The incumbent Caricom Chairman, President David Granger, in his New Year’s message reminded that 2017 marks the mid-point of the Five-Year Strategic Plan for the period 2015-2019, which is a foundational element in the Community’s Reform Process, geared towards ensuring that people feel the impact of the integration movement in their daily lives. More importantly, the Head of State reiterated that Integration is not merely about systems and institutions, but rather about people.
Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRoque, in his address at the 39th meeting of the Community Council of Ministers held recently, acknowledged that the year 2017 will be a crucial time for the reform, particularly for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). He then called for a rigid approach to the examination and attention of issues.
Clearly, the reform process has begun to take shape, and based on the Secretary General’s pronouncements, the Implementing Partners for the Strategic Plan, the Member States, the Regional Institutions and the Secretariat, are embracing the challenge, since the groundwork for the cohesive approach had been laid. Last July, Heads of Government mandated that a review of the status of CSME be completed for consideration of the intercessional meeting. That review, LaRoque asserted, is being undertaken as well as the CSME can be recalibrated to make it more responsive to address issues of growth and competitiveness.
The operational plan for achieving the goals has been designed, which identifies the specific roles for each of the implementing partners, the member states, Regional Institutions and the Secretariat. Towards the goal of strengthening the framework, a sensitization session on the CSME Regime for Free Movement of People will be held in Suriname this week. More than 30 participants will attend the one-day sensitization training workshop in the Dutch-speaking CARICOM Member State. It is hoped that the intervention will help to address the critical importance of stakeholder engagement, including with employers, the private sector and labour, to the successful operation of the CSME and regional integration in general.
A second session will also be facilitated, which will provide training for Immigration and Border Control Officers on current arrangements under the CSME. The focus will be on matters relating to the CSME arrangements for facilitation of travel and the free movement of skilled CARICOM Nationals. This targeted training, to be provided by Officers of the CARICOM Secretariat, is expected to provide a clear understanding of the principles of Free Movement and the impact of how Immigration Officers interpret their function as frontline officials.
The Suriname workshops are among several national level interventions by the CARICOM Secretariat CSME Unit, aimed at strengthening capacity among personnel in key Ministries and agencies who are tasked with advancing the implementation of the CSME.
Prior to the Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers, the Secretary General had stressed that, as difficult and challenging as reform is, it is absolutely essential in order to confront the ever-changing nature of today’s global environment. This reform is not an end in itself but a means of ensuring that the citizens of CARICOM derive the maximum benefit from our integration process, he stressed.
At the end of it all, the regional integration process would be much more efficient and effective, in serving the interests of all the people. It is becoming more and more evident that Caricom, in recognising this, is moving to strengthen cooperation to address social, political and economic challenges, as well as focusing on regional security, human resource development, health and foreign policy. As the Secretary General acknowledged, the strength of the integration movement gives member states a solid platform upon which to build resilience, given the uncertainties on the international scene and implications of global events on the Community. A transformed Community for the benefit of all of its people underpins the Caricom Reform process, formally began in 2013.
The Community Strategic Plan identifies eight Strategic Priorities and key areas of intervention for each over the five-year period, 2015-2019, which are Building Economic Resilience; Social Resilience; Environmental Resilience; Technological Resilience; Strengthening the Caricom Identity and Spirit of Community; and Strengthening Community Governance, along with two enabling priorities of Coordinated Foreign Policy, and Research and Development, and Innovation.
