BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PERSONS with great ideas will no longer have to sit on them and ponder their next move; thanks to the 2009 incarnation of the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) Technical Cooperation Programme.
The government, private sector, civil society and community groups are all eligible to submit project proposals for consideration. The deadline for submission is July 31, and proposals should be sent to the Ministry of Sustainable Development through its Department of Planning.
According to St. Kitts and Nevis OAS Representative, Starret Greene, the OAS Technical Cooperation Programme is a hemispheric effort that grants funding to projects originating in member countries. Each project must be directly related with one or more of the eight priority areas listed in the organisation’s ‘Strategic Plan for Partnership for Integral Development 2006-2009’.
These areas are social development and the creation of productive employment; education; economic diversification and integration, trade liberalisation and market access; scientific development and exchange and transfer of technology; strengthening of democratic institutions; sustainable tourism development; sustainable development and the environment; and culture.
Each participating member country is allowed to present a maximum of five project proposals, national or multinational, in addition to continuation projects.
Successful projects in St. Kitts include the development of a special education curriculum and a dyslexia programme, while the Nevis Physical Development Plan, through which lands in Nevis were designated for residential, commercial, agricultural and tourism development, has also been funded by the OAS.
Greene stated the OAS would remain a vital source of technical cooperation that would assist in building institutional capacity and developing human resources capabilities in its member countries. He noted that any proposal submitted locally should “adequately reflect the needs and priorities of the Federation”.
“Projects geared towards the service and tourism industry or commercial agricultural development or best practices in education are the types of projects we expect from St. Kitts and Nevis. All plans should include objectives that aim to strengthen gender equality, increase civil society participation in the democratic process and enhance the capacity of local human resources,” informed the OAS Representative.
He further stated that the Ministry of Sustainable Development would be responsible for selecting the five successful proposals, which would then be sent to OAS Headquarters in Washington where an evaluation committee would further examine them. Projects which gain the committee’s approval will then be funded for implementation in 2010.
