POSITIVE energy infused fruitful discussions this week among key implementation partners of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Five-Year Strategic Plan 2015-2019, heralding a productive start to 2015. These sentiments were expressed by CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, when he addressed the opening ceremony of the 35th Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers of CARICOM, said a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat.

The meeting commenced on Friday morning at the Georgetown, Guyana Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat.
The Secretary-General told the Council that following the CARICOM Heads of Government approval of the Strategic Plan last July, work has begun to implement the Plan. He stated that critical steps are being taken to establish the governance and operational structures among all the implementing partners of the Strategic Plan which is a critical element in the reform of the Community.
Preceding the meeting of the Council on Friday, two significant engagements were held on Tuesday and Wednesday among the Member States, the Regional Institutions and the Secretariat, and between CARICOM Ambassadors and Change Drivers to consider the draft Implementation Plan.
The Secretary-General said he was encouraged by the positivity which has been a factor throughout those discussions, adding that it was a spirit important at any time, but more significantly this year being the first of the Strategic Plan.
Those inputs have served to elaborate the relationship between the national and regional agendas, Ambassador LaRocque said, noting that CARICOM Member States, Institutions, and the Committee of CARICOM Ambassadors have all contributed significantly to various elements of implementation plan.
“There was a full appreciation that each of us had a role to play in the successful implementation of the Plan. The enthusiasm and commitment displayed by all parties involved is testimony to the strong belief in the Strategic Plan’s potential to assist the Member States in meeting and defeating their current challenges,” he stated.
He noted that the collaboration which materialized from the meetings was envisaged in the Strategic Plan and it was fuelling a new mode of operation in the Community, geared towards ensuring cohesion and working towards achieving common goals. It was a sign of the readiness of the parties to begin their work on fulfilling the objectives of the Strategic Plan to the benefit of the people of the Community, he added.
The Council is now considering the revised Implementation Plan which benefitted from the “rich engagement” among the implementing partners, Secretary-General LaRocque said.
WATERSHED YEAR
“This year, 2015, can therefore be a watershed year in the history of our Community. The effectiveness of acting together has proven itself time and again. Let us continue to use that strength in our ongoing quest to provide a better life for the people of our Caribbean Community,” he encouraged the meeting.
CONFIDENCE IN CARICOM
Meanwhile the Chairman of the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Hon. Frederick Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration of The Bahamas, has underscored the crucial need for CARICOM.
“I was asked the question that is heard too often around the region: what do you think will happen to CARICOM. Being a minimalist, I gave an answer that I always give: ‘if it didn’t exist we would have to invent it; not to expect more than can be delivered; not to put more on it than it can bear.’ There is an intrinsic value in the conversation alone,” he said in opening remarks on Friday.
Expressing The Bahamas’ commitment to CARICOM, Minister Mitchell said that the Community was a part of its foreign policy, and added that he hoped his country would serve the Community well during its chairmanship.
The Bahamian Foreign Minister was full of optimism about the Region emerging out of its challenges.
“To be sure, one can list the issues, financial being amongst the most vexing. But the story of Joseph interpreting the dream of Pharaoh can best explain that life is cyclical and we have good years and lean years. Things will turn around,” he predicted.
Looking ahead to the Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in February, in Nassau, The Bahamas, he said, “The conversation on the political economy can find no better forum.”
“It is the hope of our Prime Minister that we will have a detailed discussion on the issue of human development and in particular addressing the question of youth unemployment; their sense of despair and hopelessness. In his statement most recently in China at the CELAC meeting, he opined that if we do not address this issue, we do so at the peril of all of our societies. The Bahamas believes that culture and sports point the way to the future,” Mitchell said.
He told the meeting that he anticipated an assessment with the hope of making recommendations to CARICOM Heads of Governments on the shifting prices of commodities, including petroleum and their effects on Member States.
Calling the meeting’s attention to the crisis in Nigeria wrought by the terrorist group Boko Haram, he stated that CARICOM “can make its voice heard and push above its weight around the globe.”
The Community Council of Ministers is the second highest organ of CARICOM.