PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) -- Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake killed between 250,000 and 300,000 people, the head of the United Nations mission in the country said Thursday.
Until now, the Haitian government death toll was more than 220,000.
April 21 "marked the 100th day since the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 people dead," said Edmond Mulet, the head of the UN mission in Haiti.
Mulet also said that 300,000 people were wounded in the disaster, and more than one million people were left homeless.
The 7.0-magnitude quake left much of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince in ruins, destroying infrastructure and the seat of government and causing a humanitarian catastrophe in a country already considered the poorest in the Americas.
Mulet, speaking at a press conference, said that he wants the UN Security Council to send an extra 800 police officers to provide safety in the refugee camps.
"In the history of humanity one has never seen a natural disaster of this dimension," said Mulet, adding that the Haiti quake death toll was twice the toll of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II.
Mulet said that the next 12 to 18 months will be "critical," noting that peacekeepers in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will focus on five areas: helping support the government organize quick elections, coordinate "post-disaster" humanitarian aid, provide general security, support the Haitian government in carrying out its reconstruction plan, and "help Haiti rebuild its human capital."
Concerning security, Mulet said MINUSTAH forces will help the Haitian National Police have "a more visible presence" to help the tens of thousands of people living in 1,200 refugee camps.
Mulet, a native of Guatemala, took over the UN mission on March 31, replacing Tunisian Hedi Annabi, who was killed in the quake.
If the Security Council accepts Mulet's recommendations, the overall number of UN police in Haiti will rise to 4,391.
When the MINUSTAH peacekeeping soldiers are also counted -- though Mulet has not asked for an increase in this force -- the total UN force would reach 13,300 supported by more than 2,000 civilians.
Separately, Mulet said the Haitian government on Thursday ordered a three-week moratorium on the forced evacuation of refugees camping out on private land, schools or markets.
For nearly two weeks, the authorities and private property owners have urged people squatting on their property to leave.
More than 7,000 people who took refuge at the Port-au-Prince stadium were moved out 10 days ago, and last week some 10,000 Haitians living in a school were ordered out.
"There are students that want to return to their schools to continue their studies, and there are refugees living in the schools. So in order to avoid clashes, a moratorium was established," Mulet said.
UN officials have opened two refugee camps on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince in order to accept some 10,000 refugees currently in danger of being affected by flooding as the Caribbean rainy season is set to begin.
Mulet also said that Haiti "is going on the right path" towards reconstruction, and that he was showing "prudent optimism." He also urged people to "not underestimate the size of the task and the challenges that Haiti faces."
April 23, 2010
caribbeannetnews
An International Caribbean Online Log about the news and opinions in the Americas and World. This Caribbean Blog of global reach and appeal is maintained by Bahamian Blogger - Dennis Dames with all readers and subscribers in mind.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Caribbean IP - Protecting traditional knowledge
By Abiola Inniss LLB,LLM,ACIArb:
While there is much preoccupation with the issues of copyright law in the Caribbean, which is centered on trade and commerce, the lesser known issues of traditional knowledge in Intellectual Property are hardly considered to be of especial significance to the majority of policymakers and, except for a few pockets of interest groups such as a group of Rastafarians in Jamaica, the average citizen is uninformed on the subject.
The importance of traditional knowledge and the preservation of entitlement to retain the rights to commercial and other exploitation are of some importance to Caribbean countries, as our histories are quite recent, dating settlement by Europeans and others to the fifteenth century and later, and contain a rich legacy of traditions in many areas, which resulted from an amalgamation of various cultures; or which may have remained within the grasp of particular cultural enclaves.
The Amerindian nations have histories in the region that predate settlement by other cultures and, in Guyana, have been found in several areas to maintain centuries-old habitudes (these may be considered for protection under Indigenous Intellectual Property law). Traditional use of plants and animals for medicinal purposes, birthing methods, traditional bone setting methods, spiritual healing and cleansing, psychiatry , religion , music, dance and stories are but some of the areas that could require protection.
Assuredly many of the aforementioned activities are carried on daily across the region alongside the westernized lifestyles as either a parallel culture or a fusion of the two. The following excerpt from a WIPO publication is instructive on this idea.
“Contrary to a common perception, traditional knowledge is not necessarily ancient. It is evolving all the time, a process of periodic, even daily creation as individuals and communities take up the challenges presented by their social and physical environment. In many ways therefore, traditional knowledge is actually contemporary knowledge. Traditional knowledge is embedded in traditional knowledge systems, which each community has developed and maintained in its local context. The commercial and other advantages deriving from that use could give rise to intellectual property questions that could in turn be multiplied by international trade, communications and cultural exchange.”
Differences in worldview on the subject have distinguished local knowledge from traditional knowledge; social scientists have placed knowledge into a naturalistic framework, which is illustrated by a gradation that extrapolates backwards from recent to ancient knowledge. Local and traditional knowledge are determined by the length of time for which they have existed, for example decades and centuries as against millennia, with local knowledge being thought to exist in the more recent stages and traditional knowledge in the latter ones.
