About the Ministry

About The Ministry

Formerly called the Community Development Ministry in the 1990 this Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment delivers sustainable, comprehensive social protection services for the Government of Saint Lucia. This Ministry encompasses the strengthening and integration of a wide range of policies and Programs geared at promoting transformative empowerment.

Mission Statement

To promote rights-based human development and to facilitate the economic, social, cultural, political and spiritual advancement of individuals, households, communities and the society through poverty reduction, social protection and empowerment.

Vision Statement

The Ministry’s vision is based on the principles of social justice and equity, from which extreme poverty would have been eradicated and all forms of poverty significantly reduced, in which vulnerable citizens – including children, the elderly and people living with disabilities, are adequately protected – and in which there is no discrimination based on gender, culture, religion or sexual orientation.

It envisions a society where people can live peacefully and security, feeling safe from the threats of violent crime, gender-based and domestic violence, and disasters.

The Mandate of the Ministry

In order to performs this mission, and regardless of the allocation of social development portfolios among ministries and agencies at any point in time, there is a need for a lead public sector agency responsible for social and community development and empowerment.

A Ministry of Social Transformation assumes that leadership role, acting as an advocate and as the driver of a national response to social development issues and needs. It must be a proactive and dynamic institution, with an integrated and cohesive structure that allows the Ministry’s units, its allied agencies and its key partners to perform specific roles within a common mission and towards a shared vision. In order to meet the challenges of social development and to facilitate genuine social transformation, the Ministry must be an empowered, competent and strategic institution, with performance measurement, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and adaptive management. Its programming must be coherent and consistent, making its intervention and investments impactful and sustainable.

Objectives of the Ministry

1. Reduce current levels of poverty and social vulnerability;

2. Improve the quality of service delivery to men, women and girls and boys;

3. Promote volunteerism, self-reliance and civic responsibility in communities;

4. Strengthen programmes which promote behaviour change;

5. Reduce vulnerability of the poor by strengthening social programmes to the most needy; while improving the
capacity of vulnerable groups to earn better incomes in order to increase economic independence rather than
only providing them with subsistence;

6. Coordinate strategies leading to achievement of the Post 2015 Agenda and the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs): poverty eradication, preservation/sustainable use of natural resources, strengthening good
governance and creation of decent jobs and adequate income through ecologically sound growth.