Economist in Guyana

Nick is the economist in the Resident Coordinator Office in Guyana. Since joining the RC Office in January 2022, Nick has supported the work the UN country team, development partners, and the Government through various socioeconomic analyses. Alarmed by the potential economic impact of the COVID-19 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on livelihoods in Guyana, he undertook an analysis into the impact of these external shocks on the cost of living through consultation with FAO, IFAD, PAHO, UNICEF and UNDP. This analysis provided the evidence to ground discussions at the ambassadorial development partners group on coordinated responses to the cost-of-living crisis and inspired the creation of a food systems sub-sector working group in Guyana.

Nick also prepared a health sector financing analysis with PAHO and UNICEF, which identified potential financing gaps and reform opportunities. The analysis formed the basis for a health sector coordination meeting between the UN country team, the Interamerican Development Bank, and the World Bank, which subsequently led these IFIs to commit to coordinate appropriate policy objectives across their health sector lending operations. In response to feedback from the Government during the Common Country Analysis preparation, Nick oversaw the development of a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) data repository. The repository, which was finalized following consultations with the Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Finance, both provides a baseline of official national SDG indicators for Government and development partners and makes recommendations on how to improve SDG data collection moving forward. He also contributed to the development of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index as well as other global initiatives.