Additionally, traditional knowledge is thought by social scientists of the naturalistic school of thought as not falling into a natural category and being reflective of social struggles, land issues and relationships , power struggles and social control and an adherence to ancestry or heritage.(see Valuing local knowledge: Indigenous people and intellectual property rights, Brush, Stephen B, Stabinsky Doreen, Island Press 1996)
Local communities often have very different perceptions of the ownership of traditional knowledge, often believing that such ownership does not exist since it may have derived from divine inspiration or/and culturally it is passed down the generations. It is perhaps because of this ambivalence that the issue of traditional knowledge is not a hot point in indigenous communities in the Caribbean.
Protection of traditional knowledge by intellectual property laws is a major issue as far as concerns traditional medicines, since huge international pharmaceutical companies have been known to draw on these resources, which may then be combined with other additives to produce drugs that are then patented and sold at significant profit, whilst the source of a part of that invention remains unacknowledged financially or otherwise.
Copyright law deals with the form of expression, such as whether it is song or dance, electronic or paper for example, and so is more suited to the protection of traditional cultural expression than to traditional knowledge. While intellectual property law in the region remains a hodge-podge on the whole, it is useful to turn for guidance to the recent developments in the protection of traditional knowledge in IP law internationally.
In public international law there exists a range of legal conventions, treaties, and instruments designed to address the treatment to traditional knowledge, these include:
*The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972 (the UNESCO Heritage Convention);
*The Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 (the UNESCO Cultural Property Convention);
*The Convention Concerning Indigenous Peoples in Independent Countries 1986 (ILO Convention 169);
*Negotiations concerning the FAO’s International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (the IUPGR-FAO);
*The Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 (the CBD)39; and
*United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa 1994 (the UNCCD).
These, however, have been widely criticized as being concerned with the protection of traditional knowledge only in so far as it is connected with the cause of global ecological stability (see Djims Milius Justifying Intellectual property in traditional knowledge, 2009).
The current developments see proposals for the use of mechanisms such as the creation of an ombudsman or public defender to investigate abuses against indigenous communities, voluntary contractual regimes to ensure access and benefit-sharing such as material transfer agreements (MTAs) or information transfer agreements (ITAs), voluntary guidelines and codes of conduct such as the FAO International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collection and Transfer, the Bonn Guidelines and the WIPO IGC draft IP Guidelines for Access and Benefit-Sharing, databases and community registers to publish TK in the public domain and hence, failing novelty, block the grant of patents based on indigenous knowledge; and a Global Bio-Collecting Society (GBS) providing a TK register mechanism at the global scale, plant breeders’ rights used to cover new plant varieties under the UPOV Convention(s) (WIPO/GRTKS/IC).
The Caribbean, in spite of the oddities in Intellectual Property regulation, is in the ideal position to take advantage of the knowledge available and to craft for itself a protective regimen complete with an enforcement scheme based on some or all of the aforementioned proposals for protection of traditional knowledge. With the focus on climate change and the protection of rainforests, such a scheme is vital within the Caribbean context and needs to be given priority treatment concurrent with the other issues in the area of copyright.
The protection of the cultural heritage of the region through a normative system of law is exceeding necessary for the survival of our unique brand of cultural expression. It will aid in its preservation even as dilution and westernization change the dynamics of presentation and expression. The Shantos (a form of calypso with a unique rhythm) of Guyana’s Bill Rogers and the Parang of Trinidad will need continuous protection even after the rights have expired for the sake of their preservation.
A regime for the protection of traditional knowledge will ensure the survival of the core Caribbean culture and fairness in the access to the knowledge which results in economic or other benefits.
April 22, 2010
caribbeannetnews
While there is much preoccupation with the issues of copyright law in the Caribbean, which is centered on trade and commerce, the lesser known issues of traditional knowledge in Intellectual Property are hardly considered to be of especial significance to the majority of policymakers and, except for a few pockets of interest groups such as a group of Rastafarians in Jamaica, the average citizen is uninformed on the subject.
The importance of traditional knowledge and the preservation of entitlement to retain the rights to commercial and other exploitation are of some importance to Caribbean countries, as our histories are quite recent, dating settlement by Europeans and others to the fifteenth century and later, and contain a rich legacy of traditions in many areas, which resulted from an amalgamation of various cultures; or which may have remained within the grasp of particular cultural enclaves.
The Amerindian nations have histories in the region that predate settlement by other cultures and, in Guyana, have been found in several areas to maintain centuries-old habitudes (these may be considered for protection under Indigenous Intellectual Property law). Traditional use of plants and animals for medicinal purposes, birthing methods, traditional bone setting methods, spiritual healing and cleansing, psychiatry , religion , music, dance and stories are but some of the areas that could require protection. Assuredly many of the aforementioned activities are carried on daily across the region alongside the westernized lifestyles as either a parallel culture or a fusion of the two. The following excerpt from a WIPO publication is instructive on this idea.
