PREFACE The Strategic Plan for the Community 2015 - 2019 is in direct response to the need to target “… a narrow range of specified outcomes within specified timeframes, focusing on a few practical and achievable goals” in relation to the regional development agenda. This is particularly important given the Community’s limited resources. However, the Strategic Plan has been prepared after consultation with the widest possible range of stakeholders and the intense engagement with Member States, Institutions, the CARICOM Secretariat and other stakeholders has resulted in a much wider mandate. In that regard, the first Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community outlines the strategic repositioning of the Community, and captures a development agenda going forward that encompasses: i) a review of development needs; ii) a Resilience Model for socio-economic progress; iii) strategies to renew the commitment to and strengthen actions for enhancing regional unity; and, iv) an agenda for the reform of governance mechanisms to achieve these two major forward thrusts. At the same time, as a framework for action, the Strategic Plan allows for selection of, and agreement on, the narrow range of actions that are pursued each year of the plan period in pursuit of the Region’s development goals. As well, the Plan outlines the implementation imperatives, strategic and change management modalities with the necessary monitoring, measurement and evaluation frameworks. The critical action now is ‘buy in’ and onward movement. The Plan is in three Volumes. Volume 1, the Executive Plan, presents an abbreviated version of the full Plan for easy perusal. It includes an introductory section at Chapter 1; the full strategic framework at Chapter 2 (which is the same as Chapter 4 in the full plan); and a summary of the proposed management arrangements at Chapter 3 (Chapters 5, 6 and 7 in the full plan). Volume 2 is the full Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community 2015-2019 and is structured as follows: Chapters 1 to 3 provide: i) the context of the Community; ii) a quick summary of the planning process engaged; and, iii) critical strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the Community, after doing a wide ranging scan of the internal and external environments. Chapter 4 is the heart of the Plan. It presents the vision, mission, core values and strategies for building resilience and unity and enhancing governance. In order to transition from planning to implementation, each implementing agent of CARICOM (the Member States, the Institutions and the Secretariat) would need to draw from the Strategic Plan in designing its operational plan and annual plans. Thus Chapter 5 presents examples of how the objectives of the Strategic Plan should inform the strategies, principal measures, targets, indicators, time frame and budget of each of the implementing agents. Indeed, it is strongly recommended, that a standard operating procedure be set in train, whereby each implementing agent viz. the Organs, CARICOM Secretariat, Community Institutions and Member States, presents its Operational Plan in conformity with the Strategic Plan and annually reports on progress and the way forward. This will ensure that all in the Community and particularly the Heads of Government and citizenry are kept informed on the implementation of the Strategic Plan. This Chapter also emphasizes critical principles that must characterize the implementation process viz. subsidiarity, focus on goals/results, evidence-informed, equity, harmonization (bearing in mind differences among Member States), transparency, openness, and accountability. These principles must be consistently evident in the work of the Community to drive the Resilience Model. i