(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) I am particularly pleased to join in welcoming all our participants to the Second Meeting of the Caribbean Basin Security Commission and to state how grateful we are to the Government of Guyana for agreeing to host this year’s meeting and for the warm hospitality extended to the delegations represented here today.
On behalf of the Caribbean Community permit me to make special mention of our principal partners from the United States of America led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Julissa Reynosa who also joined us here in the region last year when we met in Jamaica. To my colleagues from the CARICOM, and the delegation from the Dominican Republic, let me say how pleased I am that you are here today as together we endeavour to advance the implementation of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative which is the flag ship for cooperation on security matters for the region at this time. Your support and spirited involvement have been quite beneficial to the strides that we have made since embarking on this collaborative venture.
Over two years ago, when we converged in Suriname to start the preparatory process to the US-Caribbean Security Cooperation we, on the Caribbean side, signalled to the United States our seriousness in building on our existing framework in addressing the issue of security. It was the same sense of commitment that was evidenced in Barbados as well as in the Dominican Republic when the then Joint Working Group of the Caribbean–US Security Cooperation Dialogue met to map out the details of our cooperation on security matters. This was institutionalized in Washington with the convening of the first High Level Dialogue when, through the Declaration and Plan of Action we reiterated and registered our intention to strengthen our partnership in reducing crime as part of a mutual interest in opening that new chapter of engagement to which President Obama committed when he dialogued with Heads of the Caribbean Community in the margins of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009.
Colleagues we have made significant strides with the involvement of our principal partner and with the engagement of other state and non state actors we will advance with our mandate to take security in the region to a higher level. We are cognizant of the changing security landscape where the threats to global peace and security are real and know no boundaries. We are part of the international community that has been embattled by transnational organised crimes that threaten to unravel the gains that have been made by small developing states such as ours , struggling to cope with the vagaries of the current socio-economic and geo-political developments that challenge to aggravate our own vulnerabilities and, to some degree, destabilize our developmental efforts. The multi-dimensional nature of security as reflected in the priority areas outlined in the Declaration and Plan of Action, defines the mandate and scope of our cooperation as we endeavour to tackle elevated levels of crime in some of our communities and treat with the destructive course of natural disasters that plague us indiscriminately.
We left Washington with a firm resolve to harness our limited capabilities to advance the joint cooperation through a mechanism that will bring together the security experts whose focus will be on the areas of priority for the roll out of a comprehensive Plan of Action; one that will draw on the previsions of our existing framework for cooperation as a Region while we endeavour to invigorate our collaborative efforts as partners. Today, we are embracing a new, more pragmatic and implementable approach to this Security Initiative, culled as a critical requirement for the success of this Joint Strategy. To accomplish the inherent objectives, we have pledged our commitment to the concept of implementation of the engagement mechanisms of the strategy. I wish to underscore that the novel concept that represents a new paradigm in CARICOM-US relations, has institutionalized an inclusive multi-level and regional approach, and also strengthens the Region’s capacity to implement already existing security cooperation instruments and initiatives and to enhance the capacity of existing national and regional security agencies.
We believe that the platform for partnership will enable us to advance the implementation of areas of mutual interest while addressing the challenges that beset us. We reiterate that the reality of our geography has mandated that we work together to secure our borders by reducing varying levels of threats manifested in trans-border criminal activities in which we share a common security interest as we endeavour to preserve peace and stability and development of our nations and our people.
You will recall that we have identified those priority areas that will be the focus of our collaboration to which we pledged. We have committed to substantially reduce illicit trafficking in our region, to advance public safety and security, and to further promote social justice. I am pleased to report that these areas that will serve as the guiding principles of our engagement have set the tone for the work of the Security Cooperation Commission that will serve as the coordinating entity with the mandate to, inter alia, facilitate the preparatory work of the of the annual High Level Dialogue among the ministerial partners, and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the various initiatives identified for cooperation as well as to consider resource mobilization strategies for sustained engagements on security matters.
I am pleased to inform you today that the wheel has started turning and that the security experts that comprise the membership of the Technical Working Groups have met and had very fruitful deliberations on those areas identified in the Joint Plan of Action. The focus of the four groups were on law enforcement information sharing; law enforcement capacity and cooperation building; preventing crime by focusing on vulnerable youth and at risk population and maritime and aerial domain cooperation. Protecting our borders by boosting our maritime capabilities and institutionalizing robust information sharing mechanisms has always been a major focus of the security directorate of the Community. We will use the two day sessions of the Commission to reflect on the report of the outcome and recommendations ensuing from these meetings held over the past months. We embrace this partnership with the US as an imperative for us as a Region as we seek to reduce the illicit operations and plans of criminals who would venture to move through our borders and perpetrate criminal activities in our waters.
Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues, you are aware that the Conference was decisive in its move to secure the establishment of a regional security framework which has since been strengthened with the declaration of Security as the Fourth Pillar of the Community and the subsequent establishment of the regional security framework to coordinate the Region’s crime and security agenda. I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that the strides that we have made with this regional framework for the management of crime and security agenda in the Community has provided a strengthened capacity for crime prevention, especially in the areas of border security, information and intelligence sharing, enhanced cyber crime capabilities, enhanced collaboration between the regional security agencies. Partnership with our colleagues from the US and other state and non-state actors will augur well for a more meaningful collaboration in addressing the challenges with which we are confronted as we engage and dialogue in a spirit of mutual respect and shared responsibility.
Among the items on the agenda finalizing the agenda for the upcoming High Level Dialogue that will be convened later this year.