“Contrary to a common perception, traditional knowledge is not necessarily ancient. It is evolving all the time, a process of periodic, even daily creation as individuals and communities take up the challenges presented by their social and physical environment. In many ways therefore, traditional knowledge is actually contemporary knowledge. Traditional knowledge is embedded in traditional knowledge systems, which each community has developed and maintained in its local context. The commercial and other advantages deriving from that use could give rise to intellectual property questions that could in turn be multiplied by international trade, communications and cultural exchange.”
Differences in worldview on the subject have distinguished local knowledge from traditional knowledge; social scientists have placed knowledge into a naturalistic framework, which is illustrated by a gradation that extrapolates backwards from recent to ancient knowledge. Local and traditional knowledge are determined by the length of time for which they have existed, for example decades and centuries as against millennia, with local knowledge being thought to exist in the more recent stages and traditional knowledge in the latter ones.
Additionally, traditional knowledge is thought by social scientists of the naturalistic school of thought as not falling into a natural category and being reflective of social struggles, land issues and relationships , power struggles and social control and an adherence to ancestry or heritage.(see Valuing local knowledge: Indigenous people and intellectual property rights, Brush, Stephen B, Stabinsky Doreen, Island Press 1996)
Local communities often have very different perceptions of the ownership of traditional knowledge, often believing that such ownership does not exist since it may have derived from divine inspiration or/and culturally it is passed down the generations. It is perhaps because of this ambivalence that the issue of traditional knowledge is not a hot point in indigenous communities in the Caribbean.
Protection of traditional knowledge by intellectual property laws is a major issue as far as concerns traditional medicines, since huge international pharmaceutical companies have been known to draw on these resources, which may then be combined with other additives to produce drugs that are then patented and sold at significant profit, whilst the source of a part of that invention remains unacknowledged financially or otherwise.
Copyright law deals with the form of expression, such as whether it is song or dance, electronic or paper for example, and so is more suited to the protection of traditional cultural expression than to traditional knowledge. While intellectual property law in the region remains a hodge-podge on the whole, it is useful to turn for guidance to the recent developments in the protection of traditional knowledge in IP law internationally.
In public international law there exists a range of legal conventions, treaties, and instruments designed to address the treatment to traditional knowledge, these include:
*The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972 (the UNESCO Heritage Convention);
*The Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 (the UNESCO Cultural Property Convention);
*The Convention Concerning Indigenous Peoples in Independent Countries 1986 (ILO Convention 169);
*Negotiations concerning the FAO’s International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (the IUPGR-FAO);
*The Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 (the CBD)39; and
*United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa 1994 (the UNCCD).
These, however, have been widely criticized as being concerned with the protection of traditional knowledge only in so far as it is connected with the cause of global ecological stability (see Djims Milius Justifying Intellectual property in traditional knowledge, 2009).
The current developments see proposals for the use of mechanisms such as the creation of an ombudsman or public defender to investigate abuses against indigenous communities, voluntary contractual regimes to ensure access and benefit-sharing such as material transfer agreements (MTAs) or information transfer agreements (ITAs), voluntary guidelines and codes of conduct such as the FAO International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collection and Transfer, the Bonn Guidelines and the WIPO IGC draft IP Guidelines for Access and Benefit-Sharing, databases and community registers to publish TK in the public domain and hence, failing novelty, block the grant of patents based on indigenous knowledge; and a Global Bio-Collecting Society (GBS) providing a TK register mechanism at the global scale, plant breeders’ rights used to cover new plant varieties under the UPOV Convention(s) (WIPO/GRTKS/IC).
The Caribbean, in spite of the oddities in Intellectual Property regulation, is in the ideal position to take advantage of the knowledge available and to craft for itself a protective regimen complete with an enforcement scheme based on some or all of the aforementioned proposals for protection of traditional knowledge. With the focus on climate change and the protection of rainforests, such a scheme is vital within the Caribbean context and needs to be given priority treatment concurrent with the other issues in the area of copyright.
The protection of the cultural heritage of the region through a normative system of law is exceeding necessary for the survival of our unique brand of cultural expression. It will aid in its preservation even as dilution and westernization change the dynamics of presentation and expression. The Shantos (a form of calypso with a unique rhythm) of Guyana’s Bill Rogers and the Parang of Trinidad will need continuous protection even after the rights have expired for the sake of their preservation.
A regime for the protection of traditional knowledge will ensure the survival of the core Caribbean culture and fairness in the access to the knowledge which results in economic or other benefits.
April 22, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
CARICOM offical defends integration movement
GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Dr Edward Greene, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development staunchly defended the Caribbean regional integration movement at a recent UNESCO Conference on Higher Education, at which he was the keynote speaker.
