Author: Michelle Nurse

Investment in health is an essential priority

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment
 The Region’s health care systems and the public health infrastructure are in urgent need of attention and should be better financed and more cost effective.  Strengthening health systems has been identified as a priority health area for the Caribbean from as early as 1984 and has remained so due in part to an upward spiral in health cost and finite resources. Greater investment is urgently needed especially in cost effective health promotion, disease prevention and population health measures.
Health research was identified as one key aspect of the health system capacity that needs to be improved and made more policy-relevant. Research is needed to address critical issues such as the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of health systems, investments needs and opportunities, and barriers to uptake of services and evidence.For this reason, “Sustainable Health Systems for Economic Development and Wealth” has been chosen as the theme for Caribbean Public Health Agency’s (CARPHA) 63rd Annual Health Research Conference this year. The aim is to highlight indigenous research that can contribute to health systems strengthening and improve the performance of the six health systems building blocks: governance, financing, service delivery arrangements, health human resources, information and evidence, and medical products and technologies. (more…)

Work advances to make CCREEE fully operational by June

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment

The just-concluded Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Energy has made progress on the full operationalisation of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) by the middle of this year.

This was one of the key outcomes of the meeting which was held on 19 April, 2018, at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, according to Chairman of the Meeting, Senator the Hon. Darcy Boyce, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados.

He told the Communications Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat that the meeting made “good progress” on labelling of energy efficient equipment which would serve as a guide to the populace to buy more efficient  appliances and equipment.

Resilience in electricity grids was discussed substantially, particularly in the context of the natural disasters that have been occurring in the Region, Minister Boyce said.

Listen as the Minister speaks (above) about the outcomes of the Meeting.

UPDATE: Ensure average person benefits from progress in energy – COTED Chair

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment
At the opening ceremony of the Special Meeting of COTED on Energy are, from left, Mr. Joseph Cox, Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration, CARICOM Secretariat; Sen. the Hon. Darcy Boyce, Chairman of the 73rd COTED on Energy, and Minister of State, Office of the Prime Minister, Barbados; Dr. Devon Gardner, Programme Manager, Energy, CARICOM Secretariat; and Ms. Corlita Babb-Schaefer, General Counsel, CARICOM Secretariat

Regional Ministers of Energy on Thursday met at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and were charged to ensure that the progress that the sector is registering is felt by the average Caribbean person.

Barbados Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator the Hon. Darcy Boyce chaired the one-day 73rd Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Energy, and expressed satisfaction with the progress the Region was making on the energy front.

However, he cautioned that the benefits of those efforts that are being taken filter to the average Caribbean person.

“We also have to make ensure that the benefits of the work that we are doing in energy efficiency and renewable energy redound to the benefit of the average consumer, in the homes, in the businesses of our countries”, he said.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

See more photos here

(more…)

Region advancing protocol on Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management in Fisheries

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment
Delegates at the meeting

BELIZE CITY, BELIZE, THURSDAY, 19 April 2018 (CRFM)—Fisheries officials from Member States of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) met on 18 April, 2018, at the Montserrat Cultural Centre. The meeting was held to review and validate the Draft Protocol to Integrate Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management in Fisheries and Aquaculture into the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

Experts from non-government stakeholders in fisheries/aquaculture, climate change and disaster risk management attended the one-day meeting. They include the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO), and regional and international organisations such as the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The CRFM—the CARICOM agency which works to promote sustainable development of the fisheries and aquaculture sector—is a regional partner on the Climate Change Adaptation in the Eastern Caribbean Fisheries Sector (CC4FISH) Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF); and implemented by FAO. It is under this umbrella that the new initiative is being implemented for the benefit of the CARICOM States. (more…)