In coincidence with this year’s Independence Day on February 22, a hundred miles away, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced huge plans for Barbados in the year 2020. In a call to all Barbadians living in the Diaspora to come home next year, she said, “2020 has been designated as the year for Barbadians and those who love this country to come home, reconnect with family and friends, and invest in the rebuilding and development of Barbados.”
The year-long initiative will impact every parish in Barbados by allowing each one to showcase their icons, food, social life and identity. It starts in January 2020 in the north of the island and moves southward each month.
Mottley’s clever initiative not only calls for a resurgence of Bajan patriotism but it allows for those in the Diaspora and those at home to directly invest in projects that could help their community.
While some could see the similarity with Saint Lucia’s 40th anniversary of Independence ‘All In’ campaign, Mottley’s administration puts people at the centre of the agenda and is allowing each parish, those well recognized and those not so much, the opportunity to showcase themselves in the best light.
In some ways, Vision 2020, has elements of the Barbadian Social Partnership, a tripartite agreement between the government of Barbados, private sector and trade unions that was created in the ‘90s in response to severe economic challenges. One could say that Vision 2020 is an informal agreement with every sector of society that would contribute both economically and socially to “build the best Barbados”. Meanwhile, in Saint Lucia, are all sectors of society truly included in the ‘All In’ campaign when it comes to our nation’s growth?
Keithlin Caroo is the founder of Helen’s Daughters, a Saint Lucian non-profit with a special focus on rural women’s economic development through improved market access, adaptive agricultural techniques, and capacity-building. It was formed in 2016 in a winning proposal for UN Women’s Empower Women Champions for Change Program.
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