A number of countries in the Caribbean community (CARICOM) are experiencing slow growth, continued unemployment and poverty. Particularly, Guyana and Jamaica has a high debt and thus it has impacted negatively on their ability to become more developed especially in the social sector. On the other hand, the Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME) is expected to boost development for all Caribbean countries, and promote the MDGs.

Caribbean governments have now become dedicated to the eradication of poverty, unemployment and stimulation of growth. It is suggested that Caribbean countries employ more advanced systems of teaching to increase the quality of education as well as to encourage community participation, effective distribution of resources, etc. Caribbean governments are now focusing on early childhood education in an effort to build the foundation of quality education in their countries.

Poverty is a common problem in the Caribbean. There have been many efforts by countries in the region to rid the problem, but global economic changes continue to be a major problem to the fight against poverty.

Although Caribbean governments have been setting up many poverty alleviation programs even before the implementation of the MDGs there is no data readily available on the existence of poverty in the region. Thus it makes it unable for one to determine the number of person in the region living below US $1 a day. The data available for the number of person living below the poverty line shows that poverty range from 13.9% in Barbados to 81% in Haiti (1995).

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been recorded to have a high rate of malnutrition among five years old (1995). Despite the fact that Jamaica has a slow growth rate, it has a very low malnutrition rate. Guyana and Jamaica are said to be on their way of halving the percentage of people facing hunger. Trinidad on the other hand has made no progress which is surprising given their strong growth rate.

In an estimate by Chen and Ravillion the percentage of the population in Latin America and Caribbean living below the $1 a day poverty line has remained the same between 15% to 17% from1987 to 1998. Of eighteen Latin American countries, seven of them would be successful in halving extreme poverty by 2015; however this is only achievable given their adoption of the new international poverty line. International Development Bank (IDB) conducted a study in 2003 with respect to Goal 1 and concluded that progress to the achievement of this goal has been too slow for the last ten years.

It can be conducted that hunger as a severe part of poverty is relatively easy for the Caribbean to achieve since it is not a severe as many other developing region of the world. However, government officials needs to establish more business fast enough to provide employment as well as higher income to keep people above the poverty line.

Studies show that with the exception of Haiti all countries within the Caribbean are on their way to achieving the 2nd MDG. It is important to note that universal primary education is not a challenge to the Caribbean. The challenge the Caribbean now face is the quality education children receive and not universal primary education as defined MDG 2. Thus it can be concluded that measuring the Caribbean in terms of MDG 2 is a complex one. Governments in the region have been focusing on early childhood education to build a strong educational foundation for all Caribbean nationals. Latin America has a high enrollment in tertiary education which means that the Caribbean is still lagging behind. Many believe that MDG 2 should be revised to include secondary and tertiary education.

Women are now becoming more educated and independent than they were some years ago.

The availability of data on this for the Caribbean region still poses a problem to presenting a clear picture of the situation which exists in the region. Statistics presented for Jamaica, Belize, Barbados and St. Kitts shows that more boys are enrolled at the primary level except in Belize and with the exception of Barbados more girls are enrolled at the secondary level. "In 2000/2001 there was 2:1 female to male ratio with higher female enrollment on all three campuses" (Mona, Jamaica; Cave Hill, Barbados; St Augustine, Trinidad) [Regional Report on the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the Caribbean Community, 2004.09.01]. Though there is a higher level of participation of women at the secondary and tertiary levels of education throughout the region they still suffer as they are unable to compete against there male counterparts outside of school and they still get minimum wage because of their traditional low paying jobs.

Information presented by the World Bank for the number of literate females to males 15 - 24 years, showed that females are more literate. Data supplied from the same source showed with the exception of St. Lucia males get the better paid jobs with the gap being the widest in Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname.

Progress towards women empowerment can be identified in the number of females that are involved in politics throughout the Caribbean. Throughout the Caribbean more females are in political decision making at the Upper House level compared to the Lower House. This shows that Caribbean women are not only using education as a vehicle to empowerment but also representational politics.

The target of the 4th MDG is to reduce the number of deaths in children under 5 by 2/3 between 1990 and 2015.

The under-five mortality rate is the likelihood that a child dies between birth and 5 years per 1000 live birth. The infant mortality rate is the possibility of a child dying before the first birthday per 1000 live births. Both mortality rates are results of nutrition, health reduction, knowledge of mothers, the availability of maternal and child healthcare services, income and food availability, access to clean water, sanction and child safety.

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is influenced by death in the 1st month of life, with half of infant deaths occurring during this period.

In 2001, it is noted that no Caribbean country fell into the high mortality rate of U5MR (Under-Five Mortality Rate), except Haiti and Guyana. During infancy, it is noted that the majority of deaths occur in the first 28 days of life.

