Caribbean formulates bold regional crime wave strategy

In a landmark move that could reshape the Caribbean’s security landscape, regional leaders have unveiled the George-Bridge Declaration, a comprehensive framework designed to tackle the escalating challenges of crime and violence threatening the region’s stability.

Unveiled during a recent crime symposium hosted by Barbados in Georgetown, the declaration reflects the collective will of CARICOM Heads of Government to address one of the region’s most pressing challenges.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley shared the details of the arrangement on Thursday at the launch here of another regional effort against crime and violence.

She said: “On November 22, we arrived at what has come to be known as the George-Bridge Declaration, capturing both the location and the host, reflecting the will of heads of government,” she said.

Mottley noted that the declaration aims to ensure crime and violence do not disrupt societies or distract from broader efforts to uplift the region.

“That means there must be a determined effort to ensure that crime and violence do not disrupt our societies and do not dislocate or distract from the other difficult issues that we face in bringing development to our people,” she said.

Mottley further noted the need for a multidisciplinary approach, stressing that some aspects must be tackled regionally and even hemispherically.

Limited resources, particularly human resources, call for collaboration at this time, she declared.

“The biggest issue in this region now is, in fact, the skills deficit. The absence of skills across the critical areas that we need to hold our societies together and to build our societies up is really at risk,” Mottley said.

She told her audience of heads of nations and other justice and security figures that the new declaration has already set major actions in motion, including the appointment of the former attorney general of Belize as an overseer for regional security collaboration.

Mottley revealed: “The George-Bridge Declaration also made a determination that somebody must come to work every day to preside over the regional collaboration that is critical to strengthen the actions of individual nation-states and I’m happy to report that the former Attorney General of Belize, Mr Godfrey Smith, has agreed to accept that responsibility for us.”

The declaration also calls for a review of the regional security framework, citing the inclusion of Guyana in the Regional Security System (RSS), the Caribbean security pact, as a significant step forward.

“We know instinctively that this has made a real difference to our ability to be able to fight crime and to build peace among our populations,” Mottley said.

The prime minister stressed that tackling crime requires collective accountability from governments, communities, and individuals: “This is not a battle of governments alone. This is a battle for societies and for people.”