Cumbre de mandatarios caribeños | Presidente de la Caricom pide mayor integración para superar la pandemia
El presidente de Caricom pide mayor integración para superar la covid-19
El presidente de la Comunidad del Caribe (Caricom), Keith Rowley, pidió este miércoles que se avance en el proceso de integración regional para impulsar la recuperación de la covid-19, además de subrayar la necesidad de que los países del área tengan acceso a financiación en mejores condiciones.
Rowley, durante la apertura de la 32 reunión entre sesiones de la Conferencia de Jefes de Gobierno de Caricom, que se realiza virtualmente, señaló que la pandemia de la covid-19 ha provocado importantes consecuencias económicas, en concreto un declive sin señales de recuperación en la región caribeña.
Rowley señaló que si bien el Caribe ha logrado un éxito relativo en su lucha contra la covid-19, la región está identificada como una de las más castigadas a nivel económico, especialmente si se considera el efecto que han tenido las restricciones de viaje en el sector turístico, que es crucial para la supervivencia de muchos estados miembros de Caricom.
‘Este año, mientras la Comunidad conmemora el 20 aniversario del Tratado Revisado de Chaguaramas, que estableció el mercado y economía únicos de Caricom (CSME, en inglés), debemos continuar avanzando y fortaleciendo el proceso de integración para impulsar nuestra recuperación económica’, dijo.
VULNERABILIDAD DEL CARICOM
Rowley también señaló que la pandemia ha puesto de relieve la vulnerabilidad de Caricom y la de muchos otros pequeños estados insulares en desarrollo.
El presidente de Caricom, que participó en una reunión informativa de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) sobre la covid-19 la semana pasada, dijo que había reiterado su petición de una convención internacional que permita compartir de manera equitativa las vacunas contra la covid-19 disponibles.
‘Me gustaría agradecer al director general de la OMS y su equipo por sus continuos esfuerzos para asegurar la equidad en la disponibilidad de vacunas. También reconozco y acojo con satisfacción los compromisos asumidos por los Estados Unidos de América, el Reino Unido, Francia y Alemania con el mecanismo global Covax y con la asignación equitativa de vacunas’, agregó Rowley.
AGRADECIMIENTO A BARBADOS Y DOMINICA
El presidente de Caricom también aprovechó la oportunidad para agradecer a los gobiernos de Barbados y Dominica por su generosidad al compartir las vacunas recibidas de la India con otras naciones de la región.
Agradeció a la primera ministra de Barbados, Mia Mottley, por su papel en asegurar el acceso a las vacunas a través de la Plataforma Africana de Suministros Médicos (AMSP, en inglés).
‘Permítanme también expresar mi más sincero agradecimiento a los gobiernos de la India y de la Unión Africana por su benevolencia y permitirnos un camino para acceder a las vacunas que tanto necesitan para salvaguardar la salud de la gente de nuestra comunidad’, dijo Rowley.
En su discurso al inicio de la cumbre de dos días, el secretario general de Caricom, Irwin LaRocque, reiteró por su parte la importancia de la vacuna contra la covid-19 en la lucha contra el virus.
‘El camino hacia la recuperación no puede esperar hasta 2022 o 2023, como algunos predicen. La urgencia de ahora se aplica al acceso a las vacunas. Continuaremos buscando todas las posibilidades para garantizar un acceso equitativo a las vacunas para nuestras poblaciones’, destacó LaRocque.
Dijo que durante los próximos dos días se presentarán propuestas para reactivar la industria turística, promover el sector agrícola, avanzar en la implementación del mercado y economía únicos de Caricom, que como aseguró sigue siendo la mejor plataforma de la región para el crecimiento y el desarrollo sostenibles.
REMARKS BY THE CHAIRMAN OF CARICOM AT THE OPENING OF THE THIRTY-SECOND INTER-SESSIONAL MEETING OF CARICOM HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Out-going Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community;
· Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community;
· Other Heads of Delegation;
· Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of CARICOM;
· Representatives of Regional and International Institutions;
· Representatives of the Private Sector, Labour and Civil Society;
· Delegates;
· Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning and welcome to the opening of the Thirty-Second Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
At the outset, I would like to commend the outgoing Chairman, the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for his steadfast leadership of the Community at a time when the Region had begun to experience the full brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I also take the opportunity to congratulate Prime Minister Gonsalves on his country’s successful Presidency of the UN Security Council in November 2020. As the smallest ever holder of a seat on the UN Security Council, St. Vincent and the Grenadines showed the world that although Small Island Developing States are in fact small we are not insignificant.