Speaking on the topic Regional Integration and Development: the relevance of Functional Cooperation, Dr Greene dispelled speculations that the regional integration movement would erode the ‘sovereignty’ of member states. Noting that there was more to the integration movement than the CSME which was the popular yardstick seemingly used to measure progress, Dr Greene highlighted major achievements spawned by the integration movement since its inception.
The Assistant Secretary-General gave examples of the more recent establishment of the Regional Development Fund in Barbados, the replacement of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) with the Office of Trade Negotiations now under the aegis of the CARICOM Secretariat and the establishment of the CARICOM Competition Commission headquartered in Suriname as successful building blocks in sustaining the integration process. He noted further, their importance in “sustaining a level playing field, coordinating trade negotiations and guaranteeing the application of common standards in trade production within the Community.”
Moreover, Dr Greene said, much economic, political and social development had been achieved which should definitely be attributed to the regional integration movement.
However, Dr Greene was not un-mindful of the challenges plaguing regional integration and the CSME asserted that the major roadblocks were due to national resistance, changes in governments and delays in the facilitation of the necessary national regulations or legislation to bring policies and programmes into effect.
He lamented that attempts to deepen the integration process were usually hindered by what he described as “the sustained pre-occupation with the notion that CARICOM comprises sovereign states which would be eroded by the application of shared sovereignty.”
This he said couldn’t be further from the truth and pointed to functional cooperation as the critical lever of the regional integration movement that he argued advanced rather than stymied the sovereignty of member states.
According to the Assistant Secretary-General, ‘sovereign states’ had benefited from functional cooperation in the areas of foreign policy and diplomacy, and therefore could “identify the value of acting collectively in negotiating theatres, internationally.” These benefits he said “were all indicative of forms of integration that had helped in no small way to sustain the cohesiveness and viability of the community in the hemispheric and global systems.”
“The principles of Functional Cooperation,” Dr Greene concluded “if properly applied allows sovereign states to advance specific programmes in a series of South-South arrangements that contribute significantly to economic development.”
April 21, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Speaking on the topic Regional Integration and Development: the relevance of Functional Cooperation, Dr Greene dispelled speculations that the regional integration movement would erode the ‘sovereignty’ of member states. Noting that there was more to the integration movement than the CSME which was the popular yardstick seemingly used to measure progress, Dr Greene highlighted major achievements spawned by the integration movement since its inception.
The Assistant Secretary-General gave examples of the more recent establishment of the Regional Development Fund in Barbados, the replacement of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) with the Office of Trade Negotiations now under the aegis of the CARICOM Secretariat and the establishment of the CARICOM Competition Commission headquartered in Suriname as successful building blocks in sustaining the integration process. He noted further, their importance in “sustaining a level playing field, coordinating trade negotiations and guaranteeing the application of common standards in trade production within the Community.”
Moreover, Dr Greene said, much economic, political and social development had been achieved which should definitely be attributed to the regional integration movement.
However, Dr Greene was not un-mindful of the challenges plaguing regional integration and the CSME asserted that the major roadblocks were due to national resistance, changes in governments and delays in the facilitation of the necessary national regulations or legislation to bring policies and programmes into effect.
He lamented that attempts to deepen the integration process were usually hindered by what he described as “the sustained pre-occupation with the notion that CARICOM comprises sovereign states which would be eroded by the application of shared sovereignty.”
This he said couldn’t be further from the truth and pointed to functional cooperation as the critical lever of the regional integration movement that he argued advanced rather than stymied the sovereignty of member states.
According to the Assistant Secretary-General, ‘sovereign states’ had benefited from functional cooperation in the areas of foreign policy and diplomacy, and therefore could “identify the value of acting collectively in negotiating theatres, internationally.” These benefits he said “were all indicative of forms of integration that had helped in no small way to sustain the cohesiveness and viability of the community in the hemispheric and global systems.”
“The principles of Functional Cooperation,” Dr Greene concluded “if properly applied allows sovereign states to advance specific programmes in a series of South-South arrangements that contribute significantly to economic development.”
April 21, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Church urges Cuba to make 'necessary' economic changes
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) -- Cuba's Catholic Church on Monday called on the country's regime to make "necessary changes" to reverse a spreading economic crisis and urged dialogue without conditions between Havana and arch foe Washington.
Church leader Cardinal Jaime Ortega pressed the government of President Raul Castro to "promptly make the necessary changes in Cuba" to alleviate hardship, stressing that the Cuban people were growing restless over deteriorating conditions in the only Communist-ruled nation in the Americas.
"This opinion has reached a kind of national consensus, and postponement produces impatience and discomfort in the people," Ortega said in "Palabra Nueva," the magazine of the Archdiocese of Havana, in reference to recent criticism by economists, academics, dissidents and artists.
Castro, who announced a need for reforms shortly after taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro four years ago, warned recently that while many "desperate" Cubans were seeking immediate change, it was vital to avoid "haste and improvisation."
