The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a banking organization that is under the Board of Governors with a mission of reducing poverty and transforming lives through sustainable, resilient and inclusive development. Thus, providing a system for member Caribbean nations to borrow from and lend the necessary funding for developing their economies through the production and trade of resources. CDB was formed on Oct. 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica and commenced operations the following year.

After electing its newest president in 2025, Daniel Best, the CDB is working to address geopolitical tensions and shifting financial conditions, while approving a historic $460 million from the Special Development Fund — an amount intended to sustain the organization for three years. Best is intending to start in his newly appointed position, hitting the ground running by looking to introduce three new financial products to support a just green transition and reduce investment risk for the private sector. Furthermore, he’s made it an utmost priority to address the United Nations (U.N.)  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2 by joining the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.

Integration with the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is a governance structure that focuses on accelerating the achievement of specifically SDG 1 and 2—No Poverty (1) and Zero Hunger (2). Many board members of the CDB have reached out to the press, explaining that the organization sought to join the Global Alliance Against Hunger to address globalized poverty and food insecurity through sustainable agricultural practices. In addition, this decision could enhance domestic lives in the Caribbean by working with international programs and partners incorporated with the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.

Before publicly joining this fight alongside such an established organization, the CDB pledged to support the Alliance’s objectives through knowledge sharing, ethical engagement and the development of solutions tailored to the needs of vulnerable communities, including Indigenous populations and tribal groups. Both governance bodies have been made aware of the disproportionate poverty indigenous populations experience in not just the Caribbean, but all of Latin America. Of the 42 million Indigenous people living in the region, 43% live in poverty — more than twice the rate of non-Indigenous populations in Latin America — deepening their underrepresentation in areas such as the humanities and politics, according to Elizabeth Wong’s article Indigenous Erasure and Resistance in the Caribbean. Fortunately, the CDB and Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty are exploring strategies on how to address this long-established systematic oppression.

Furthering Progress

While addressing domestic issues with support from international partners is a strength of the Caribbean Development Bank, the organization also maintains a mutual aid agreement to advance the SDGs abroad. However, this task could be a lot more challenging, as in the last year, the World Bank has found a divergence in SDG 1 and SDG 2—which primarily have a close correlation with one another—in the past one to two decades. This could mean several things, ranging from poor or outdated data and analysis tools or genuine economic gaps in certain countries.

Moving Forward

The CDB appears to be in a position to be a key contributor in providing aid to address the issue and resolve weaker data systems among affected nations. As a region that many consider data poor, the integration of new data systems—if the U.N. can successfully achieve this—could improve the region’s capacity to properly track poor and malnourished environments. This could legitimize the organization’s influence, effectively resulting in its global expansion to provide improved analysis measures for more data-poor nations and regions.

– Sam Barbagallo

Sam is based in Tewksbury, MA USA and focuses on Business and Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr