The Caribbean Development Bank launches the region’s first online community engagement course

The Caribbean Development Bank's Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) will launch the Caribbean's first online certified community engagement course for development practitioners on October 22, 2025

The course is designed to equip community-development practitioners and civil society leaders with relevant tools for strengthening community involvement throughout the project cycle. Participants will learn how to mobilise community assets, engage marginalised groups, understand the protocols for engaging Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and co-create locally led solutions that align with regional development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"It is so important that persons and organisations who wish to engage with communities, do so in an open, transparent and respectful way. In that regard, the course is an important part of the process of breaking from the colonial past, and decolonising the future, of community engagement in the Caribbean," said Marcus Goffe, Human Rights lawyer and advocate for Indigenous Peoples. Goffe shared his input on working with Indigenous Populations in the development of the course.

The Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) at the University of Wolverhampton, which has partnered with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB/the Bank) for over a decade to build community development capacity across the region, co-developed the course. Graduates will receive a certificate of completion from the University and join a regional network of community development professionals. Over 350 persons worldwide have already registered for the gender-responsive course.

"This course equips participants with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to foster inclusive, participatory, and sustainable development at the community level, specific to the Caribbean context," explained Richardo Aiken, Community Development Specialist at CDB.

The course responds to the needs identified by communities during the on-going implementation of the BNTF - CDB's premier poverty reduction programme.

"Over the years, we have provided training to help groups engage effectively with communities. Given the consistent demand for this type of training and the findings from our assessments, we recognized the need for a more sustainable approach. As a result, we developed this course to address the growing demand and extend the impact of the BNTF beyond its project cycles," explained George Yearwood, Portfolio Manager of the BNTF.

The course builds on the Community Engagement Guidance Note (CEGN), developed in 2021 through collaboration between the BNTF, the Community Disaster Risk Reduction Trust Fund (CDRRF), CIDT, and regional practitioners. The CEGN addresses limitations to local-level community engagement and outlines strategies to improve inclusion and strengthen the skills of practitioners working with communities across CDB's 19 Borrowing Member Countries.

"We had significant input from community practitioners in developing the course and vetting what worked and what did not. They helped us to develop case studies and course material based on experience, stories and lessons learnt from BNTF and CDRFF experience," said Ella Haruna, Associate Professor of Development Cooperation and Head of the CITD.

"Community engagement is not about doing things for people, but with people. I was pleased to be a part of the group of colleagues included in the design of the course. We had a chance to input and guide the process - to say what we thought would ensure change that is sustainable, locally owned, and transformative at the community level," said Cher Akoi, Community Liaison Officer, BNTF Suriname, to describe how local input helped to determine key course elements such as sustainability.

BNTF addresses needs identified by vulnerable communities such as water and sanitation, education, livelihood enhancement, and access and drainage. Climate change adaptation and gender equality are cross-cutting themes