Adolescents and the right to education

The inalienable right of all people to education is enshrined in various international covenants, conventions and agreements, yet the actual fulfilment of this right varies in quantity and quality from one country to the other. On average, the compulsory length of schooling in the countries of the region is 10 years. Half of these countries have already made all secondary education mandatory, which is eminently reasonable since it is commonly accepted as a minimum threshold for lifelong well-being and skills-building. The main article in this edition of Challenges discusses this subject in depth, and shows how far behind we are in ensuring that all adolescents have access to the education to which they are entitled. It focuses on the low secondary school-completion rate and low level of learning acquisition, the strong socioeconomic and sociocultural stratification, the lack of citizenship skills, and the persistence of a relatively high dropout rate at all levels of secondary education. The main challenge in guaranteeing the right to education lies in reducing learning and attainment gaps by helping the groups that are presently lagging behind the most. As is customary, there are also reports on relevant meetings and conferences held in the region over the past half-year, together with the opinions of experts and adolescents and success stories in promoting school attendance in Uruguay and the Dominican Republic.

An assessment of the economic impact of climate change on the water sector in the Turks and Caicos Islands

The best description of water resources for Grand Turk was offered by Pérez Monteagudo (2000) who suggested that rain water was insufficient to ensure a regular water supply although water catchment was being practised and water catchment possibilities had been analysed. Limestone islands, mostly flat and low lying, have few possibilities for large scale surface storage, and groundwater lenses exist in very delicate equilibrium with saline seawater, and are highly likely to collapse due to sea level rise, improper extraction, drought, tidal waves or other extreme event. A study on the impact of climate change on water resources in the Turks and Caicos Islands is a challenging task, due to the fact that the territory of the Islands covers different environmental resources and conditions, and accurate data are lacking. The present report is based on collected data wherever possible, including grey data from several sources such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Cuban meteorological service data sets. Other data were also used, including the author’s own estimates and modelling results. Although challenging, this was perhaps the best approach towards analysing the situation. Furthermore, IPCC A2 and B2 scenarios were used in the present study in an effort to reduce uncertainty. The main conclusion from the scenario approach is that the trend observed in precipitation during the period 1961 - 1990 is decreasing. Similar behaviour was observed in the Caribbean region. This trend is associated with meteorological causes, particularly with the influence of the North Atlantic Anticyclone. The annual decrease in precipitation is estimated to be between 30-40% with uncertain impacts on marine resources. After an assessment of fresh water resources in Turks and Caicos Islands, the next step was to estimate residential water demand based on a high fertility rate scenario for the Islands (one selected from four scenarios and compared to countries having similar characteristics). The selected scenario presents higher projections on consumption growth, enabling better preparation for growing water demand. Water demand by tourists (stopover and excursionists, mainly cruise passengers) was also obtained, based on international daily consumption estimates. Tourism demand forecasts for Turks and Caicos Islands encompass the forty years between 2011 and 2050 and were obtained by means of an Artificial Neural Networks approach. for the A2 and B2 scenarios, resulting in the relation BAU>B2>A2 in terms of tourist arrivals and water demand levels from tourism. Adaptation options and policies were analysed. Resolving the issue of the best technology to be used for Turks and Caicos Islands is not directly related to climate change. Total estimated water storage capacity is about 1, 270, 800 m3/ year with 80% capacity load for three plants. However, almost 11 desalination plants have been detected on Turks and Caicos Islands. Without more data, it is not possible to estimate long term investment to match possible water demand and more complex adaptation options. One climate change adaptation option would be the construction of elevated (30 metres or higher) storm resistant water reservoirs. The unit cost of the storage capacity is the sum of capital costs and operational and maintenance costs. Electricity costs to pump water are optional as water should, and could, be stored for several months. The costs arising for water storage are in the range of US$ 0.22 cents/m3 without electricity costs. Pérez Monteagudo (2000) estimated water prices at around US$ 2.64/m3 in stand points, US$ 7.92 /m3 for government offices, and US$ 13.2 /m3for cistern truck vehicles. These data need to be updated. As Turks and Caicos Islands continues to depend on tourism and Reverse Osmosis (RO) for obtaining fresh water, an unavoidable condition to maintaining and increasing gross domestic product(GDP) and population welfare, dependence on fossil fuels and vulnerability to increasingly volatile prices will constitute an important restriction. In this sense, mitigation supposes a synergy with adaptation. Energy demand and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) were also estimated using an emissions factor of 2. 6 tCO2/ tonne of oil equivalent (toe). Assuming a population of 33,000 inhabitants, primary energy demand was estimated for Turks and Caicos Islands at 110,000 toe with electricity demand of around 110 GWh. The business as usual (BAU), as well as the mitigation scenarios were estimated. The BAU scenario suggests that energy use should be supported by imported fossil fuels with important improvements in energy efficiency. The mitigation scenario explores the use of photovoltaic and concentrating solar power, and wind energy. As this is a preliminary study, the local potential and locations need to be identified to provide more relevant estimates. Macroeconomic assumptions are the same for both scenarios. By 2050, Turks and Caicos Islands could demand 60 m toe less than for the BAU scenario.

Report on the implementation of the ECLAC work programme subregional activities for the Caribbean 2006-2007 biennium [Covering the period 1 Janurary 2006- 31 December 2007]

The focus of the activities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) secretariat during the 2006-2007 biennium continued to be on assistance to member governments of the subregion with policy-making and development strategies, especially on issues relevant to the promotion of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development in the Caribbean. The Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean worked closely with member countries of the CDCC in an effort to ensure the relevance of outputs which would inform policy options. This involved the strengthening of partnerships with both regional and subregional institutions and relevant agencies of the United Nations system working in the Caribbean. A major decision was taken to refocus the operational aspects of the secretariat to ensure that they were relevant to the development goals of its members. This involved the introduction of a thematic approach to the work of the office. One of the changes resulting from this was the restructuring and renaming of the Caribbean Documentation Centre. The Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre (CKMC), as it is now known, has changed its emphasis from organizing and disseminating documents, and is now a more proactive partner in the research undertaken by staff and other users of the service. The CKMC manages the ECLAC website, the public face of the organization. Newsletters and all other documents, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) profiles of selected countries, prepared by the secretariat, are now available online at the ECLAC/CDCC website www.eclacpos.org . The Caribbean Knowledge Management Portal was launched at a meeting of information specialists in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2007. In addition to reaching a wider public, this measure was introduced as a means of reducing the cost of printing or disseminating publications. In spite of the unusually high vacancy rate, at both the international and local levels, during the biennium, the subregional headquarters accomplished 98 per cent of the 119 outputs earmarked for the period. Using vacant positions to carry out the assignments was not an easy task, given the complexity in recruiting qualified and experienced persons for short periods. Nevertheless, consultancy services and short-term replacement staff greatly aided the delivery of these outputs. All the same, 35 work months remained unused during the biennium, leaving 301 work months to complete the outputs. In addition to the unoccupied positions, the work of the subprogramme was severely affected by the rising cost of regional and subregional travel which limited the ability of staff to network and interact with colleagues of member countries. This also hampered the outreach programme carried out mainly through ad hoc expert group meetings. In spite of these shortcomings, the period proved to be successful for the subprogramme as it engaged the attention of member countries in its work either through direct or indirect participation. Staff members completed 36 technical papers plus the reports of the meetings and workshops. A total of 523 persons, representing member countries, participated in the 18 intergovernmental and expert meetings convened by the secretariat in the 24-month period. In its effort to build technical capacity, the subprogramme convened 15 workshops/seminars which offered training for 446 persons.