Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean (MCO)

The Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO)

The United Nations Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO) is located at UN House, Marine Gardens, Christ Church on the island's South Coast. The UN House was officially opened by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 2 January, 2002, who described the facility as a symbol of "the great potential and realities of regional cooperation and integration in an interdependent world".

The Barbados-based MCO comprises 18 UN agencies and covers seven independent nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 3 British Overseas territories: Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat.

In keeping with the Global UN Reform, the UN Sub-regional Team (UNST), functions under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator. The team supports Members States, through five joint programmes, in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. In alignment with the 2030 Agenda, the UN partners with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the private sector, civil society groups and development partners to help governments meet their national priorities and respond to development challenges.

Milestones

1. On 2 January, 2002,  Secretary General Kofi Annan, opened the United Nations House, which is the Multi-Country office headquarters for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
    
2. The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities in every Eastern Caribbean island.
    
3. In 2017, through a joint effort, the United Nations Sub-regional Team, helped countries recover more resilient after the impacts of hurricane Irma and Maria.
    
4. On May 6 2020, the UN Multi-Sectoral Response Plan and Fund appeal was launched to help Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean recover and build back better from the impacts of COVID-19.
    
5. On 6 July, 2020, the Joint SDG Fund announced a historically $USD 16M grant to close the SDG financing gap. 40% will be invested in Least Developed Countries and ten initiatives are being implemented in Small Island Developing States.
    
6. The launch of the Spotlight Regional Programme in 2020 to prevent and respond to family violence in the Caribbean.

To learn more visit the Multi-Country Office (MCO) website: https://easterncaribbean.un.org/.