Ortega's statements were the latest criticism aimed at the regime by the church, which warned in late March that "a worsening crisis is on the horizon that could break the fragile social cohesion."
The church has encouraged promotion of self-employment, legalized but restricted since 1993, and called for a law protecting small and medium private enterprises in a country where the state controls 95 percent of the economy.
It has also said performance-based pay, currently used by only 18 percent of state enterprises, should be expanded, urged "greater security" for foreign investment, and called for a boost in exports.
Ortega on Monday also urged Havana to get serious about improving ties with Washington.
"I think a Cuba-US dialogue is the first step needed to break the cycle of criticism," the cardinal said, recalling the various offers of top-level dialogue by Castro as well as US President Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for the White House in 2008.
But the cardinal also criticized Obama for repeating "the same old scheme of previous US governments," by insisting that Washington would lift its five-decade embargo on the island nation and enter high-level talks only if Havana made major changes on human rights.
"Only in advancing the dialogue can steps be made to improve or overcome the most critical situations," he said.
Havana has faced mounting international criticism that increased in February when dissident Orlando Zapata died 85 days into a hunger strike.
Cuban bishops lamented Zapata's death and called on the authorities "to take appropriate measures so that such situations do not recur."
The church also repeated its call for dissident journalist Guillermo Farinas to end his own hunger strike, begun the day after Zapata died.
Farinas told AFP Monday that he "respects" Ortega but was firm in his decision to carry on with his fast.
Ortega also criticized the harassment of the wives of political prisoners known as the "Ladies in White," who have been prevented from marching in recent weeks.
"This is no time to stir up passions," Ortega said.
April 20, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Church leader Cardinal Jaime Ortega pressed the government of President Raul Castro to "promptly make the necessary changes in Cuba" to alleviate hardship, stressing that the Cuban people were growing restless over deteriorating conditions in the only Communist-ruled nation in the Americas.
"This opinion has reached a kind of national consensus, and postponement produces impatience and discomfort in the people," Ortega said in "Palabra Nueva," the magazine of the Archdiocese of Havana, in reference to recent criticism by economists, academics, dissidents and artists.
Castro, who announced a need for reforms shortly after taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro four years ago, warned recently that while many "desperate" Cubans were seeking immediate change, it was vital to avoid "haste and improvisation."
Ortega's statements were the latest criticism aimed at the regime by the church, which warned in late March that "a worsening crisis is on the horizon that could break the fragile social cohesion."
The church has encouraged promotion of self-employment, legalized but restricted since 1993, and called for a law protecting small and medium private enterprises in a country where the state controls 95 percent of the economy.
It has also said performance-based pay, currently used by only 18 percent of state enterprises, should be expanded, urged "greater security" for foreign investment, and called for a boost in exports.
Ortega on Monday also urged Havana to get serious about improving ties with Washington.
"I think a Cuba-US dialogue is the first step needed to break the cycle of criticism," the cardinal said, recalling the various offers of top-level dialogue by Castro as well as US President Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for the White House in 2008.
But the cardinal also criticized Obama for repeating "the same old scheme of previous US governments," by insisting that Washington would lift its five-decade embargo on the island nation and enter high-level talks only if Havana made major changes on human rights.
"Only in advancing the dialogue can steps be made to improve or overcome the most critical situations," he said.
Havana has faced mounting international criticism that increased in February when dissident Orlando Zapata died 85 days into a hunger strike.
Cuban bishops lamented Zapata's death and called on the authorities "to take appropriate measures so that such situations do not recur."
The church also repeated its call for dissident journalist Guillermo Farinas to end his own hunger strike, begun the day after Zapata died.
Farinas told AFP Monday that he "respects" Ortega but was firm in his decision to carry on with his fast.
Ortega also criticized the harassment of the wives of political prisoners known as the "Ladies in White," who have been prevented from marching in recent weeks.
"This is no time to stir up passions," Ortega said.
April 20, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Monday, April 19, 2010
The 'Free Movement' Quiz For Caricom
Carrington sparks questions on labour mobility and help for Haiti
RICKEY SINGH
CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington last week chose to raise hopes - amid prevailing disappointments - for progress in the "free movement of Caricom nationals" of the dozen countries participating in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) project.
The optimism expressed by the secretary general has, however, to be considered in the context of caveats that serve to underscore the recognised need for more focused, collective efforts by governments to make stated commitment on planned migration and labour mobility a reality.
Carrington, Caricom's longest chief public servant - he is now in his 18th year as secretary general - was addressing last week's three-day meeting in Guyana of the 19th Council of Human and Social Development (COSHOD), held in conjunction with the Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
At the meeting, which was concluded on Friday with Caricom's labour ministers in attendance, Carrington also thought it necessary to remind the Community's governments that "it is not enough for us to just be sorry" for earthquake-devastated Haiti, but to come forward with specific, "concrete pledges" to alleviate the burden of the Haitian people.
