– CARICOM Strategic Plan to be presented today

THE first ever Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be among major items for consideration by regional leaders at their 35th annual CARICOM Heads of Government conference, which kicks off today in Antigua/Barbuda and runs until Friday.The meeting will be chaired by the newly- elected Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, stated a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen.
The five-year Strategic Plan, for the period 2015-2019, is the product of wide public consultation across the Caribbean Community, and seeks to reposition the Community to better secure its future in a rapidly changing environment.
According to the release, the Heads of Gov’t will seek to reach agreement on top priority areas for focused attention over the five-year period of the plan and the arrangements to ensure implementation.
A Commission on the Economy will also report to the Heads on its work on a number of initiatives including formulating a fiscal sustainability programme, reviewing the Region’s business operating environment with a view towards improving its ‘Doing Business Indicators’, and the design of regional programmes to assist in alleviating some of the constraints to growth in Member States.
Also high on the agenda, the release said, will be key issues for the Caribbean Community related to the upcoming third International Meeting of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Samoa, September 1-4 2014, the UN Climate Change Summit later that month, and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Another highlight of the meeting’s opening ceremony today will be the public launch of the new CARICOM Song, produced by Ms. Michele Henderson of Dominica. Henderson’s “Celebrating CARICOM” was selected from 63 submissions from 15 Member States and Associate Members. The second placed entry “My CARICOM” came from Adiel Thomas of Jamaica and third was “One CARICOM” by Carmella Lawrence of St. Kitts and Nevis. The CARICOM Song will be used primarily at ceremonial and community events. (You can see Ms. Henderson being interviewed about the song and her career on the CARICOM website www.caricom.org and the CARICOM Facebook page)
The opening ceremony will also feature the presentation of the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women 2014 to Ms. Marion Bethel of The Bahamas. The Award is aimed at honouring a CARICOM woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development of the Region.
Prime Minister Browne will address the ceremony as the new CARICOM Chairman. Addresses will also be made by outgoing Chairman, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador, Irwin LaRocque.
The opening, which will be held at the Sandals Grande, Antigua Resorts and Spa, from 17:00hrs will be streamed live on the CARICOM website www.caricom.org