Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali has reiterated his and CARICOM’s commitment to peacefully and legally resolving border controversies while ensuring that the region remains a Zone of Peace.
These remarks were part of the Guyanese President’s New Year statement as the incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community, a CARICOM release stated yesterday.
The President began by thanking the outgoing Chairman, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, for his “outstanding leadership” during his tenure. He expressed the hope that the New Year brings renewed possibilities to continue targeted programmes to advance CARICOM’s strategic priorities with the objective of pursuing the Region’s development goals, and striving for peace and prosperity across the Caribbean Community.
Ali spoke to the issue of regional security which he referred to as an “increasingly critical” matter. We live in a world where peace is challenged from one corner of the universe to the next. He noted what he called CARICOM’s “robust role” at the end of 2023, in assuring the rule of international peace and security in this corner of the world and ensuring that Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole, remained a Zone of Peace. “We shall continue 2004 with this respect for international law. We all remain committed to peacefully and by legal means resolving border controversies.”
The President stated CARICOM’s resolve to effectively address crime and violence in the Region, including combatting the illegal weapons trade through the “War on Guns” campaign. “We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to return our Member State, Haiti, to peace and stability. Our Region must remain a Zone of Peace.”
As expected the issue of the region’s food and nutrition security was given prominence and according to Ali, “continues to be at the forefront of our endeavours.” He noted that despite adverse challenges, including climate change, CARICOM Member States have made steady progress towards achieving the ‘25% by 2025’ target to reduce the region’s food import bill. Ali then promised to build on these achievements, including advancing the regional agenda for energy services that are available, reliable, affordable and sustainable, to support expected innovations in the agricultural sector. Crucial to this initiative, he contended, is the need to improve regional transportation and assured that this will remain a top priority.
Turning his attention to the regional burden of climate change, the incoming Chairman assured of continued advocacy for early and fair operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund, agreed at COP28, and promised to continue to insist on fulfilment of the commitments made by major emitters to be converted to actions to reduce emissions that lead to climate change with its “deleterious impact” on vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Low-lying Coastal Developing States, such as CARICOM Member States.
“We all know that SIDS do not contribute in any meaningful way to climate change, but we carry the heaviest burden of the impact: from more and stronger tropical cyclones to increasingly scarce and saline ground water, to disappearing coastal lands, to degrading marine eco-systems, to stress on agriculture and other sectors. This is why our call for fair access to affordable financing to address the impact of climate change must and will continue.”
The statement noted that 2023 was a “period of reflection” as it marked the 50th Anniversary of the integration movement. The Head of State also made several commitments to advance the cause of CARICOM. “We will continue to advance these ideals with the requisite undertakings which will allow CARICOM nationals to exercise their right to free movement within the Community and to bring the regional capital market into being. We will also work on ensuring greater participation of all sectors of our Community, including the private sector, labour organisations and civil society, in building our CARICOM Single Market and Economy. We will identify new avenues for targeted partnerships, especially with our young people, to encourage innovative approaches and renewed energy for sustained economic development and convergence.”
Ali declared that CARICOM’s objective is to improve the lives of the region’s citizens through purposeful and sustained cooperation, by delivering high-quality health services, a more relevant system of education for young people, secure and amenable living environments, new jobs, and a financial climate that is conducive to investments.
He however, remained “heartened” by the “tangible” evidence of what collective action and determination have already achieved and expressed confidence that the ongoing and new initiatives being implemented will help to ensure that CARICOM is truly “A Community for All”.
Remarking that Guyana is honoured to Chair the Conference of Heads of Government for the period, January 1 to June 30, the President said he was looking forward to welcoming all CARICOM Heads of State and Government to Georgetown in February 2024, where Guyana will host the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference and continue the Community’s activities to mark CARICOM’s 50th Anniversary.
