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The OPEC Fund and Jamaica To date, the OPEC Fund has approved 24 public and private sector loans totaling US$235.6 million in Jamaica. The OPEC Fund has also provided US$210,000 for two national grants supporting capacity building and elder care. Project example The Primary Education Support Project was signed in 2001 for the renovation of local schools and for strengthening local capacity in school administration, management and planning. The OPEC Fund contributed US$4 million to an upgrade of the curricula, the development of new learning materials and the introduction of professional development schemes for teachers.
The OPEC Fund is addressing the challenges facing SIDS with a multi- pronged strategy that combines financing with capacity building and mobilizing external funding by leveraging the institution’s engagement. The OPEC Fund Island Resilience Facility will be launched globally in early May 2025 during a SIDS Summit in Vienna. It will be accompanied by a dedicated OPEC Fund SIDS Strategy. These documents serve as the cornerstones of the OPEC Fund’s engagement in the field. The OPEC Fund Island Resilience Facility builds on the institution’s long- standing engagement with SIDS and serves as a launchpad for a broader, multi-regional initiative. The facility channels needs-based climate financing to SIDS, with each project customized to local conditions but guided by a regional perspective. It allows the OPEC Fund to provide (a) tailored technical assistance, (b) preparation funds, (c) capacity building and (d) traditional and innovative financing for bankable projects and programs. The OPEC Fund Climate Resilience Facility was established to provide bespoke technical assistance and grant- based financing to strengthen SIDS’ resilience. The institution sees great potential in green and digital solutions. While the facility works closely with local partners to strengthen their capabilities and skills in developing proposals to build a robust project pipeline, it also aims at scaling up resource mobilization by engaging partners such as the Arab Coordination Group (ACG). The global rollout of the facility will take into account lessons learned from a first pilot phase in 2024 when partnerships were established and formalized with the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), two partners of the UNFCCC. This cooperation has helped to enhance skills in crafting project proposals, building climate-resilient infrastructure, fostering knowledge sharing, mobilizing funding and promoting regional cooperation. As a next step, the OPEC Fund Island Resilience Facility will scale up these efforts, widen participation and bolster infrastructure to create a robust project pipeline that dovetails with the institution’s wider SIDS Strategy. The goal is to facilitate SIDS’ access to concessional funding and technical assistance grants to address their needs. The SIDS Strategy will be implemented
gradually over the period 2025-27 and fully expanded with a total allocation of US$450 million over this three-year period. As a global development finance institution servicing the Global South the OPEC Fund has a long-standing engagement with SIDS. To date, about US$2 billion have been committed to projects across some 25 island nations in the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Loans have supported, among others, projects in transport (ports and harbors), energy (renewables and grids), water & sanitation, health and education. The SIDS Summit in early May 2025 will provide an opportunity to bring the two strands of the OPEC Fund’s approach together with the goal of maximizing impact and delivering concrete outcomes: The first day will be dedicated to high-level policy-making and financial institutions, while the second day will be held as a workshop to enhance the technical capacity for the robust and swift design of bankable and sustainable projects. Time is pressing and expectations are high. Khadeeja Naseem, the former Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology of the Maldives, told this magazine a year ago: “I think it’s good for countries to band together and make their demands towards international institutions. Development agencies need to ensure that the most vulnerable countries get access to concessional finance, noting the fact that many developing countries are already in debt and that increasing debt is unsustainable. This is something that needs to be dealt with in the broader international financial system, because the status quo is simply not sustainable.”
“Development agencies need to ensure that the most vulnerable countries get access to concessional finance.” Khadeeja Naseem, former Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Technology of the Maldives
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