Let me welcome you all to this function which tonight is a multifaceted one. We celebrate the Staff of the Secretariat, especially those who will be honoured tonight. We celebrate the end of another year together as the CARICOM Secretariat family. And this celebration is taking place in the year that we mark the 40th Anniversary of our Community.
We are honoured to have with us His Excellency the President of Guyana and the First Lady, whose country has been the home for our CARICOM Secretariat family for more than forty years. The Government and People of Guyana have been a very accommodating host for the headquarters of the Caribbean Community. Mr President, on behalf of the staff of the Secretariat, I want to thank you for your support and for your country’s steadfast commitment to the integration movement. And I want to thank you and the First Lady for joining us in our celebrations tonight. I also wish to thank Ambassador Harper and Mr Harper for being with us.
Ladies and Gentlemen, forty years on from the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, we have erected a foundation upon which we can build a sustainable future for the people of the Caribbean Community. There is much to celebrate at this landmark achievement of our integration movement.
In that time, we have demonstrated in no uncertain terms the benefits to be derived from co-operation and collaboration as a Caribbean people. We have a history of uniting to respond and surmount the challenges placed before us. We have established our Single Market. Our people have benefitted from our efforts in health, disaster management, agriculture, the environment and education, and we have exerted our influence in the global diplomatic arena with results which, in no way, reflect our size.
As we commemorate this anniversary under the theme, Celebration and Renewal, it is clear we have a lot to celebrate and we are also certain that there is a lot more to be achieved. At this juncture in our journey we are seeking to position ourselves as a Secretariat and as a Community to be better able to deliver even more tangible benefits to our people in the next forty years and beyond. Effectiveness, efficiency, responsiveness, innovation and creativity, all aimed at providing improved service to our people, is the aim of the reform process we have embarked upon. The people-centred approach to development is the driver of the change that we are striving to provide. It is at the heart of our integration arrangements.
Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, even as we look to the future we must acknowledge the past and embrace the present. In so doing, we must pay tribute to those who have, through their commitment and dedication, served this Region and the Secretariat unstintingly. Tonight, while we recognise the contribution of the entire CARICOM Secretariat family, we will be honouring those of our staff who have rendered yeoman service for 20 years and more.
Fellow members of the Secretariat family, I salute you tonight. You demonstrate, on a daily basis, that despite the resource limitations and constraints you face, you get the job done. Your sense of duty takes precedence and the sacrifices you make to complete your tasks brand this workforce as very special. That spirit of family that I spoke of earlier is in evidence tonight, given the presence of so many of our former colleagues who have come to celebrate with us. I am proud and honoured to lead this organisation and its dedicated staff.
It is with the sweat, tears and midnight oil of our staff and so many others over the past forty years at the Secretariat, along with Member States, Associate Members and among our friends in the regional and international arena that we have built this Community. It has been built to last and shall be the rock upon which the well-being of our people shall stand.
In closing, I take this opportunity to wish you all and your families a joyous holiday season and good health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year.
