Cuba’s president Raul Castro said the country had suffered almost $10 billion in damage from three hurricanes this year. He gave his assessment during a visit on Monday to Camaguey province, where officials said 8,000 homes were damaged when Hurricane Paloma struck over the weekend. Read the full story

I think it is good for the Caribbean and my country the Bahamas to have faith in Jesus Christ not in Barack Obama
Peter McPhee
Bahamas

Obama’s victory brims with the possiblity of everything. While not a panacea for the world’s problems, it is the engine of change for many issues that seemed unchangeable.

That it should occur in the most powerful country in the world makes it all the more meaningful.

Perhaps finally too we all can accept that as members of the family of humankind we are indeed sisters and brothers. That we can mend that which divides us an unite for a better tommorrow.
Meridian Kohler
Kingston

Mr Obama’s presidency should prioritise the strengthening of international relationships between the US and the world.

Secondly he needs to focus more on the education system that has failed and has continued to fail the children of the voters who elected him as president.

They see him as the hero capable of raising their children’s level of aspiration.
Rosemarie Bell
Birmingham, England

“Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.” Judges 5:12

The election of President Barak Obama is prophecy fulfilled. Take a few minutes to read Judges 4 and 5.

I got chills when I read the above verse found in Judges King James Version. President Barak Obama was called for a time such as this.

As Caribbean people we need to come together with a plan to strategically outline issues affecting the Caribbean and prayerfully support the newly elected president of the United States.

Our first priority as a Caribbean region in dialogue with Washington should be the issue of national security to address gun control, crime, and drugs trafficking.
Sandree Elliott
St Kitts

The election of Mr Obama as President of the US is indeed a defining moment in history. It is not something I thought would ever happen in my lifetime.

But we must not forget that Mr. Obama is firstly President of the US and hence would hence firstly and I daresay rightfully have the best interest of Americans at heart.

But I do believe his approach to foreign policy would be one that follows a multilateral/diplomacy led train of thought rather than the unilateral/brute force policies that so characterised the George W Bush administration.
Jan Valdez
Trinidad

While the world is proud and moved and celebrate this history in the making - world history, not just Black or American or African history - the truth of the matter is that Obama has been elected to serve the United States of America first and foremost, and he understands that.

Mr Obama has promised to go all out to improve trade agreements, trade relations and the international trading position of the United States of America to create jobs for Americans - and good luck to him - that is his new job description.

His priorities and legacy lies in turning around the economic woes of the United States, and consequently, indirectly maybe the world.

Caribbean leaders should be thinking of consolidating their positions and efforts to offer more opportunities for the peoples of the Caribbean.

No other country or other leader of another country can do this for us.
Gerald La Touche (Dominican)
Birmingham, England

Folks need to understand that it is not just President Obama that will be running the country, he has to do everything in concert with the House and Senate.

We need not get our hope into unrealistic realms but just live one day at a time and hope for the best.
La Belle Marcelle
St Vincent

I was so happy that I cried and then remembered a song that the late 2Pac sang about us not seeing a black President.

Big up and congrats to Mr Barack Obama. Our hero has finally come for all my African brothers and sisters out there. May the Creator guide over you and family Mr Obama.
Peter Forde
Guyana

The Caribbean has never been area of importance for the USA, unless it was supposedly preventing the spread on communism {Guyana;Jagan Grenada; Bishop}.

As Caribbean people we should not get our hopes up too high, as Obama will still be the leader of the capitalist world and he already said that he would stop offshore banking which will affect islands like Barbados etc.

Our leaders have to play a more agressive if we want Obama view tha Caribbean as an area of importance.
Chuck Mohan
New York

I am 19 years old and I witnessed one of the greatest historic moments, not only for African-Americans but for black people all around the world. Mr President Barack Obama with all my heart I applaud you.

I have only but faith that you will lead the world to a great place, especially with your amazing family right by your side along with a world of supporters.

