Foreign Minister underscores need for policy shift

THE 17th meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) opened at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown yesterday, with Guyana assuming the chair.

Under the leadership of Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, other Ministers with similar portfolios began discussions on wide-ranging matters, including the upcoming eighth United Kingdom-Caribbean

Forum; the fifth CARICOM-Spain Summit and the observance of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Japan Friendship Year.
Participation of CARICOM Member States in the Tourism Expo Japan 2014 was also on the table and the grouping was updated on the CARICOM-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation and the Ministers addressed regional positions on several matters impacting multilateral relations, among them the United Nations post 2015 development agenda and the third international conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) later this year.
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett challenged the gathering to recognise the changes taking place on the international scene and be ready to respond with the required repositioning of policies.
“At the level of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations, we have had to be aware and ready to respond to changes on the international scene that would, consequently, require a repositioning of our policies. This has been a central theme in several of our meetings,” she pointed out.
Continuing, she said: “Today, Guyana is the venue where our focus will be on the conduct of the Region’s foreign policy in a changing global environment. I am, indeed, looking forward to our own introspection, at the end of which I hope we will arrive at clear and practical actions that would reflect our adaptation in a rapidly changing world and, more importantly, an approach that would lead to even greater coordination.”

MAIN ISSUES
According to her, among the main issues in focus are:
* The need for CARICOM Member States to remain seized on the climate change issue, given that 2014 has been designated, by the United Nations, as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the importance of participation in the upcoming meetings including those convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa and the UN Climate Change Summit in New York;
* The post 2015 Agenda and Financing for Development and the means for implementation of an ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda, and
* The fact that Member States are constrained by high levels of debt and graduation from concessional financing and development aid, based on an arbitrary categorisation of our small developing states as upper middle income countries, using GDP per capita, a system that ignores significant

vulnerability indices that paint a true picture of the economy.
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said: “For CARICOM, a key imperative is the building of resilience, resilience to climate change and environmental risk and resilience to external economic shocks. CARICOM needs to remain fully engaged and to ensure that our priorities are duly reflected in the relevant outcomes.”
She also spoke on the issue of foreign policy coordination and said it is not necessarily unanimity of positions, even though one may question what the objective, in the first instance was, if this is the case.
“The issue of foreign policy coordination has endured its fair share of criticism from within our respective borders and from those who seek the creation of a stronger, more interdependent community of our nation states.
“…it is my firm belief that, while there will be instances when we will have divergent positions for more reasons than one, we must continue our efforts to maximise our 14 voices and 14 votes. We must be prepared, at times, to sacrifice short term individual gains in order for the overall region to benefit on the longer term,” she urged.

REGION HAS DONE WELL
Rodrigues-Birkett noted that, while there is much to do, the Region has done well, a fact that has been recognised by countries the world over.
“We have presented common positions on key foreign policy issues, such as climate change, on the issue of differentiation and graduation, Security Council Reform, issues relating to Small Island Developing States, the Advance Passenger Duty and Security. We have also led the effort in securing an Arms Trade Treaty always with a united front.
“The fact, that we have seen an increase in the number of Governments wanting to dialogue with us as a group, demonstrates not only that they see us as a group, but also that our united positions have not gone unnoticed. I must pay tribute to our CARICOM Ambassadors for their role in advancing the consensus positions of the Region,” she said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister stated that emphasis must be placed on the ongoing information revolution, which has brought with it much information, as well as the need for speed in analysis, coordination and reaction.”

BLACKBERRY DIPLOMACY
“(It has brought with it) the need to be versed in Blackberry diplomacy and I-diplomacy,” she acknowledged.
Rodrigues-Birkett emphasised that, despite the evolving dynamism of the technological environment, the commitment, both of individual States and as Member States of the Caribbean Community to the fundamental principles of peaceful resolution of disputes, an unswerving respect for international law and a commitment to ensuring the unhindered right to development within national boundaries must not be doubted.
“…these are essential to the peaceful and ordered development of States within our Community, as well as the international community of nations, of which we are an integral part,” she agreed.
Continuing, the Minister said: “As a community, we become stronger the more we act in solidarity with these principles. That strength and that solidarity will, undoubtedly, make a considerable impact within the international community and enhance our own stature to a level that belies our physical size.”
Caricom Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin La Rocque, in his turn at the podium, said the meeting provides an opportunity for reflecting on the moves made by the Community in the promotion and protection of its interests.
“It also provides the occasion to look forward to the prospects by analysing the trends, developments and events which shape the external environment in which our Member States operate,” he said.
“…as small states, multilateral diplomacy is of prime importance to the Caribbean Community in pursuit of the protection and promotion of the interests of our Member States.
“In view of the rapidly evolving international geopolitical situation, Caricom has sought to reorient its external relations to take account of the dynamics on the global and hemispheric stage.The Community has taken into account the narrowing of the interests of its traditional partners in their relations with us.
“We are, therefore, actively seeking to widen our own geopolitical space by establishing links with an array of non-traditional partners and forming strategic alliances where there is a convergence of interests.”

INCREASINGLY INTER-CONNECTED
According to him, through globalisation, the new world has become increasingly inter-connected, as issues such as climate change, pandemics, terrorism and migration evidence themselves.
Ambassador La Rocque said: “Given that background, while maintaining our traditional links, the scope for our Community to develop new partnerships is extremely wide with a great diversity of sources of relations, trade, investment, technical cooperation and development assistance.
“Already, we are transforming our relationship with Latin America as we have come together bilaterally, collectively and institutionally through arrangements such as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and, more recently, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), PetroCaribe and the Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA). Individual Caricom Member States are also active members of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
“The Community’s relations with individual Latin American States, such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico have been strengthened. In late April, the Community held its Third Summit meeting with Mexico and looks forward to the proposed Summit with Brazil. On my recent visit to Chile, Her Excellency President Bachelet assured me of her country’s desire to strengthen its cooperation with the Community. These evolving relationships have increased the level of mutual understanding and also resulted in Latin American countries becoming increasingly sensitive to the peculiarities and vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States such as ours,” he reported.
Acknowledging that Caricom’s foreign policy agenda is packed, the Secretary-General called for regional stakeholders to prioritise.
“Today presents the opportunity for an in-depth discussion on Caricom foreign policy in the changing global environment, in order to recommend foreign policy approaches and priorities,” he posited.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago Winston Dookeran, the immediate past Chair of COFCOR, was also present at yesterday’s forum.

(By Vanessa Narine)