSES THE EFFICIENCY OF SEVERAL SUB-PROJECTS ISLAND-WIDE.
The Basic Needs Trust Fund's (BNTF) 10th cycle beneficiary assessment procedure has been completed. The assessment was done by a delegation from the Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The review exercise is vital, as it assesses the efficiency of several sub-projects island-wide.
The findings were presented to key stakeholders at a consultative forum on April 21, 2023, at the National Skills Development Center (NSDC) at Bisee.
BNTF’s Portfolio Manager at the CDB, George Yearwood, stated that beyond increasing the availability of resources, the BNTF sub-projects are targeted to alleviate the plight of vulnerable and marginalized citizens.
0:47:16 “This BNTF has been around for many years and Saint Lucia has been a beneficiary since 1979. The programme has been enhanced many times to maintain relevance. The program is CDB’s flagship poverty reduction program. The focus is on communities that are low-income and vulnerable.” BNTF Portfolio Manager, CDB, George Yearwood. 0:48:04
The Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF) commenced the data assessment process in order to forge greater inclusiveness in the design capacity, management and implementation of BNTF sub-projects.
Brandon Antoine is the SSDF’s Deputy Project Manager 0:44:23 “It is important for the BNTF programme to be more inclusive and include beneficiaries in the project design and implementation. This is why we found it fitting to implement a beneficiary assessment tool.” SSDF Deputy Project Manager Brandon Antoine.0:44:40
Beneficiaries must continue to invest in their communities as the success of each sub-project hinges on its capacity to secure funding based on grant proposals received. However, according to CDB's statistics, 96% of the beneficiary groups assessed lacked proposal writing expertise and were not registered.
0:50:50
“Our response from the BNTF at CDB is one involving quite a few interventions for this year. One is developing a proposal writing training program in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to get community leaders exposed to proposal writing. We will also be undertaking a community engagement online course for community officials that we are developing in collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton to train community leaders on how to integrate into communities,” notes CDB Community Development Specialist Richardo Aiken. 0:51:26
Acting Director of Social Transformation at the Ministry of Equity Dr. Charmaine Emmanuel expressed gratitude to the Caribbean Development Bank for strengthening the Ministry’s mandate and for their continued support.
0:35:47 “As we forge our efforts towards attaining our goals, we are also mindful that our assignments are in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, and by that we make specific mention to SDG 4 & 6, which is the provision of water, sanitation, education. So BNTF team, thank you for the continuous support.” 0:36:10 Dr. Charmaine Emmanuel Acting Director in the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment.
The SSDF is one of the principal agencies under the auspices of the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment. Projects under the BNTF 10th cycle will be implemented over the next 18 months, until December 31, 2024.