By Elizabeth Morgan
“I am here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up. We are on the edge of the abyss – and moving in the wrong direction” UN Secretary General, UNGA 2021
Barbados
Bahamians are voting in General Elections today, Thursday 16 September 2021.
The incumbent Free National Movement (FNM) of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and the main opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) headed by opposition Leader Phillip Davis are both fielding full slates of 39 candidates. The smaller Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is fielding 20 and there is a Coalition of Independents (COI) with 34 candidates. There are also 81 other independent candidates in the race.
The historic first Africa-CARICOM Summit will be held in Tuesday 7 September 2021 between 8_00 a.m. and 11_00 a.m. ECT.
The full three-hour Summit, which features Statements from CARICOM and African Leaders, will be Livestreamed.
History will be made on 7September 2021, when the inaugural CARICOM-Africa Summit is held.
Kenya will host the virtual event under the theme ‘Unity Across Continents and Oceans_ Opportunities for Deepening Integration’. His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, will chair the Summit.
Plans for Kenya to host a CARICOM and Africa Summit in 2020 had to be put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Summit follows on the Declaration by the African Union of the Diaspora as the sixth region of Africa.
St. Kitts and Nevis is implementing another round of income support for residents who became redundant in March 2020 and remain unemployed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris announced the $15 million, 2021 Income Support Programme on July 08. Under the programme qualified applicants will receive “a monthly stipend of $1,000” which will be paid for the next 3 months.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is projecting that the economy will grow within the range of 7 – 9% during the April to June 2021 quarter.
According to Dr Wayne Henry, Director General of the PIOJ, this outlook is based on “the commencement of the recovery process relative to the low output levels recorded in the corresponding period of 2020”.
In addition, he noted that the anticipated positive out-turn will also be based on increased domestic demand due to an expected expansion in employment levels.
La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines moved to an explosive phase on Thursday 9 April with a first eruption at 8_40 a.m. and a second around 2_45 in the afternoon.
The explosive phase began a day after the government announced the mandatory evacuation of residents living in close proximity to the volcano, located in the extreme north of the island. By Thursday morning they announced that more than four thousand residents had been moved to shelters, and hotels further south.
Teachers and educators in early childhood education from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are involved in a three-week training workshop to improve their capacity to deliver high quality distance learning experiences for young children.
The workshop commenced on Wednesday March 17, through a partnership among the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the CARICOM Secretariat and the Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC) of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus.
Brades, Montserrat - The Remote Workers Stamp was launched on Friday January 29, 2021. The new Stamp gives professionals and entrepreneurs the opportunity to work remotely from paradise while living like a Montserratian; experiencing the island’s natural beauty, its food, its culture, island life and more, for a year.
The 12 month remote workers stamp provides an opportunity for Montserrat to maintain a level of tourism activity, whilst also ensuring the health and safety of its residents.