OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2015. Barbados will strengthen its social safety net for its poorest citizens and improve labor market training opportunities with a US\\$10 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program seeks to reduce extreme poverty and high unemployment rates in Barbados. The program will be structured in three components: first, reduce extreme poverty through the expansion and consolidation of the Identification, Stabilization, Enablement, and Empowerment (ISEE) Bridge Program; second, reduce unemployment through improved employment services and demand-driven technical training; and third, create an efficient Management Information System (MIS) that connects programs executed by various Barbados Government agencies.

Although Barbados has a Human Resource Development Strategy (2011-2016), further consolidation with its social policies is needed. The existing labor market programs have limited coverage and the relevant Barbadian Government units lack the necessary tools to adequately target beneficiaries, monitor programs’ implementation, and improve inter-agency coordination and with Barbados’ private sector.

This program will cover 250 additional households or approximately 2,000 individuals during a four-year period, focusing on the following pillars: personal identification, education and human resources development, family dynamics and health promotion.

The activities that will be executed under this component include the financing of daycare services, school meals, school textbooks and uniforms, remedial learning courses, and selected health promotion services.

In addition it will aid 8,000 Barbadians seeking jobs by providing access to improved job counseling services, better local labor market information, and offering demand-driven technical training courses for unemployed youths.

The program will fund a Management Information System that will strengthen the government’s coordination, monitoring and accountability capacities related to national labor market trends.

The IDB will provide US\\$5 million from its ordinary capital, while the China co-financing Fund will contribute US\\$5 million for this project. The IDB loan has a 25-year maturity, a 5.5-year grace period and an interest rate based on LIBOR which is currently about 1.2 percent.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region.