Let me address first the secretary general's assessment of what remains one of the more sensitive issues in Caricom's journey towards the laudable goal of establishing a seamless regional economy with the CSME.
While the public awaits the decisions reached at the COSHOD meeting, Carrington has stated that "free movement of labour and intra-regional migration" are "challenging" issues for deliberation.
'Movement' certificates
In recognising the anxieties of wage earners who remain excluded from the 10 approved categories for free movement within the CSME framework, Carrington pointed to the gains made which have resulted in the release of more than 6,000 Caricom skills certificates between 2006 and 2008.
A further increase is expected for 2010 because, he said, of the "expansion in the categories of wage earners who could now move across the region for economic activity".
But Secretary General Carrington would know that for all the expressed good intentions, data on the annual processing of skills certificates, as well as a number of applications yet to be addressed, are not readily forthcoming.
Additionally, frustration continues to be the name of the game in the absence of common legislation guaranteeing contingent rights for holders of approved skills certificates and members of their immediate family to access education, health and housing facilities.
Ironically, one of the governments among those failing to expedite the processes for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration is that of Dominica whose prime minister (Roosevelt Skerrit) has lead responsibility among Caricom leaders for "labour including movement of skills".
A yet unpublished 'country report' in support of full integration of Belize and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has, for instance, observed that while the government in Roseau was strongly in favour of the regional regime for labour mobility, "it needs to put in place the arrangements to facilitate accreditation and full mobility..."
Do not expect a listing of other defaulting governments from either the CSME unit dealing with this matter or the Community Secretariat itself.
But pertinent questions could be: How many of the 12 governments involved in CSME planning are at least 50 per cent ready with necessary arrangements for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration?
The reality is that while the expressed optimism by the secretary general can be appreciated, doubts and cynicism can only diminish, if not disappear, with EVIDENCE of relevant COLLECTIVE action.
Encouraging reminders
Yet, it is at least encouraging to have the Community's secretary general offering appropriate reminders on essential work agendas as he did this past week in relation to free movement of nationals within the CSME.
Also of relevance is Carrington's observation that "it is not enough for us (Caricom) to just be 'sorry' for Haiti (echoing a long-expressed sentiment of the calypsonian David Rudder).
But to tell it like it is may require raising questions about why - in the face of the destruction of Haiti by the earthquake of last January 12 - Caricom governments are yet to come forward with at least a draft plan on how to offer temporary immigrant status for a specified number of displaced Haitians.
With minor exceptions, what we seem to be facing at present is the typical scenario - prior to the earthquake disaster - of Haitians turning up illegally in a few Caricom states - Jamaica and The Bahamas in particular.
Perhaps former prime minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson, our 'Special Advocate for Haiti', should, in collaboration with the Community Secretariat, provide updates on the "concrete pledges of support" being received by the 'Special Support Unit for Haiti' established by Caricom and operating out of Jamaica.
April 18, 2010
jamaicaobserver
RICKEY SINGH
CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington last week chose to raise hopes - amid prevailing disappointments - for progress in the "free movement of Caricom nationals" of the dozen countries participating in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) project.
The optimism expressed by the secretary general has, however, to be considered in the context of caveats that serve to underscore the recognised need for more focused, collective efforts by governments to make stated commitment on planned migration and labour mobility a reality.
Carrington, Caricom's longest chief public servant - he is now in his 18th year as secretary general - was addressing last week's three-day meeting in Guyana of the 19th Council of Human and Social Development (COSHOD), held in conjunction with the Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
At the meeting, which was concluded on Friday with Caricom's labour ministers in attendance, Carrington also thought it necessary to remind the Community's governments that "it is not enough for us to just be sorry" for earthquake-devastated Haiti, but to come forward with specific, "concrete pledges" to alleviate the burden of the Haitian people.
Let me address first the secretary general's assessment of what remains one of the more sensitive issues in Caricom's journey towards the laudable goal of establishing a seamless regional economy with the CSME.
While the public awaits the decisions reached at the COSHOD meeting, Carrington has stated that "free movement of labour and intra-regional migration" are "challenging" issues for deliberation.
'Movement' certificates
In recognising the anxieties of wage earners who remain excluded from the 10 approved categories for free movement within the CSME framework, Carrington pointed to the gains made which have resulted in the release of more than 6,000 Caricom skills certificates between 2006 and 2008.
A further increase is expected for 2010 because, he said, of the "expansion in the categories of wage earners who could now move across the region for economic activity".
But Secretary General Carrington would know that for all the expressed good intentions, data on the annual processing of skills certificates, as well as a number of applications yet to be addressed, are not readily forthcoming.
Additionally, frustration continues to be the name of the game in the absence of common legislation guaranteeing contingent rights for holders of approved skills certificates and members of their immediate family to access education, health and housing facilities.
Ironically, one of the governments among those failing to expedite the processes for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration is that of Dominica whose prime minister (Roosevelt Skerrit) has lead responsibility among Caricom leaders for "labour including movement of skills".