All I can say is thank you to the US you are the new president. But to me, your my hero.
Patrice Stewart
Trinidad

As stated in his campaign, Barack Obama now has a chance to bring change. Not only to the United States but to other countries as well.

Moreso, it is felt that broken ties between the US and other countries may be restored.

As it relates to us in this part of the region we may see a change as well in US/Caribbean relations.
Hiliare Murray
Trinidad

We have our fingers crossed that Obama will move quickly to open a much needed dialogue with Cuba and end the travel ban and embargo as soon as possible.
Lisa Chacko
Philadelphia

I think things will change under Obama, he is more of an everybody person and will integrate both the Caribbean and US further.

I think the relationship will strengthen. Change is among us and we should embrace it, give Obama a chance to make things better between the Caribbean and the US over his 4 yr term.
Kenisha
St Kitts

I am an Jamaican-American, I chose Barack Obama as my choice for President, so that he may lead the world into peace, and prosperity, in the name of all that is holy.
Lorna Rose Coley-Freeman
London

The Caribbean did not advance too far under Clinton, but I believe we will, under President Obama.
Patricia Snow-Young
Kingston, Jamaica

A Resources Consortium in Support of the 2010 Population and Housing Censuses in the Caribbean Community was launched on Monday 27 October at a Meeting of Caribbean Statisticians and the Regional Census Coordinating Committee held in Barbados .

This Consortium will be a clearing - house for CARICOM Member States, Associate Members and international agencies and will assist with coordinating resources to support the conduct of the 2010 Population and Housing Censuses.

In Opening Remarks at the Meeting, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite said Member States would see the ir resources complemented by the Consortium in the planning, and implementation of the 2010 Censuses; analyses of the data, and dissemination of information.

The Consortium would also conduct advocacy activities for maintaining and streng the ning political commitment within CARICOM and for resource mobilisation through the sensitisation of policy makers and potential partners.

The Consortium is the product of a Cooperation Agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) and “represents a major effort by the UNFPA and CARICOM to advance South-South Cooperation in the context of the joint CARICOM-UNFPA South-South Initiative which was launched in 2006.”

She thanked the UNFPA for its initiative in spearheading the Consortium, noting that “ the generosity of the UNFPA is highly appreciated, as it demonstrates once again the interest of the United Nations system in working with the Caribbean to address the development needs of the Region”

“Not only will UNFPA jointly coordinate the Resources Consortium with CARICOM Secretariat, it has also joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in providing funds directly for the implementation of the CARICOM Regional Strategy.

The CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General said fur the r that the CARICOM Secretariat had started the implementation of its Regional Strategy to “promote the use of uniform concepts and definitions, a common core of questions on the census questionnaires, technical co-operation, and sharing expertise and facilities.”

CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite has told the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians that despite the general lack of appreciation for statistics as a strategic resource for decision-making, good governance, planning, accountability and management, it is still a vital tool for development, the business of government, and to keep individual citizens informed about what government is doing.

The CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General told the Meeting on Oct 27 in Barbados that statistical data analyses undertaken under the Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP) would guide implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), assist in evaluating its operation and performance and ultimately impact the lives of Caribbean peoples.

Acknowledging that global challenges were fuelling the demand for new data and shorter timeframes especially in the Caribbean, and the challenge faced by the Caribbean in recruiting and retaining statisticians, Ambassador Applewhaite advocated strategies that could result in the streng the ning of the capacity of existing staff and facilitate greater cooperation among the national statistical offices through attachments and exchange visits.

She pointed to ongoing initiatives for capacity building in statistics in the Region. These include an annual course in Demographic Analysis, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), offered through the University of the West Indies .  This programme has trained more than sixty persons in the Region within the past three years. In addition, Ambassador Applewhaite pointed to the First Regional Statistical Research Seminar scheduled for November, as a capacity-building mechanism, introduced to enable statistical development through cooperation across the Region, in the conduct of research involving examination of statistical methodologies, increased analysis of the data produced, and the dissemination of the research findings.