In order to reduce deaths in the Caribbean children, one must note the causes. In the 1-4 year old category the major causes of death were identified as acute respiratory infection (e.g. pneumonia), intestinal infectious diseases (e.g. diarrhoea), nutritional problems and anemia (e.g. malnutrition, iron deficiency), motor vehicle injuries, other intestinal and parasitic infections (e.g. worms, malaria) and aids.

However, with the exception of aids, there has been a reduction in the causes of deaths of 1-4 year old within the Caribbean. Many of these problems are being tackled by governments within the Caribbean as there are more programs encouraging mothers, especially young mothers to immunize their children against many of these illnesses. Government in Jamaica for example eradicated the Food Stamp Program and brought in PATH a program which fosters financial help for all Jamaican nationals who are unable to finance their families. Local Clinics/Health Centres have nurses make house to house visit to encourage parents to immunize their young born and provide with information on proper dietary for the child.

If Caribbean governments follow through on recommendations with respect to achieving this goal then the will be able to meet the target of MDG 4.

Worldwide more than half a million woman die annually in attempts to create new life. In Latin and the Caribbean, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 22,000 deaths occur annually, 90% of which are preventable. Saving women's lives, although good can be critical as the effects of a mother's death can be difficult on the lives of the children, especially female and sick children left to survive without the love, nurture and affection of the person most willing to provide this care. Maternal health status is associated with a woman's education and socioeconomic status. Poor, illiterate women are at greatest risk as they lack the resources to control their fertility, make decisions about their reproductive health, have restricted access to information and therefore services critical to their survival.

While 85% of women will experience a normal pregnancy with no problems and deliver a full-time live-born healthy infant, the manner in which services are organized for 15% of reproductive women who need more basic midwifery care determines whether maternal and prenatal morality rates will decline or stagnate at the present levels.

Monitoring maternal deaths is extremely difficult to measure, as maternal deaths are rare events only exceeding 1% on the African Sub-continent. Those deaths usually missed in routine include those associated with abortion (especially illegal abortion), early pregnancy(less than 2 weeks gestation) or cases where the pregnancy was unknown to the woman and her family. Also, risks of misclassification include deaths that occur due to sickle cell disease, pneumonia, or cardiovascular disease, or those occurring days and weeks after delivery as the tie between complications and pregnancy may not be recognized and reported.

Deaths from these medical complications are recorded differently in the pregnant and non-pregnant person. Therefore, the potential for misclassification is there. In addition, pregnancy aggravates HIV. However, in maintaining WHO recording rules, those deaths are attributed to HIV, instead of maternal deaths. However, WHO; within the last 20yrs has revised its process of estimating maternal morality.

The year 2000 estimate classified countries into six categories. Although this estimate improves existing data by adjusting for underreporting of deaths and generates estimates for countries with no maternal morality data, they are still subject to error. However, the widest indicator is the amount of women health delivering with the assistance from medically trained health care providers (midwife, doctor, nurse)

In the Caribbean, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is generalized, with most new cases caused by heterosexual transmission. Therefore, all countries need to introduce universal HIV testing of all women, supported by provision of anti-retroviral therapy and properly designed mother to child transmission prevention programs. If not, gains in limiting under 5 moralities will be reversed.

However, all countries need to establish processes for obtaining reproductive age surveys to ensure that WHO does not adjust reported data as well as arriving at more accurate measures of data. It is unlikely the Caribbean will achieve the goal of reducing at reducing maternal morality by 75% b 2125. Pregnancy complications also include newborns .For this reason, the Infant Morality Rate may be used to measure the mother's risks especially when over 65% of infant deaths are neonatal, occurring around the time of birth.

Training of both basic and specialist personnel and the upgradement of existing facilities are needed. Resources need to be directed to underserved populations who disproportionately contribute to these poor results. National health schemes, health promotion and improved quality of care need to be developed. Also, safe motherhood interventions must be introduced in a broader approach aimed to ensure improved quality care.

In 2003 estimate from the UNAIDS showed that HIV prevalence in the Caribbean was between 1.4 and 4.1%. the most recent cases of HIV reaches or exceeds 2%, for e.g. this is the happening in Bahamas, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti. According to the latest HIV prevalence rate within the Caribbean HIV/AIDS statistics are not true in its entirety as many individuals do not report their cases as a result of the high level of discrimination against them.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been making several efforts to reduce the number of persons living with AIDS in the region. Many committees and organizations have been developed to tackle the problem that is so common in our region. They have also been communication between regional and international organizations. For e.g. the Caribbean Regional Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS is one committee which has been formed on the basis of a report prepared by the World Bank. A regional response is carried out to target this problem by giving number of Caribbean organization lead role.

