St Kitts and Nevis: UNESCO to provide $60,000 grant for sustainability

St Kitts and Nevis: The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) aims to provide a $60,000 grant to St Kitts and Nevis to promote their efforts to implement sustainability across the nation.

The St Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO was informed regarding the grant through the Federation’s envoy to the agency. The initiative by UNESCO is planned to provide support to Education, Biodiversity, and implementation of gender policies.

Reportedly, the three grants provided to three different sectors will help strengthen the nations establishments through technical and financial support. UNESCO confirmed an approximately US $60,000 grant while stating+ the grant to be beneficial in completing the final stages of the projects.

“This Grant under the Participation Programme will enable the federation to implement the final stages of the national accreditation of qualifications scheme; it will focus on the framework of national gender policy,” the authorities stated while noting that the grant is issued under the Participation Programme.

It was further mentioned that the Federation has also planned to implement the money for the transformation of the St Mary’s Biosphere Reserve into a plastic free zone.

The Secretory General for St Kitts and Nevis commission to UNESCO, Dorothy Warner noted that a big sum of money has been allocated towards education sector.

She stated that the funding will be dedicated to cover training for teachers and incorporating education for sustainable development into the new curriculum.

Geoffrey Hanley, the minister responsible for UNESCO, stated this decision by the authorities as ‘Excellent‘, noting that the funding will optimistically boost the national economy and help reach sustainability goals.

Notably, this grant will be finalized early next year, with a meeting with two of UNESCO’s appointed experts. During the meet, a draft will be designed for policies and procedures to be implemented and followed by the accreditation board.

Apart from this achievement, St Kitts and Nevis is also coordinating effectively with UNESCO to build more projects in the future.

These projects include the National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Campaign, a Water data-gathering exercise, the UNESCO-St Kitts and Nevis framework for the St Mary’s Biosphere Reserve, and the National Sports Council’s efforts towards Anti-Doping in sports.

The Ambassador to UNESCO, David Doyle, stated that he is working closely with the National Commission to execute the plans as soon as possible. He expressed his happiness about UNESCO’s recent funding.

“The targeted and focused nature of high-level technical expertise agreed with UNESCO is now paying off, benefiting government ministries, professions, and the larger stakeholder populations, including youth. A significant contributing aspect is the strong alignment among the ministries, the SKN National Commission, and the Federation’s permanent Delegation to UNESCO.” He noted.