A yet unpublished 'country report' in support of full integration of Belize and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has, for instance, observed that while the government in Roseau was strongly in favour of the regional regime for labour mobility, "it needs to put in place the arrangements to facilitate accreditation and full mobility..."
Do not expect a listing of other defaulting governments from either the CSME unit dealing with this matter or the Community Secretariat itself.
But pertinent questions could be: How many of the 12 governments involved in CSME planning are at least 50 per cent ready with necessary arrangements for free movement of labour and intra-regional migration?
The reality is that while the expressed optimism by the secretary general can be appreciated, doubts and cynicism can only diminish, if not disappear, with EVIDENCE of relevant COLLECTIVE action.
Encouraging reminders
Yet, it is at least encouraging to have the Community's secretary general offering appropriate reminders on essential work agendas as he did this past week in relation to free movement of nationals within the CSME.
Also of relevance is Carrington's observation that "it is not enough for us (Caricom) to just be 'sorry' for Haiti (echoing a long-expressed sentiment of the calypsonian David Rudder).
But to tell it like it is may require raising questions about why - in the face of the destruction of Haiti by the earthquake of last January 12 - Caricom governments are yet to come forward with at least a draft plan on how to offer temporary immigrant status for a specified number of displaced Haitians.
With minor exceptions, what we seem to be facing at present is the typical scenario - prior to the earthquake disaster - of Haitians turning up illegally in a few Caricom states - Jamaica and The Bahamas in particular.
Perhaps former prime minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson, our 'Special Advocate for Haiti', should, in collaboration with the Community Secretariat, provide updates on the "concrete pledges of support" being received by the 'Special Support Unit for Haiti' established by Caricom and operating out of Jamaica.
April 18, 2010
jamaicaobserver
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Mexico drug cartels migrating to Caribbean
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (Reuters) -- Caribbean leaders told US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday that Mexico's US-backed crackdown on drugs was pushing cartels to step up smuggling through their island nations.
Gates, attending a regional security conference in Barbados, acknowledged their concerns and emphasized the need to tighten coordination between anti-drug efforts in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States.
"I think that narco-trafficking is a problem for the hemisphere as a whole. And wherever you put pressure, the traffickers will go where there is less resistance and where there is less capability," Gates told reporters.
He said President Barack Obama was boosting security aid to the Caribbean, which had ebbed under the Bush administration.
US funding for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative will rise to $70 million in fiscal year 2011 from $45 million in 2010, he said. Funding this year aims to improve maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities.
"After 9/11, the US began to draw down its presence and engagement in this region," Gates said.
Gates said he hoped recent US efforts showed "the United States is re-engaging in this region and that we will work with these countries to address these problems."
The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that three-quarters of South American cocaine going north passes through Central America, with a much smaller portion moving through the Caribbean.
But Gates said Caribbean leaders told him that the situation was getting worse thanks to the efforts of Plan Merida, the $1.4 billion U.S. program started in 2007 to help Mexico fight the cartels.
"Their belief (is) that the problem has gotten worse because of the Merida initiative and Mexico's efforts," he said.
The prime minister of Barbados, David Thompson, told reporters: "Obviously, we consider (drug smuggling) to be a threat to our individual, national and regional well-being in every sense of the word... We believe the United States is aware of what these concerns are."
April 17, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Gates, attending a regional security conference in Barbados, acknowledged their concerns and emphasized the need to tighten coordination between anti-drug efforts in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States.
"I think that narco-trafficking is a problem for the hemisphere as a whole. And wherever you put pressure, the traffickers will go where there is less resistance and where there is less capability," Gates told reporters.
He said President Barack Obama was boosting security aid to the Caribbean, which had ebbed under the Bush administration.
US funding for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative will rise to $70 million in fiscal year 2011 from $45 million in 2010, he said. Funding this year aims to improve maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities.
"After 9/11, the US began to draw down its presence and engagement in this region," Gates said.
Gates said he hoped recent US efforts showed "the United States is re-engaging in this region and that we will work with these countries to address these problems."
The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that three-quarters of South American cocaine going north passes through Central America, with a much smaller portion moving through the Caribbean.
But Gates said Caribbean leaders told him that the situation was getting worse thanks to the efforts of Plan Merida, the $1.4 billion U.S. program started in 2007 to help Mexico fight the cartels.
"Their belief (is) that the problem has gotten worse because of the Merida initiative and Mexico's efforts," he said.
The prime minister of Barbados, David Thompson, told reporters: "Obviously, we consider (drug smuggling) to be a threat to our individual, national and regional well-being in every sense of the word... We believe the United States is aware of what these concerns are."
April 17, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Saturday, April 17, 2010
US defense secretary says Obama administration 're-engaging with Caribbean'
BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- United States Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates said he hopes Friday’s regional security summit in Barbados and President Barack Obama’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative send a strong signal that “the United States is reengaging with this region” after drawing down its presence following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Speaking at a joint news conference Friday with seven Caribbean government and national security leaders Gates said he’s impressed by the innovative approaches being taken to promote collective security through the initiative.