The Caribbean has been increasing international ties and financial assistance to adequately find the programs that target a reduction in tuberculosis, malaria and HIV&AIDS prevention and control. They have also been getting increased technical support from various agencies for e.g. the Canadian International Development Agency, European Union and several others. "Under the programs, emphasis has been placed on assisting the most seriously affected countries while continuing to address the needs of other countries.

The Caribbean has established five new developments in an effort to curb the spread of the diseases in the region. Some of these include;
? Several countries have adopted Voluntary Confidential Counseling and Testing (VCCT) for HIV
? The provision of free antiviral drugs
? Provision of anti-tuberculosis drug therapy free of cost to patients in the worst affected countries

Countries like Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago have allocated finds to provide antiretroviral therapy for all persons with HIV/AIDS who satisfy qualifying criteria.

Some countries are experiencing progress and will be able to achieve the target set out by the Unite Nations; but are only achievable with continuity and improvement. It is believed that recent developments in terms of organization such as Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS coming on board to help achieve the 6th MDG. However there is lot of work that needs to be done at the national and regional level, for e.g. it is suggested that the region adopt the best practices and strategies of the world, plus they will have to allocate enough resource in support of this effort.

Malaria is still common in mainland countries, such as Belize and Guyana, and in the island of Hispaniola. These countries have recently being granted money to help tackle this mosquito-borne disease. It is estimated that for Haiti to eradicate the problem of malaria a joint effort would have to be made with their neighbour country. Belize, Guyana and Suriname are external difficulty if tackling this problem but with improved national programme they would be able to achieve the targets set out by this MDG.

Tuberculosis is common throughout the region; Guyana and Haiti boast the highest rate in the Caribbean. The most dominant HIV/AIDS treatment centres in Haiti have adopted an aggressive approach to treat persons with the disease, many of who are HIV positive. It is suggested that other countries in the region adopt the approach.

Progression of this goal has been uneven for many reasons; as many of the set targets do not reflect the main environmental or developmental issues in the region. There are countries and territories where deforestation takes place at an average rate 1.7 per annum. No countries show a positive trend although some appear to have stabilized, with no losses over the five year period (1991 - 1995). Jamaica, St Lucia and Haiti are those countries which are not currently on track in meeting the relevant MDG target.

Some countries have few or no protected areas, while others have designated substantial areas. Some countries, for example have designed large areas while in others there is little effective change of the manners in which people behave and utilize resources of environment sensitive zones. Therefore, there is a general need to establish low cost and efficient ways to protect biodiversity resources.

There is variation of the energy input per unit of the GDP throughout the region, ranging from 0.14 KWH per US $1 in Domanica to 1.19 KWH per US $ 1 in Jamaica. Therefore, Domanica would appear to be almost nine times more energy efficient than Jamaica. The US Virgin Islands was assessed to have a rate of per capita carbon emission (estimated at 99.0 metric tones in 1998), that is higher than the UK, Australia and other wealthy industrialized countries.

Some Caribbean countries are emitting less than global average energy, and others are ahead of the MDG. However, it is not possible to be sure in determining the regional position. Where Bahamas and Trinidad & Tobago are close to universal supply of water and sanitation; therefore will meet the MDGs target. However, Haiti was the greatest with only a quarter of the population in properly sanitized and unlikely to meet the target.

The main focus is to ensure a non-discriminatory trading and financial system, with good control, internationally. However, Caribbean countries are concerned with increased liberalization and various multilateral trade negotiations carried out within the World Trade Organization (WTO). Official Development Assistance has declined in the Caribbean due to a decline in geopolitics. However, some Caribbean countries; Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have benefited from increased foreign direct investment; but this cannot make up for official development assistance.

Haiti is the only Caribbean country to be classified as a 'least developed country.' This is due to the political uncertainty as a result of heavy devastation to the country in 2004 caused by the floods. However, it is certain that debt relief is an important issue in the Caribbean.

With regards to trade, Caribbean countries have benefited from access to markets of the European Union and from obtaining aid from the African Caribbean Pacific - European Union (ACP - EU) continuo Agreement. However, developed countries are promoting the establishment of a liberalized global training system. The CARICOM countries have established the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) in order to strengthen their negotiating capacity. As many Caribbean countries depend on the development of agriculture, it is important to gain commodities in bananas and sugar.

Improvement of unemployment among youth in the Caribbean is greatly needed in achieving the set development goals. It is also important to have concessions from pharmaceutical companies to obtain drugs. To ensure this, the Caribbean countries have formed the Pan Caribbean Partnership and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).