UN chief, EU president to address CARICOM leaders at summit

Two major world community figures, António Guterres, the UN secretary general, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, will address Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders next month on urgent climate finance and regional security issues at a summit in Barbados, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat announced on Wednesday.

The February 19-21 summit will be chaired by Prime Minister, Mia Mottley.

The opening ceremony of the summit, to be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, will also be addressed by the outgoing CARICOM chairman and Grenada prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, the recently elected premier of Montserrat, Reuben Meade, and CARICOM secretary general Dr Carla Barnett.

The business session of the summit will be held at the Wyndham Grand Barbados, Sam Lord’s Castle in St Philip.

The summit will be held under the theme “Strength in Unity: Forging Caribbean Resilience, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development“, and the CARICOM Secretariat said that the regional leaders will discuss “several pressing issues” for the community.

It said these include food and nutrition security; climate change and the climate finance agenda as well as the ongoing challenges in Haiti; security issues; digital resilience, external relations matters and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Other issues such as maritime and air transport, and reparations will also be on the agenda.

The secretariat said that Prime Minister Mottley set the tone for THE 15-nation bloc’s focus for the next six months when in her New Year’s message she highlighted the need for the region to resume the full implementation of the CSME that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the regional bloc.
(CMC/BT)