Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr Edwin Carrington has issued an “all hands on deck” call, as the Community prepares to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Mr Carrington’s call came as he addressed the national and regional media in Guyana, in not only his first major press conference for the year, but also just before departing for Suriname for a series of meetings leading up to the Tenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government on March 4 and 5 next. “This is shaping up to be a busy first quarter in the life of the Caribbean Community”, said Secretary-General Carrington.
The Secretary-General stressed that the future of the Community was a matter that resides not only with a few people, but with everyone. He said too, that “as we look towards the future”, he was deeply encouraged that many of the Region’s Youth were positioning themselves to help ensure a secure future for the Community.
Turning to the upcoming meetings in Suriname, the Secretary-General informed that these meetings are:
The First Inter-sessional Meeting of Senior Officials of CARICOM Foreign Ministries; The Extraordinary Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR); The Third Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers; and the Tenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
He emphasised that all the agendas were quite heavy.
As regards the focus of the various meetings, the Secretary-General indicated that the Meeting of COFCOR has as its main concern the question of support by the Community for a number of candidatures to fill positions in several international organisations. Topping the list is that of the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), for the start of the new millennium. Mr Carrington pointed out that due to the fact that the selection for the OAS top post would be made before the Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in July, this matter will need to be discussed at the upcoming meeting in Suriname.
The Secretary-General also pointed to other posts in international organisations falling vacant this year as follows: Secretary-General of the Commonwealth; Director General of UNESCO; Secretary-General and a number of senior positions in the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), and a number of senior positions at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
With regard to the Meeting of the Community Council, Mr Carrington informed that among the issues this body will consider is that of the permanent headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, a report from the Secretariat’s Budget Committee, and the report of a study on terms and conditions of service in the Secretariat.
In answer to a question, the Secretary-General announced that, according to the information made available to him by the Government of Guyana, construction of the permanent headquarters for the Secretariat would be completed by the end of the year 2000 and the headquarters would be ready for occupancy in January 2001. Mr Carrington said he was very pleased with this news. The Community’s Deputy Secretary-General, who heads the Secretariat’s internal committee on this issue, stressed that the facility was increasingly urgently needed. She recalled that at this time, the Secretariat’s staff was spread over five buildings and that this posed many problems, including that of communication and security. She also emphasised that the present physical space was far from adequate, as the quarters for many staff were cramped.
Focusing on the Tenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, the CARICOM Secretary-General highlighted some of the issues to be raised. In that regard, he noted that these included the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Justice, and progress regarding Haiti’s accession to the Caribbean Community.
He further advised that trade issues are also on the agenda, with representatives from the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), including the Chief Negotiator, scheduled to report to the Heads of Government on progress in the negotiations for a successor arrangement to the Lome IV Convention, in the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the World Trade Organisation.
A particular highlight of the Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Heads of Government will be a Retreat to which some seven representatives of the Region’s youth have been invited for the first time, to join Heads of Government in discussing the Community in the Next Decade. The Secretary-General praised this development and commended Heads of Government for this initiative. He recalled his appeal at the last Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government for scope to permit the involvement of the Region’s youth in Community decision-making and implementation, and again stressed the importance of the Region’s youth being on board, as the Community presses on into the next century.
In further highlighting the involvement and importance of the youth in the regional integration movement, the Secretary-General informed that the finals of the Regional Schools Debating Competition will be held on March 3 in Suriname. This event will bring down the curtain on the series of activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which established the Caribbean Community.
Appealing for greater progress in the development of the Community, the Secretary-General ended the Press Conference by stressing the need for higher priority to be given to Community matters, as well as to endowing the Community with more capacity. To that end, he called for “all hands to come on deck” to enable the Community to advance and secure the well-being of the peoples of the Caribbean in the early twenty-first century.
