Guyana will Chair the Conference of Heads of Government for the period January 1 to June 30, 2024, as President Dr. Irfaan Ali prepares to take the helm as CARICOM Chairman.
President Ali in a statement as incoming Chairman of CARICOM says the New Year brings renewed possibilities to continue targeted programmes to advance CARICOM’s strategic priorities with the objective of pursuing the Region’s development goals, and striving for peace and prosperity across the Caribbean Community.
He says: “Regional security is an increasingly critical matter. We live in a world where peace is challenged from one corner of the universe to the next. We ended 2023, however, with CARICOM’s robust role in assuring the rule of international peace and security in our corner on the world and ensuring that Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole remained a Zone of Peace. We shall continue 2024 with this respect for international law. We all remain committed to peacefully and by legal means resolving border controversies.”
CARICOM will continue to address crime and violence including combatting the illegal weapons trade through its “War on Guns” campaign. President Ali says CARICOM will leave no stone unturned in efforts to return Member State, Haiti, to peace and stability as he maintains the Region must remain a Zone of Peace.
Turning to the issue of the Region’s food and nutrition security, President Ali says despite adverse challenges, including climate change, CARICOM Member States have made steady progress towards achieving the ‘25% by 2025’ target to reduce the Region’s food import bill.
He says the agricultural sector will continue to be supported with expected innovations and crucial to this initiative is the need to improve regional transportation which will remain one of CARICOM’s top priorities.
Outgoing Chairman, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was thanked for his leadership over the last six months.
President Ali says Guyana looks forward to welcoming all CARICOM Heads of State and Government to Georgetown in February 2024, where it will host the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference and continue the Community’s activities to mark CARICOM’s 50th Anniversary. (Loop News)
