PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad--Help for Haiti! That was the appeal on Monday from United Nations Secretary General (SG) Antonio Guterres, which was immediately answered with a firm promise from incoming Caribbean Community CARICOM chairman, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, that CARICOM will stand with Haiti with increased support.
“And I say to our brother – Prime Minister of Haiti [Ariel Henry – Ed.] – you will see even increased support for the Haitian people as we seek to find a solution to your challenges,” Skerrit added as he addressed the audience at the Hyatt Regency on Monday. Henry was among the leaders present.
Both Skerrit and Guterres were speaking at Monday’s launch of the 45th CARICOM regular meeting and 50th-anniversary celebrations at the Hyatt Regency.
Guterres, who wished CARICOM “Happy Birthday”, said he had come to the summit from Haiti.
“The security situation is appalling, the humanitarian needs are soaring and there is not yet a full political solution in sight. We must help ease the suffering of the Haitian people.”
Guterres said he would continue to push for a robust international security force authorised by the Security Council to be able to help the Haitian national police to defeat and dismantle gangs there.
“I reiterate my call to all partners to increase support for the national police in the form of financing, training and equipment,” Guterres said, adding the challenges seen in Haiti require greater engagement and solidarity. He added, “And that is precisely the founding spirit of CARICOM.”
CARICOM’s Skerrit noted that in the challenges of true integration, “We must address our minds to the complex issues facing our member state Haiti. We have committed as a community to supporting the Haitian people, to broker a Haitian solution to the instability they now face.
“It is a crisis that requires our continued support and the support of a wider international community. The initial [CARICOM] outreach has met with generally favourable reactions. We’re well aware that it is just the beginning and our engagement must build from that; we must keep the dialogue going until there is not just a light at the end of the tunnel, but a station for the stakeholders to disembark from the train, united in purpose and action.”
Skerrit said the trust that the Haitian stakeholders have placed in CARICOM exemplifies the credibility that CARICOM has built over the years. His promise to Haiti’s prime minister of increased support was met with loud applause.
Skerrit added, “This world owes it to Haiti and we should never allow an appearance of Haitian fatigue in our world, and we in CARICOM, we shall stand with Haiti.”
Skerrit said CARICOM leaders appreciated Guterres’ presence at the summit in this significant holiday week in the US. He said it demonstrated Guterres’ commitment and interest in CARICOM. “Left to us, we’d appoint you the President of the World so you’d be in a better position to effect the change we’re looking for,” Skerrit quipped.
CARICOM SG Dr. Carla Barnett said, “As our community seeks to assist the Haitian people to find effective solutions to the crises, we have appointed an Eminent Persons Group which has started to facilitate dialogue among key Haitian stakeholders, beginning with a broadly inclusive engagement held in Jamaica a few weeks ago. This work will continue.”
Outgoing CARICOM chairman Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said Haiti’s situation has been high on the agenda for all regional discussions.
“The Bahamas remains committed to acting as a lead, with other CARICOM member states, to find a solution to the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis. The CARICOM-led meeting of Haitian stakeholders in Kingston in June was cause for cautious optimism. Stakeholders welcomed the inclusive nature of the meeting, which was a microcosm of Haitian society.
“Along with the moral imperative to support our neighbours in finding a way out of the political morass which is causing so much suffering, it is a prime illustration of the point which I have made for some time now, that none of us can be safe until we are all safe.”
CARICOM to expand to Martinique, Dutch Antilles
In 50 years CARICOM has grown from its four pioneering family members to 15 states and five associate members, and even further growth is near at hand as CARICOM looks forward to joining hands with Martinique and the Dutch Antilles soon.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley revealed this in his address at Monday’s launch of CARICOM’s 45th meeting and CARICOM’s 50th-anniversary celebration.
Rowley said, “Even where there was doubt in the beginning, the experience must have shown us that we are stronger together and even though we are an amalgam of small pieces of the globe, on the world stage, we might be small but we are not insignificant.
“As CARICOM, we are at our strongest. We could be at our best. Let’s claim our space in this world and just do it!”
Leaders were to go on Tuesday morning to the Chaguaramas Convention Centre site for a flag-raising ceremony marking the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas on July 4, 1973, by CARICOM’s founding fathers, late Prime Ministers Errol Barrow (Barbados), Forbes Burnham (Guyana), Michael Manley (Jamaica) and Dr. Eric Eustace Williams (Trinidad & Tobago), who, Rowley said, understood that strength as small states lay in unity. ~ Trinidad & Tobago Guardian