Colleague Heads of Government, over the last year, into this year, we continue to be challenged with our various responses to the perilous pandemic that has disrupted every segment of our society while, simultaneously, we have continued to confront more traditional threats to our development such as external economic shocks, the existential threats of climate change and the threatened and actual blacklisting and de-risking of our financial institutions.
This pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our Community and those of many other Small Island Developing States. To ensure our post pandemic recovery we must continue to call for the broadening of existing economic vulnerability indices that take into consideration the impact that climate change, natural disasters and global pandemics have on our development. This will permit Small Island Developing States access to much needed concessional financing to aid our recovery and build our resilience.
Colleagues, although the early stages of vaccine distribution in our Region have provided renewed hope after a sombre year, the advent of 2021 has been marked by several concerning developments in our Hemisphere including the unprecedented scenes that unfolded at the US Capitol Building; the continuation of the Guyana-Venezuela Border Controversy; disappointment over COVID-19 Vaccine Availability; the designation by the United States of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and the deteriorating of the situation in Haiti. Many of these issues will be revisited, in one form or another, over the course of this our Thirty-Second Inter-Sessional Meeting.
Colleagues, when we were gathered in Barbados a year ago, the world had only just begun learning about the seriousness of the novel coronavirus. Shortly thereafter, the Region received its first COVID-19 case and has since been fully engaged in its fight against COVID-19. Across the globe, we have seen how this virus and the measures to slow its spread, most notably shutdowns and travel bans, have impacted all segments of society and completely transformed our way of life.
The Pandemic has precipitated major economic fallout, stagnation and decline, throwing the global economy into a tailspin with very little sign of early recovery. Our Community, although having achieved relative success in our fight against COVID-19, has been identified as one of the region’s most vulnerable to the virus especially when the effect that travel bans have had on tourism services in our Region are taken into consideration. This sector is crucial to the survival of many of our Member States and Associate Members. This year, as the Community commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which established the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), we must continue to advance and strengthen the integration process and harness the CSME to propel our economic recovery and build back better.
Colleagues, the pandemic has also magnified global asymmetries as exemplified by the access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the early months of the pandemic and more recently through access to vaccines. It is in this context, in my capacity as Chairman of the Conference, I wrote to the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposing that a Global Summit be convened as soon as possible, in the context of the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Facilitation Council, to address the issues related to equitable access and the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Consequently, I was invited to participate at a WHO Briefing on COVID-19 last week at which I reiterated our call for the convening of an “international convention of the world’s people’s representatives” to commit to the equitable sharing of available COVID-19 vaccines. I would like to thank the Director General of the WHO and his team for their continued efforts to ensure vaccine availability equity. Today, I also acknowledge and welcome the commitments made by the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France and Germany to the global mechanism, COVAX and to equitable allocation of vaccines. As we meet here now we are all anxiously awaiting our first shipments of the life-saving vaccines from the COVAX experiment.
Colleagues, CARICOM has been invaluable in the fight of our Member States against COVID-19. The evidence of this has been replete over the last year. The continued support provided to the Community by our regional institutions led by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), and the most fervent demonstrations of regional solidarity through the sharing of PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment), reagents and Test Kits and most recently, vaccines, have had significant impacts on our ability to combat the ravages of this nefarious disease.
The generosity of the Governments of Barbados and Dominica in sharing their vaccine gifts, received from the Government of India, is particularly noteworthy and commendable. Prime Minister Mottley your pioneering role in securing the Community’s access to vaccines through the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) showed great ingenuity, foresight and stamina. Allow me to also express my sincerest appreciation to the Governments of India and of the African Union for their benevolence and allowing us a pathway to access much needed vaccines to safeguard the health of the people of our Community. We continue to anticipate that our many approaches, requests and orders will soon result in satisfying deliveries of approved vaccines for our anxious populations.
Colleague Heads, on your behalf, I also take this opportunity to express gratitude to all those in the international community who have supported our Community throughout the pandemic. Colleagues, this virus has reminded us of the importance and relevance of regionalism, multilateralism and South -South cooperation in the world today, particularly, during times of crisis.
