Harmon attends Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas

Minister of State Joseph Harmon is currently in Cancun, Mexico, for the 13th Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas, which will conclude today. He is accompanied by Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Patrick West.
During the Conference, Minister Harmon emphasised Guyana’s commitment to working with all States in the hemisphere, while noting that there is need to ensure that the armed forces are geared towards providing humanitarian assistance to small and vulnerable States, in addition to fulfilling their mandated functions. He said through Guyana’s participation at the Conference, there is now a better understanding of various areas including the evolving role of the Army, the role of women in the armed forces, climate change and defence and best global practices

Minister of State Joseph Harmon meets United States’ Secretary of Defence, James Mattis on the sidelines of the conference

on defence and security issues. This is an area Guyana takes seriously, he added.
According to its website, the Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas is an international multilateral political forum directed and integrated by the Defence Ministers of the Americas, with authorisation from the Governments of their respective countries. The forum promotes mutual knowledge and exchange of ideas at the Ministers level in the scope of hemispheric defence and security.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Conference, Minister Harmon met with the United States’ Secretary of Defence, Jim Mattis. He also met with representatives of several member states of the Union of South America (UNASUR) including Uruguay, Ecuador and Bolivia. During his meetings with the UNASUR representatives, Minister Harmon outlined that Guyana wants to see UNASUR functioning in the best interest of its member states and Guyana is prepared to cooperate with the body whenever the need arises.