(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The time has come for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to take stock of its strategic direction as there was an urgent need for the regional integration movement to redound to an enhanced quality of life for its peoples.
Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, Acting Secretary-General of CARICOM expressed these sentiments in her address at the Opening Ceremony of the Twenty-Second Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, underway in St. George’s, Grenada.
Drawing attention to the serendipity of CARICOM Heads of Government returning to the very room in which CARICOM leaders in1989 laid out the vision for the Community in the landmark Grand Anse Declaration and Work Programme for the Advancement of the Integration Movement, Ambassador said that the challenges which faced the leaders then had come into “full view” 22 years on.
“Today, events which were on the horizon 21 years ago have come into full view and those challenges with which we were grappling have not gone away.”
In retrospect, she said in 1989, the prospect of the European Single Market, the impending loss of preferences, the looming North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), a global recession, high levels of debt, expanding trade in illicit drugs and a review of regional institutions constituted some of the immediate matters that had commanded the attention of CARICOM Heads of Government.
“A decade into the 21st century, not only has very little seemed to have changed but indeed the environment has worsened,” she stated. Added to the list of threats now are climate change, food insecurity, economic and financial crises and crime and violence, she added.
“What has not changed” the Ambassador Applewhaite said, “is the need to confront these challenges, the need to ensure our place in the global community and the need to enhance the quality of life of our peoples.”
Against backdrop she posited, “The time has come for us to take stock.”
“Have we gone as far as we can in that direction? Should we set our compass for another direction? If so, where?” she asked.
Any objective assessment of the Community, Ambassador Applewhaite pointed out, would reveal that significant advances have been made in an integration movement that is the longest surviving in the developing world and, at almost 38 years of age, second only to the European Union in regional economic groupings globally.
Among CARICOM’s achievements since Grand Anse the Acting Secretary-General noted were a functioning Single Market with requisite institutions to support it, including a court to give it legal certainty; regional examination systems; the internationally-recognised best practice in the battle against HIV/AIDs, Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/Aids (PANCAP); and the Region’s commitment to abate the threat of chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, which has resulted in the issue being brought before United Nations General Assembly Special Summit next September.
Notwithstanding those successes, the Acting Secretary-General stated that there was work still to be done.
She noted that the Region was aware of the circumstances which seek to “frustrate achievement of our human development goals;” several of which were highlighted in the Report of CARICOM Commission on Youth Development.
Work has begun in programmes addressing non-communicable diseases, crime prevention and drug demand reduction, development of curricula, the participation of youth in governance, cultural industries, Ambassador Applewhaite stated.
Notwithstanding, she said, “We have fallen short in a number of areas … We have not met the expectation of a public who believe, for example, that there should be no problem as CARICOM citizens, if they choose to reside in Kingston or Kingstown, in St John’s or St George’s,” she stated.
It was for this reason, the Acting Secretary-General said, that one of the main Agenda items of the Summit was the determination of the Region’s priorities, which would give a clear indication of the focus and the direction that the integration movement must take.
In urging the leaders take stock of the strategic direction of the Community, she drew their attention to the Declaration which pointed to the importance of positioning the Region not only to survive, but to compete effectively in the global economy.
“It is now well established that such competition depends heavily on the retooling of our workforce at both technical and managerial levels with a new range of skills and attitudes for the emerging information society and economy.”
“We have much to gain as a Region from visioning together and planning strategically, not only in the area of education but in all areas of human and social development to ensure that our citizens of all ages are appropriately equipped for the task,” the Acting Secretary-General stated.