It is for me a profound honour and privilege to be afforded the opportunity to address this august gathering on the occasion of the official opening of the Eighth Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) that will unfold here over the next two days in this beautiful resort town of Montego Bay , Jamaica . It is my understanding that more than 160 participants registered for this event making it the largest-ever Annual General Meeting convened by PANCAP in its eight year existence and I am particularly pleased to be associated with this flagship event. To my mind, the theme of the Meeting “Leadership: Uniting Vision and Purpose” lies at the heart of a successful national and regional response to the stern developmental challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. For if indeed, HIV infection has now taken firm root in the general population as evidenced by the growing feminization of the epidemic; and if in fact, AIDS has evolved has the leading cause of mortality among the most productive sector (15-44 years) of our population; and if in reality, the cost of responding to the AIDS crisis in the Caribbean is in excess of US$200 million a year as postulated by our health economists; then I submit that visionary and purposeful becomes a most crucial and inescapable ingredient in the pursuit of a successful national and response.

The creation of PANCAP by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in 2001 is a telling example of proactive and visionary political leadership and the very positive results are well documented.  Indeed, I was fascinated to learn that while still in its fledgling stage, PANCAP won the acclamation of UNAIDS as an “International Best Practice” and that the experiment has been replicated in many other regions of the world, as far away as Central Asia.  By itself, this type of recognition of PANCAP by the international community must be a vindication of the vision of our political leadership whom we sometimes love to hate.  

It is said that comparisons are odious and I attempt none on this occasion. However, I do crave your indulgence to make allusion to a few persons who I believe have demonstrated the finest qualities of vision and purpose and leadership in the Caribbean regional dynamic against HIV and AIDS.  

I refer first of all to the indefatigable Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St. Kitts and Nevis who, perhaps more than any other, blazed the trail for the successful evolution of PANCAP from the day of its birth in 2001. At another level, the dexterity and commitment shown by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General, CARICOM Secretariat, in nurturing PANCAP through the uncertainties of infancy and the vagaries of early childhood must qualify as an award winning performance in organizational engineering.  

The name of Dr. Carol Jacobs is not only a household one in the Caribbean but her exploits in leading the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through a challenging period of its existence have been recognized internationally as well and deserve our applause. Of course, you would know that Dr. Jacobs has been the first and only recipient to date of the Gold Award for highest national achievement offered by the Government of Barbados and this for her stalwart leadership in the field of HIV and AIDS. 

Add to that list Ms. Yolanda Simon of Trinidad and Tobago, advocate par excellence for people living with HIV and AIDS for more than a decade, consider the driving force in transforming the HIV and AIDS landscape in Jamaica that is Prof. Peter Figueroa, and contemplate the pioneering work of Dr. Perry Gomez of the Bahamas and one begins to appreciate the embodiment of true Caribbean leadership in full bloom in the field of HIV and AIDS.   

These men and women have been some of our true “Champions for Change”. Put in biblical language they are “the salt of the earth” or if you prefer the Jamaican vernacular, they “tallawah”.  

It is this type of leadership, pregnant with vision and purpose, that has provided the platform for the successes that have been achieved in the region in the past and will take us to the next plateau.  

The recently published evaluation of the first-ever Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS confirmed a number of very significant areas of advancement in the Caribbean regional dynamic against HIV and AIDS over the past five years. For example, it evaluation report confirmed that: 

§         The prevalence of HIV infection had stabilized across the region and, in fact,  had shown early signs of decline in at least three countries;

§         Mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection had declined in all countries of the region, with no exception; 

§         Although much remained to be done, moderate progress had been made in aspects of treatment, care, and support; while 

§         The level of knowledge about the cause and consequences of HIV infection had risen exponentially across the region, although significant gaps remained in translating such cognition into desirable attitudes and behaviour. 

