BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – The government of Barbados and the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) today released Implementing Mission Barbados: A Roadmap for State Transformation, a comprehensive report detailing how Barbados is restructuring government to deliver on its six national missions for inclusive and sustainable development.
Co-authored by prime minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley and professor Mariana Mazzucato, professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London and founding director of UCL IIPP, the report represents the latest milestone in a three-year partnership that has seen Barbados pioneer a mission-oriented approach to national transformation.
The report builds on the November 2023 publication A Mission-Oriented Strategy for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth in Barbados, which established the country’s six missions around sustainable development, citizen empowerment, food and water security, public health and safety, economic empowerment, and digital transformation. This new publication focuses on the practical work of retooling government institutions and processes to achieve these ambitious goals.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, said: “From the highest levels of government providing political will to civil servants working diligently on the ground – and with our Social Partners and citizens rallying behind a shared purpose – Barbados is mobilising a whole-of-nation effort to transform our country. This courage to break old moulds and govern with vision is not easy, but it is necessary. We believe it will provide valuable lessons to other countries on how to tackle global challenges through strategic, outcomes-oriented policies.”
Professor Mariana Mazzucato, added: “I have worked with many governments and can say that Barbados truly stands out for its ambition and commitment to deep transformation. Missions by their nature challenge business-as-usual and demand stepping outside comfort zones. Barbados is working on the premise that achieving inclusive and sustainable growth requires tackling problems at their root.”
The report provides concrete recommendations across five critical areas:
Mission-Oriented Policy Design: Designing policy with a clear focus on transformative outcomes rather than short-term outputs. The Roofs to Reefs programme exemplifies this approach by simultaneously addressing housing resilience, water security, climate adaptation, and marine conservation. Accelerating the Sustainable Mobility Plan could reduce transport emissions and fossil fuel dependence whilst generating an estimated BBD 15.6 billion in savings and new jobs in clean energy and transport.
Governance, Partnerships, and Participation: Strengthening the Social Partnership—uniting government, labour, and business leaders—as the core institution driving collaborative implementation through the Mission Boards, which comprise Senior Ministers and diverse representation from across society.
Financial Tools: Aligning financial strategies with mission outcomes. Barbados’s pioneering US$592.7 million debt-for-climate swap directly advances Mission 3 (Food and Water Security) by funding critical water reclamation and climate-smart agricultural projects, exemplifying mission-aligned finance in action.
Public Sector Capabilities: Investing strategically in digital transformation, inter-ministerial coordination, and experimentation. The establishment of GovTech Barbados aims to enable agile, user-centred digital transformation, modernising public services through essential digital infrastructure.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Moving from output tracking to a comprehensive, learning-driven framework that monitors real-world outcomes across social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The One Family Programme provides an innovative multi-dimensional monitoring framework, tracking poverty reduction across education, housing, health, and employment.
The collaboration between IIPP and the government of Barbados has included an Applied Learning programme delivered in 2024 to build public-sector capabilities, training senior civil servants in mission-oriented policy implementation, digital governance, and innovative public procurement.
From March to July 2025, IIPP senior policy adviser Luca Kuehn von Burgsdorff was seconded to the prime minister’s office to support on-the-ground implementation. During this period, the government established new governance structures, including the mission boards and the Mission Barbados Control Centre, and developed a national “missions dashboard” to monitor progress.
The report reaffirms IIPP’s commitment to supporting Barbados as it moves from strategy to implementation. Barbados stands as a leading example within IIPP’s global portfolio of mission-oriented projects, illustrating how governments can rethink their strategies and structures to achieve ambitious outcomes.
