Crucial year for Reform Process – CARICOM SG

The Thirty-Ninth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers was held at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) headquarters, Georgetown, Guyana, under the chairmanship of Guyana’s Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Carl Greenidge.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony, CARICOM Secretary-General, Amb. Irwin LaRocque, told delegates that 2017 was “a crucial year for the Community’s Reform Process, as it was the mid-point of the five-year (2015-2019) Strategic Plan, a foundational element of the process.

He said that the Operational Plan for achieving the goals of the Strategic Plan was designed and that a system to measure progress, based on the principles of Results-Based Management, was being established with financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Amb. LaRocque said that the gender sensitive CARICOM Results-based Management System was a timely and necessary initiative which would bring significant changes to the way the Community works.

“It will assist in fostering a results-oriented culture throughout the Community and will help us to measure the pace of the regional integration process and its impact on the lives of the people…,” he said.

The Secretary-General highlighted a number of issues that the Community was still grappling with. These included low growth, the challenges of correspondent banking, climate change, crime and security, and restrictions on access to concessional development financing.

Amb. LaRocque called for the strengthening and deepening of the Community’s integration process, noting that it was the “best option to ensure that the Community withstand the challenges before it.”

“It is our path to sustainable development and the continued improvement of the lives of the people of our Community,” he said.

Minister Greenidge guided the two-day meeting of the Council, which comprises ministers responsible for CARICOM Affairs in Member States. The Council is the second highest Organ of the Community. The Council has primary responsibility for strategic planning and coordination of the Community, in accordance with the policy directions established by the Conference of Heads of Government.