CURRENT economic challenges offer Caribbean governments an opportunity to implement innovative social partnerships that can address short-term and longterm problems, says a new paper released by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI).

In the new Caribbean paper entitled ‘Social Partnership and Development: Implications for the Caribbean’, Indianna D. Minto-Coy, who holds a PhD in law from the London School of Economics and is a trade policy research fellow at the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Service at the University of the West Indies, examines how social partnerships can act as a framework for implementing economic and social policies. Successful experiences in Botswana, Ireland and Barbados show that collaborative governance, for example public-private-civil agreements on wages and tax reform, can reduce conflict and increase stability. These are transferable lessons for Caribbean countries that are looking for solutions to serious economic challenges.

Cooperation among government, labour, the private sector and civil society allows for shared risks and rewards on strategies that provide national growth and development, argues Minto-Coy. But a number of factors will influence the success of social partnerships, including political leadership and clearly defined roles and objectives for partners – elements that were absent in Jamaica’s less-than-successful social partnerships experience. Institutional context, transparency and trust between the players are also key factors to cultivating an environment for successful social partnerships and policy reform.

The paper concludes that while it is up to governments to recognise and create the ideal conditions for good governance to thrive through time-intensive and costly collaborative strategies, these social partnerships offer the lucrative trade-off of long-term growth and development.