Following what he called a “very productive” meeting to discuss furthering those efforts, Gates lauded the Caribbean nations’ work toward marshalling limited resources to address common threats such as narco-trafficking and violent crime.
These challenges touch US shores as well, and demand that regional nations mount a united front to confront them, Gates said during a joint news conference with Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson and St Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Sam Condor.
Gates conceded that the drug trafficking problem has worsened due to the success of the Merida Initiative and Mexico’s crackdown on drug cartels there.
“Narco-trafficking is a problem for the hemisphere as a whole,” he said, “and wherever you put pressure, the traffickers will go where there is less resistance and where there is less capability.”
Going forward, Gates said he would like to see broader efforts to connect the regional security system here with efforts under way outside the Eastern Caribbean. This includes efforts by the French, Dutch, Colombians, Peruvians and US Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force.
The secretary praised Barbados as a strong US security partner and a leader in promoting security cooperation in the Eastern Caribbean.
“The United States stands steadfastly with you as you pursue long-term solutions to these problems,” Gates said after meeting with the Prime Ministers and national security ministers.
Much of that support is provided through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative that President Barack Obama proposed last April during the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad and Tobago.
The initiative has been built with extensive input from Caribbean nations with a central role for the regional security system, Gates noted Friday, all aimed at helping regional governments face up to transnational threats.
The $45 million the United States has committed to the effort this year will help improve regional maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities and domain awareness and provide for additional joint training and exercises, he said.
Gates said details about how these funds will be allocated are being hammered out by technical working groups, with one convened Friday in Washington.
He emphasized that regional nations will be the ones to help determine how the funding can be most effective. The United States already has committed three interceptor boats and communications equipment, but Gates said he heard suggestions on Friday about the need for more law enforcement training and the stand-up of major crimes units.
However, Gates emphasized that the Caribbean initiative represents more as it provides a comprehensive approach to regional security. Its scope extends beyond military and security assistance to address equally critical components of the region’s economic and social stability.
The initiative aims to provide, “not just improved security capabilities to confront immediate threats, but also development assistance in hopes of addressing the root causes of regional problems, such as the lack of educational and employment opportunities, particularly for youth,” Gates said. “That is a strategy we strongly support.”
Fifteen Caribbean Basin nations are included in the security initiative: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
April 17, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Speaking at a joint news conference Friday with seven Caribbean government and national security leaders Gates said he’s impressed by the innovative approaches being taken to promote collective security through the initiative.
Following what he called a “very productive” meeting to discuss furthering those efforts, Gates lauded the Caribbean nations’ work toward marshalling limited resources to address common threats such as narco-trafficking and violent crime.
These challenges touch US shores as well, and demand that regional nations mount a united front to confront them, Gates said during a joint news conference with Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson and St Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Sam Condor.
Gates conceded that the drug trafficking problem has worsened due to the success of the Merida Initiative and Mexico’s crackdown on drug cartels there.
“Narco-trafficking is a problem for the hemisphere as a whole,” he said, “and wherever you put pressure, the traffickers will go where there is less resistance and where there is less capability.”
Going forward, Gates said he would like to see broader efforts to connect the regional security system here with efforts under way outside the Eastern Caribbean. This includes efforts by the French, Dutch, Colombians, Peruvians and US Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force.
The secretary praised Barbados as a strong US security partner and a leader in promoting security cooperation in the Eastern Caribbean.
“The United States stands steadfastly with you as you pursue long-term solutions to these problems,” Gates said after meeting with the Prime Ministers and national security ministers.
Much of that support is provided through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative that President Barack Obama proposed last April during the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad and Tobago.
The initiative has been built with extensive input from Caribbean nations with a central role for the regional security system, Gates noted Friday, all aimed at helping regional governments face up to transnational threats.
The $45 million the United States has committed to the effort this year will help improve regional maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities and domain awareness and provide for additional joint training and exercises, he said.
Gates said details about how these funds will be allocated are being hammered out by technical working groups, with one convened Friday in Washington.
He emphasized that regional nations will be the ones to help determine how the funding can be most effective. The United States already has committed three interceptor boats and communications equipment, but Gates said he heard suggestions on Friday about the need for more law enforcement training and the stand-up of major crimes units.
However, Gates emphasized that the Caribbean initiative represents more as it provides a comprehensive approach to regional security. Its scope extends beyond military and security assistance to address equally critical components of the region’s economic and social stability.
The initiative aims to provide, “not just improved security capabilities to confront immediate threats, but also development assistance in hopes of addressing the root causes of regional problems, such as the lack of educational and employment opportunities, particularly for youth,” Gates said. “That is a strategy we strongly support.”
Fifteen Caribbean Basin nations are included in the security initiative: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
April 17, 2010
caribbeannetnews
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