By Prime Minister Kamla
Copyright trinidadexpress
Leadership in this modern era must rest on three anchors:
• the courage to act when the path is unclear,
• the discipline to prepare before the next wave strikes, and
• the imagination to design solutions fit for tomorrow, not yesterday.
It is with this conviction that Trinidad and Tobago is proud to host the regional launch of the Human Development Report 2025.
For in times of upheaval, these reports are more than numbers. They are a compass, reminding us that true progress is measured not in GDP alone, but in the quality of our classrooms, the strength of our healthcare, the fairness of our justice, and the dignity of our people.
Trinidad and Tobago’s place among the very high human development nations was earned through sacrifice, investment, and resilience. But it is slipping and this is a warning. We cannot rest. We must act with urgency, with vision, and with resolve.
Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the pattern is clear: we have made progress, but it remains fragile. In just one generation, poverty was cut in half. Yet today, one in four people still live in poverty, and another third live so close to the edge that a single shock could push them back down.
The Human Development Index, which once rose steadily year after year, slowed sharply after the mid-2010s. Then came Covid-19, which caused the first decline in the Index in our history. Recovery since then has been uneven and uncertain.
Today, our region faces uncertainty levels that are 50% higher than the global average. And the truth is, crises no longer come one at a time.
That is what this report rightly calls a poly-crisis. The conclusion is undeniable: business as usual is no longer an option.
Here in the Caribbean, we live these contradictions every day. Growth is recorded in reports, yet inequality endures in households.
The report highlights three great stressors pressing upon us all:
1. Technological disruption
2. Social fragmentation
3. Climate emergency
From these mounting pressures, we must chart a new path, one of resilient human development. A model where progress is not fragile, where a single crisis cannot erase decades of hard work, and where every gain is protected and shared.
This vision calls for action we can all understand, such as:
• Protecting small states through debt-for-climate swaps and catastrophe-linked financing.
• Building regional value chains in food, health, creative industries, and renewable energy so our economies grow together.
• Expanding Caribbean risk pools and early-warning systems to shield our communities from natural disasters before they strike.
• Confronting cross-border crime with stronger intelligence-sharing, coordinated maritime security, and recovery strategies that rebuild trust in communities most affected.
In this way, resilience stops being a slogan and becomes a safeguard for our people, our region, and our future.
The global challenges outlined in this report have their own Trinbagonian face.
Yet even as we confront these pressures, we must also recognise the immense potential before us. Digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and new technologies are not merely tools; they are accelerators of human development.
When harnessed responsibly, they can expand access to education, improve public services, and create new pathways of opportunity. But if we fail to act, they can also deepen divides.
Our national strategy must enshrine digital access, AI governance, and innovation ecosystems that empower every citizen.
Trinidad and Tobago is proud to host this Caribbean launch. It is not only a formal event; it is a reaffirmation of our unwavering commitment to sustainable, inclusive, people-centred development.
My Government is committed to building mechanisms that help us navigate uncertainty with clarity and purpose.
• We will construct institutions that embrace complexity and respond with agility.
• We will invest in infrastructure that empowers communities—in Trinidad and in Tobago.
• We will create an environment where every citizen, in every community, feels seen, heard, and served.
These are not abstract policy goals. They are the foundations of a prosperous future for Trinidad and Tobago, and of sustainable development for our Caribbean region.
They are reflected in the Regional Human Development Report 2025, launched September 18 under the title: Under Pressure: Recalibrating the Future of Human Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
I sincerely thank the United Nations Development Programme—its leadership, its experts, and its staff—for years of steadfast partnership with Trinidad and Tobago and with our wider Caribbean.
The UNDP has walked alongside us in building schools, strengthening governance, advancing digital transformation, and now in charting a future of resilience.
Their work is not just analytical; it is practical, people-centred, and enduring. For this, I extend my Government’s gratitude, and I look forward to continuing this journey together, turning evidence into action and vision into reality.
As I close, I note that the title of this report is “Under Pressure.”
My pledge is this: under pressure, Trinidad and Tobago will not retreat. We will lead.
To UNDP and Ms Michelle Muschett, I extend deep gratitude for the rigour of this Report. To Ugo Blanco, I thank you for the candour of your message, reminding us of both our achievements and our unfinished business.
Now it falls to all of us—governments, civil society, the private sector, our youth and diaspora, and allies around the world—to act with courage, imagination, and faith.
Together, let us turn risk into resilience, pressure into progress, and uncertainty into opportunity, for Trinidad and Tobago, for the Caribbean, and for all humanity.
The above is a shortened version of the strategic vision statement address delivered by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the regional launch of the Human Development Report 2025 on September 18 at the Diplomatic Centre, Port of Spain.
