Member

Fellow Citizens and Residents of Antigua and Barbuda_

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Dr Heather Johnson, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development says, young people who are constantly exposed to violence invariably develop complex psychosomatic illnesses which very often lead to other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, mental illnesses and heart diseases.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The third leg of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) National Consultations on Gangs and Gang violence project opened in St Kitts and Nevis on Monday with a call from that country’s Minister of Social Development Culture and Gender Affairs Honourable Marcella Liburd for “traditional shapers of society “to reassert their role in order to mitigate the culture of youth gangs and violence which has pervaded the society.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) End violence against women was the clear message that resonated with speakers at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean artistes UNITE-ing against Gender Based Violence workshop in Paramaribo, Suriname on Monday, 18 July, 2011.

The workshop was organized in tandem with UN Women to train Caribbean artistes to raise awareness on gender based violence and promote positive attitudes and behaviour towards a more gender sensitive community through the use of edutainment.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government, the Honourable Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada, has commended the calm dignity and maturity displayed by the Haitian people during the second round of elections and following the publication of preliminary results of the poll.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) “The world’s pledged generosity to Haiti has little value until and unless it translates into improved conditions for the people of that country.”

This is the view of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Acting Secretary-General as she received, on Thursday, Letters of Credence from the Plenipotentiary Representative  of Italy to CARICOM, His Excellency Paolo Serpi, at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Special Representative of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government on Haiti, the Most Honourable Percival Patterson, on Wednesday, expressed grave concerns to the United Nations Security Council that the ordinary Haitian was not feeling the impact of the recovery efforts to date.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Special Representative of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government on Haiti, the Most Honourable Percival Patterson, on Wednesday, impressed upon the United Nations Security Council the need to expand the focus of the its stabilisation mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH to giving greater support to the reconstruction program of that earthquake ravaged country.

Colombia deserves the highest commendation for its timely initiative to promote this open debate of the Security Council on the “Question Concerning Haiti.”

I regard it as a singular privilege to have been invited to participate in this debate and to share insights as the Special Representative of CARICOM Heads of Government, a Community of 14 Sovereign nations which includes Haiti.