This Guidance Note provides a structured and harmonised framework for assessing Value for Money (VfM) in procurement under infrastructure projects financed by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including the Caribbean Development Bank.It offers practical guidance on how to align VfM objectives with project design and integrate them across the procurement and project cycle. The framework supports a consistent approach to evaluating procurement performance against the principles of economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity (the “4Es”), while promoting transparency, accountability, and alignment with broader development objectives.Recognising the diversity of institutional contexts and levels of maturity across MDBs and borrowing countries, the Guidance Note provides a unified yet flexible methodology that can be adapted to different operational realities. It is intended for procurement and operational staff within CDB, as well as borrowers, implementing agencies, and other stakeholders involved in CDB-financed projects. 

Over a period of five years, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) implemented the European Union (EU)-funded llth European Development Fund (EDF) Economic Partnership Agreement Programme (EPA) and CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Standby Facility for Capacity Building, in partnership with CARIFORUM.This programme, under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), executed projects across 15 countries, with access to over EUR350,000 each in assistance and expertise to enhance each country's ability to increase the sale of goods and services to Caribbean and European markets.It spanned a wide range of areas ranging from trade facilitation to value chain support and export development, technical and vocational education capacity building, quality infrastructure, and food safety and certification standards.This publication brings together the highlights, achievements, successes and even some recommendations coming out of more than 20 projects implemented across the CARIFORUM region, during the 11th EDF Standby Facility's existence. 

The Caribbean’s economic performance remained subdued in 2025, shaped by stable global growth but heightened geopolitical uncertainty, evolving trade and tariff policies, intensifying climate impacts, and persistent domestic structural challenges.Excluding Guyana, regional growth slowed to 0.6% from 1.4% in 2024, reflecting weaker activity across most of the Caribbean Development Bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries. Including Guyana, regional growth reached 4.7%, down from 8.3% the previous year, with Guyana continuing to be the region’s main growth driver.Commodity-exporting economies recorded mixed results. Suriname benefited from offshore energy-related investment, while Trinidad and Tobago experienced flat growth amid weakness in both energy and non-energy sectors. Service-exporting economies also saw slower growth as tourism momentum eased, source-market conditions weakened, and climate-related disruptions affected activity, particularly in Jamaica and Haiti. Haiti’s economy contracted for the seventh consecutive year due to ongoing insecurity and instability.Labour market conditions remained relatively stable, with unemployment declining in most countries, although youth and gender disparities persisted alongside labour shortages. Inflation moderated across the region, helped by lower global commodity prices, but remained above pre-pandemic levels.Fiscal performance was mixed. Regional primary surpluses narrowed, debt levels remained elevated in several countries, and external balances came under pressure as merchandise trade deficits widened. However, most economies maintained adequate international reserves, while financial sectors remained resilient due to strong capitalisation, liquidity, and ongoing regulatory reforms.Looking ahead, regional growth is expected to remain modest in 2026 at 1.1% excluding Guyana, and 6.2% including Guyana, driven largely by continued expansion in Guyana’s oil sector. Risks from slower global growth, geopolitical tensions, climate shocks, commodity price volatility, and fiscal vulnerabilities continue to weigh on the outlook.Accelerating reform implementation and strengthening institutional and project execution capacity will be essential to lifting long-term growth, enhancing resilience, and advancing the region’s development ambitions.  

This toolkit is a practical resource to help you design community development interventions that are both safe and transformative. It supports the integration of gender equality and inclusion into all stages of project planning, whether through gender-mainstreamed or targeted actions, across diverse Caribbean contexts. Regardless of a project’s primary focus, every initiative should aim to be gender-responsive and actively reduce discrimination and marginalisation.Recommended as part of a broader gender mainstreaming strategy, the toolkit offers clear definitions, practical tools, and step-by-step guidance to help you conduct a gender analysis, develop a gender action plan, and strengthen prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence.The toolkit specifically highlights considerations for Indigenous, Tribal, and rural communities, while also encouraging practitioners to examine other intersecting aspects of identity such as inter alia disability, age, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, and migration status.