Colleagues, regrettably, we have witnessed the disproportionate and adverse impact this virus has had on persons with co-morbidities. I recall that on September 15, 2007, CARICOM Heads of Government met here in Trinidad and Tobago at the First CARICOM Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and adopted the Declaration of Port of Spain: Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic NCDs. Today, almost 15 years later, the Region continues to battle with high incidences of mortality due to NCDs. Often, these illnesses develop due to poor quality diets and lack of access to fresh produce. We need to redouble our efforts in addressing NCDs and exploring their nexus with food and nutrition security. It is my hope that our deliberations on Advancing the Regional Agenda on Food and Nutrition Security can assist in this regard while also addressing the Region’s significant food import bill.
Colleague Heads of Government, a year ago at our 31st Inter-Sessional Meeting, I committed, as Lead Head with responsibility for Security in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet, to hosting a High-Level Summit of Member States and the regional multi-sectoral partners in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2020. Regrettably, due to the events overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to convene such a Summit.
Although our attention has been appropriately focussed on securing the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of our people and the Community’s post COVID recovery, we must remain committed to addressing crime and violence as a public health issue in our Region. Across the globe we have seen how shutdowns have contributed to an increase in cases of domestic violence. Additionally, in the Region, we continue to witness unconscionable acts of violence against the women and children of our Community.
Another issue of great concern to our Community, is the deepening sense of insecurity triggered by the scourge of illicit trafficking in goods and persons in our Region. Such threats to Law Enforcement and Security, specifically the illicit trafficking in persons, have been particularly disconcerting as the Community continues its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. These illicit activities and their violent spill-over effects further intensify citizen insecurity throughout our Region.
We have acknowledged that to address these challenges, it is insufficient to rely on Law Enforcement alone and that a multi-disciplinary approach which engages various sectors of our Community must be adopted. To this end, it is my hope that we can soon refocus our attention and efforts to convene the Summit with a difference, aiming to adopt a multi-sectoral response to treat with crime and violence as a public health issue in our Region.
Colleagues, globally, the issue of Reparations for Native Genocide and Slavery continues to find a place on our agenda and is gaining momentum. The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) has been at the forefront of this social justice movement and the Region’s Ten-Point Action Plan, which links reparatory justice to economic and social development, has been a guiding light to many human rights and social justice groups around the world.
I take this opportunity to applaud the CRC on its pioneering work. Many of us have recognised that the road to reparatory justice is likely to be long and arduous. However, we must stay the course. To this end, Trinidad and Tobago has recommitted itself to assist the Community in this regard and as a first step has appointed Dr. Heather Cateau, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education of The University of West Indies, St. Augustine, as its new Chairperson to our reconstituted National Committee on Reparations.
Lastly, allow me to express my sincere appreciation to our esteemed Secretary General whose tenure, I understand, will conclude in August of this year. Ambassador LaRocque, I commend you on your unwavering commitment to regional integration. I would like to put on record today that you, with your quintessential cool, calm and steady manner, have served our Community with distinction. Well done.
I would also like to express gratitude to the staff of the Secretariat who work tirelessly to support our Community in every respect and who have displayed exemplary acts of service and commitment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Without your efforts, the Community would not have done so well in managing this pandemic.
I couldn’t end without congratulating the West Indies touring team for the long awaited victory away from home. They surely lifted our spirits again as they underlined the fact that good things happen when we stay in the fight, little but tallawah.
Colleagues, it is my hope that we have a constructive meeting filled with productive exchanges as we deliberate on the crucial issues on the agenda before us.
Let us all remember, Together We Are Stronger, Together we are louder, never to be ignored never to be insignificant
Colleagues welcome to virtual Trinidad and Tobago.
This means you all owe us a visit, as soon as we are able to travel freely again, soon.
Thank You
REMARKS BY THE OUTGOING CHAIRMAN – THIRTY-SECOND INTER-SESSIONAL MEETING OF CARICOM HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
Remarks by Dr Ralph E Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Outgoing Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
My dear friend Keith’s and Secretary-General and colleagues.
I want to begin first by adopting every single word that the Secretary General has just spoken and to call those words my own. Therefore, I don’t want to retrace any of the territory which he has traversed.
I just want to say additionally, that in the six months – between July and December – of my chairmanship, the issues which the new chairman is grappling with are some of the same ones, relating to interfacing with the outside world on a number of issues, and the international financial institution; all of the various representations which we have had to make; and the work which we have had to do through all the various Prime Ministerial subcommittees. And these are matters which are coming before the Conference.
