Outgoing SG briefs President Granger on Chairmanship role
Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on Friday met with incoming Caricom Chairman, President David Granger to brief him on his tenure as Chair for the next six months and preparations for the Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caricom Heads of Government in February, over which he will preside.
Caricom’s delegation (from left): Executive Director, Human Resource Management at the Caricom Secretariat, Charmaine Atkinson-Jordan; Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque; and Advisor to the Secretary General Neville Bissember. On the right is the Head of the Caricom Unit in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Charlene Phoenix; President David Granger and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge
Also present at the briefing were Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; Sharlene Phoenix of the Foreign Affairs Ministry; Neville Bissember, Advisor; and Charmaine Atkinson-Jordan, Chef-de-Cabinet, in the Office of the Secretary General.
President Granger assumed the Chairmanship on January 1, 2017, as per the Rotation Schedule for The Chairmanship of the Conference of Heads of Government. As such, Guyana will host the 28th Inter-sessional Meeting of Caricom Heads of Government, which is slated for February 16-17.
In his New Year’s address, President Granger had called for deepened regional integration, noting that the new year holds great promise for Caribbean countries to advance “our integration process which can only be possible through the involvement and participation of all”.
“Let us resolve to play our part in strengthening our Caribbean Community and to making regional unity a living, breathing experience,” Granger said in a message ahead of taking over from Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit from January 1.
Granger said 2016 marked the mid-point of the five-year strategic plan, which he described as “a foundational element in the Community’s reform process”.
“That process is geared towards ensuring that our people feel the impact of the integration movement in their daily lives. Integration is not merely about systems and institutions. It is mostly about people.
It is in the interest of developing our people that we are taking steps to ensure that they are fully equipped to address the requirements of the 21st Century economy and society. Our Commission on Human Resource Development is developing a regional education and human resource strategy with special attention to ICT in education and human resource development.”
