BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 20.2018 – DIRECTOR General of the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dr. Didacus Jules says that the years 2017/2018 are challenging for the Caribbean, specifically for member states of the sub region as climate and political changes are having serious impact.
He reminded that 2017 was the year that imprinted on the consciousness of the people of the region, the vulnerabilities that embody the placement of member states as it relates to the impacts of climate change.
That was evident with the difficulties faced by the region when Category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria battered several member states.
While addressing the recent opening of the 65th Meeting of the OECS Authority in Castries, St. Lucia, Dr. Jules explained that it was a year of “convergence of storms of all kinds”, pointing to the hurricanes and changes in the political landscape internationally, which he noted have deep implications for the Caribbean and its diaspora community.
“Climate Change now poses an existential threat to the lives and livelihood of Caribbean people and the skill and intensity of its destruction, whether slow or rapid onslaught events, they threaten to roll back decades of socio and economic progress.
“Changes in the international political climate in the past three years have been equally tectonic with unprecedented shifts in cherished international values and principles; the rise of antipathy, xenophobia and authoritarian power and a retreat from multilateralism.”
The economic climate marked by the volatility of the international markets and the growing inequality, along with the unilateral imposition of discriminatory rules and protocols unfriendly to the economic survival of member states are also having a cascading impact on the region.
According to Jules, the pace at which the changes are occurring necessitates an examination of the response capacity of public institutions “if they are to provide the answers and solutions that situation requires”.
“As these threats have emerged, the Commission and other organs of the OECS integration have had to react to some agility to shape collective defensive postures, as was recently done with struggle led by the BVI against the discriminatory legislation on financial service in the UK parliament,” he said.
Prime Minister, Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris was amongst the heads of government of the OECS present at the 2018 meeting, which saw critical topics being discussed for the sub-region.
