The OECD Development Centre welcomed Barbados and Zambia as new members at a meeting of ministers and high-level representatives from 56 developed and developing countries today in Paris on the occasion of the 9th High-level Meeting of the OECD Development Centre's Governing Board, under the heading “Financing the Future: Strategies for a Just Green Transition”.
Barbados and Zambia’s entries into the Centre mark a significant stride in support of the two countries’ development agenda. It also strengthens the Centre’s global representativeness and institutional cooperation with the Caribbean and African regions.
Barbados and Zambia join a diverse group of 54 OECD and non-OECD countries from around the world, contributing to an expanding membership of the Development Centre.
The Development Centre will support Barbados and Zambia in their ongoing efforts to achieve stronger and more inclusive development, offering comparative perspectives on the countries’ structural trends and governance and sharing policy experiences for sustainable economic growth and social inclusion.
Both Barbados, as a small island nation, and Zambia, as a landlocked resource-rich country, are climate-vulnerable countries. International cooperation is key to implement financing mechanisms tailored to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of these nations, considering the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters. Advancing debt restructuring discussions is instrumental. Priorities should include providing new forms of liquidity, debt relief, and new development finance.
At the meeting, ministers stressed the urgency of addressing the bottlenecks that are limiting the public and private investment needed to accelerate progress with the SDGs and advance green transitions that are globally just.
The High-Level Meeting of the Governing Board will be the main highlight of this week’s series of events and reports’ publications featuring the Centre’s role as a policy dialogue platform whose analyses help design multidimensional policy approaches, engage in frank policy dialogue and identify solutions to address these shared challenges. Key moments include the 23rd International Economic Forum on Africa, the release of the OECD Revenue Statistics in Africa 2024; the Latin American Economic Outlook 2024 and the Caribbean Development Dynamics 2025.
For more information on the OECD Development Centre, visit www.oecd.org/dev.
Media enquiries should be directed to Bochra Kriout (Tel: +33(0)1 45 24 82 96) at the OECD Development Centre Press Office.