Caption: Caribbean launch of the UNDP’s Regional Human Development Report 2025 at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s
By Alicia Chamely
UNDER pressure, Trinidad and Tobago will not retreat; it will lead.
This was the assurance given by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at Thursday’s launch of the Regional Human Development Report 2025, themed “Leadership Under Pressure and Opportunity in Crisis”. The launch took place at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.
Noting what was said about T&T in the report, Persad-Bissessar, while the country placed high in human development, it was slipping.
She noted, “This is a warning. We cannot rest. We must act with urgency, with vision and with resolve.”
Persad-Bissessar noted the report indicated there was a decline in the human development index during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and that recovery had been “uneven and uncertain.”
She listed the major stressors facing the region that included technological disruption, social fragmentation and climate emergency.
Relating these stressors to T&T, Persad-Bissessar said to tackle these her government had chosen to embrace technology to push towards more stable human development.
She said, “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.”
Persad-Bissessar continued, “Our national strategy must enshrine digital access, AI governance, and innovation ecosystems that empower every citizen.”
She said, “We will construct institutions that embrace complexity and respond with agility. We will invest in infrastructure that empowers communities in Trinidad and Tobago.”
“We will create an environment where every citizen, in every community, feels seen, heard and served,” she continued.
Persad-Bissessar assured, “These are not abstract policy goals. They are foundations of a prosperous future for Trinidad and Tobago, and of sustainable development for our Caribbean region.”
Concluding her address, the Prime Minister said, “My pledge is this: under pressure, Trinidad and Tobago will not retreat. We will lead.”