I want to say how distressed I was to learn in the news media that the European Commission has placed the Commonwealth of Dominica on the list of jurisdictions which are non-cooperative for tax purposes. It is a terrible thing during this time. Barbados has had to endure that. I noticed that Barbados is at least off the list for the time being until their review is completed. But we have to say something about this matter at this Conference. We are not involved at all. There’s no inclusive process with the European Commission and yet they simply use their power to declare another country a non-cooperative jurisdiction, even if that country satisfies all inclusive processes of the OECD or the FATF. And for it to be done at the time of the pandemic is just really awful. We see them as we are friends, but yet they behave like this towards us. I think we have to say something about this.
The juncture where we are at now, it’s really about two things fundamentally. Jabs and Jobs.
The jobs will come from the uptake of the economy, to the extent that we get any of it going, and there are proposals before us for strengthening the CSME – proposals in relation to the CARICOM Commission on the Economy and the initiatives in tourism and in agriculture.
But immediately we have to address this issue of jobs. But jobs are really going to come back in a large sense when all the countries in the world – our source markets particularly for tourism – that these countries are vaccinated and we are also vaccinated and other countries across the world. That is a big issue before us and there’s a lot of information in the conference documents, and CARPHA has done a lot of good preparation.
I want to thank the Regional Institutions – CARPHA, the RSS, Impacts, the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology – at the time when we had the residue of the drought – and University West Indies for also assisting.
Basically, what we are about is what Prime Minister Rowley had said at the very beginning of this whole pandemic, that strengthening CARICOM is really the best antidote to COVID-19. It was so then when he proclaimed it. It is still so today.
And I look forward very much for the deliberations of this Conference.
Thank you.
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REMARKS – THIRTY-SECOND INTER-SESSIONAL MEETING OF CARICOM HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community;
Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Out-going Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community;
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community;
Other Heads of Delegation;
Heads of Regional and International Institutions;
Representatives of the Private Sector, Labour and Civil Society;
Delegates.
I welcome you all to the 32nd Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
This new normal of virtual meetings, unfortunately does not allow for the in-person interaction which adds so much value to our discussions. However, we have been able to accomplish much through this medium.
I wish to welcome the Honourable John Briceňo, Prime Minister of Belize, who joins us today for his first meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government. Prime Minister, the Community looks forward to your fresh views on the issues with which we are grappling at this time.
I also take this opportunity to thank most sincerely Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for his stewardship of the Community during his tenure as Chair. Prime Minister Gonsalves, your astute guidance at a difficult time was beneficial both to the Community and to me.
Mr. Chairman, Heads of Government, it is about a year that the world has been beset by the woes brought on by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Community has not been spared. We have lost lives and livelihoods. Health systems have been severely challenged. And as the International Monetary Fund has stated, our Region is the worst affected economically in the world.
As a Community, we have been channelling our collective wisdom and creativity to devise strategies to guide a resilient recovery. The fruits of some of that labour will form the basis of our discussions over the next two days.
Proposals will be presented to revive the tourism industry; to promote the agriculture sector; to advance implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) which remains our best platform for sustainable growth and development, and to address the fiscal challenges. The social partners will share their perspective on the way forward.
Underlying all this, however, remains the control, management and reduction of the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The resilient recovery we seek cannot materialise until we tame the beast of COVID-19. This will allow our citizens to resume their productive lives, and our children to continue their education without interruption.
The road to recovery cannot wait until 2022 or 2023 as some are predicting. The urgency of now applies to vaccine access. We will continue pursuing all possibilities to ensure equitable access to vaccines for our populations
CARICOM repeats its call for a global Summit to address equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, which should be conducted in the context of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ACT-A Facilitation Council.
In pursuing the objective of acquiring sufficient vaccines for our people, Member States have signed on to the African Medical Supplies Platform to take advantage of the economy of scale which the facility provides. I want to thank the African Union for making available to CARICOM 1.5 million doses of vaccines through their procurement arrangement.
We have also been in discussions with Development Finance Institutions to make the case for concessional funding to purchase vaccines; and with PAHO to assist in acquiring additional vaccines.
These efforts will supplement the doses allocated to our Member States by the COVAX Facility to vaccinate 20 percent of our populations.
As these initiatives are being pursued, in what could only be described as the essence of Community spirit, Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and Honourable Roosevelt Skerritt, Prime Minister of Dominica generously shared vaccines with other Member States from supplies donated by India. Thank you, Prime Ministers.
The spirit of such a gesture is a reflection of the collective action that has been the hallmark of the Community’s approach to combatting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without that collective approach it would be difficult to overcome the challenges posed by the virus.
Deliberations over the next two days will no doubt focus on building back better with resilience, as we strive to provide a safe, secure and prosperous society for all our people.
Our Region expects no less.
I thank you
