By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on February 29, 2024
46th meeting of CARICOM in Georgetown Guyana
Latin America and the Caribbean is the most unequal region in the world. Access to healthy food is almost a luxury, droughts and migration are persistent trends, and climate change and rising sea levels threaten to swallow up large portions of land in the near future. Joining forces for the well being of these communities is an urgent priority, leaders from the region said during the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
CARICOM, established in 1973 is made up of 15 member and 5 associate nations most of which are former British colonies in the Caribbean
From Georgetown, Guyana, the seat of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Headquarters of the Com-unity, the attendees highlighted the “real work” the region and its international development partners are undertaking to achieve this goal. “Our community is taking steps to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by 2030,” Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and Chairman of the Community, announced during the summit, which took place from February 25th to 28th.
CARICOM, established in 1973 is made up of 15 member and 5 associate nations most of which are former British colonies in the Caribbean
“We are proposing to bring together the human assets that this Region nurtured into international fame, to bring their goodwill together as ambassadors to mobilize international financing and support so that we can end hunger and malnutrition in this Region. We have the capability,” Ali said.
The Caribbean needs to embark on a process towards equality, and this is much easier to achieve if countries work together. Food supply is key, as well as investing in water infrastructure and food production initiatives, improving the exchange of food between countries in the region, and promoting a comprehensive regional infrastructure program for food production, storage, and transport to facilitate intra-regional trade and exports.
The road to achieve this will not be smooth. Trade barriers are among the challenges the member states face when attempting to increase trade in agriculture in the Region. Intra-regional transportation is another barrier to food security. And, despite the “tremendous progress” that has been made to establish a ferry service, there are still “bureaucratic hurdles and opposing political interests. However, work is being undertaken to ensure common systems for customs and immigration, are finalized to facilitate the seamless implementation of the service,” Ali continued.
There are currently 7.5 million undernourished people in the region, which is less than the figure for 1990-1992 when 8.1 million people were undernourished. Even though the proportion of people suffering from hunger has been reduced a little from 27% to 18.9% during this period it shows a greater and more comprehensive effort is needed. Despite progress, most countries in the region have levels of undernourishment between 10 and 20%, except for Haiti, the state with the highest rate of undernourished people, which affects 50% of the population.
“This is everyone’s responsibility. Let us welcome active participation from our youth, women, civil society, labor organizations and the private sector, indigenous peoples, creatives, and athletes. Let us ensure we constantly work to bring all on board to keep our integration movement growing and beneficial to the welfare of our people. We owe no less to the people of the Caribbean Community, at home and in the Diaspora,” CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla N. Barnett concluded during the event.
This vision is admirable but its success is tied in the ability of CARICOM to be able to work independently on mutually beneficial projects without the outside influence of the imperialist countries of Canada and the US through the Organization of American States (OAS) who are guided by the antiquated principles of the Monroe Doctrine when it comes to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile on February 26 the subject of the meeting was not eliminating poverty and hunger but rather maintaining it in member state Haiti through control. Included in that meeting was not just CARICOM nations but also Canada, France the United Kingdom and the US whose unstated interest is to organize a military occupation to suppress the hopes and aspirations of the Haitian people.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English