So we do have much to celebrate and we must not be inhibited in doing so. At the same time, we must not forget and the region must not be allowed to forget that our HIV prevalence rate is still 1½ times that of the global average, twice that of North America and Eastern Europe, and more than five-fold that of Western and Central Europe.  

In a region as small as the Caribbean, the occurrence of as many as 17,000 new HIV infections and the demise from AIDS of more than 11,000 persons per year must keep us sober, and the projection that life expectancy at birth would have declined by as much as 9-10 years in some countries by 2010 attributable to the disease must keep us honest.  

In the objective circumstance, the statistics remain grim and must serve as the impetus for even greater dynamism in leadership and more commitment to high-value actions as we aspire towards the achievement of universal access to HIV and AIDS-related prevention, treatment, care and support services in the Caribbean . 

In this regard, the newly-developed Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS, 2008 – 2012 is a quantum leap forward and provides the authentic basis for such action and I would like to cite a few areas which I believe could bring high-value rewards for effort. In general terms, I will posit that placing renewed emphasis on prevention of HIV infection, enhancing and sustaining anti-retroviral therapy, dismantling the blight of stigma and discrimination, halting the increasing feminization of the epidemic, ensuring sustainable financing and building a culture of evidence-based decision making will pay huge dividends in accelerating universal access.   However, I would like to focus more closely on a few areas that I consider to be ripe for political and community leadership in making a difference. 

I invite you to consider with me the role of what I call “compassionate leadership” in advancing human rights and human dignity and human welfare around HIV and AIDS. Each one of can testify to the role of stigma and its sinister companion discrimination in driving the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean .

 In our Caribbean societies, the evidence of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination is stark. An indeterminate number of people living with HIV/AIDS opt not to seek treatment, even when within their grasp, immobilized by their palpable fear of stigma and discrimination. People living with or suspected to be living with HIV/AIDS, all too often must suffer the thinly veiled indifference of our health care systems and health professionals, are shunned by friends and colleagues, evicted from their homes by their own families, abandoned by their spouses, ostracized by their communities, denied employment and access to other social benefits, turned down for insurance coverage or refused entry into other countries.  

The litany of intolerance is unending and is an area that cries out for strong political and community leadership in the adoption of affirmative policies, modern legislation and inclusive action to reverse the trend. Perhaps this coming World AIDS Day that will be observed on 1 December under the theme of Stigma and Discrimination will present a golden opportunity for Caribbean political and community leaders to step up to the plate and perform some deed that will be a legacy in this area. Certainly, persons affected would love them for it. 

I would also like to address the emotive issue of societal response to the so-called vulnerable groups and, in particular, men who have sex with men, sex workers and substance abusers and in doing so to situate them in the context of the epidemiology of the disease in the Caribbean. 

The evidence is incontrovertible that the prevalence of HIV infection is several fold higher among these groups of persons than among the general population. In fact, while general prevalence rates are between 1 and 2% in most countries of the Caribbean, prevalence rates among some of these sub-groups rampage to as high as 30%. These are grim statistics that are irresistible and although I offer no prescription of my own, I certainly implore strong and urgent political leadership, balanced technical and professional guidance and non-pejorative community dialogue as the foundation for responsible action. For act we must and time is not on our side. 

I am advised and, as noted before, that the estimated cost of responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the region is in the order of US$200 million annually. Clearly, this is an impossible burden for the region to bear alone, especially in the face of the many other stern social and economic challenges. 

This means that the region must continue to rely on support from international partners in the form of grants or very concessionary loans, if it were to continue to battle this global threat successfully. I am pleased that so many of our development partners are with us today and I plead the case loudly for your continued empathy and support for the Caribbean cause. 

Chairperson, I note with more than passing interest that one of the main agenda items of the Meeting speaks to innovative approaches applied to the HIV and AIDS response in the Caribbean . I must let you know that I am a convert to the imperative of innovation and change in building bridges, challenging frontiers and solving difficult problems. I am therefore very pleased to note this emphasis. My hope is that through careful research and bold innovation the Caribbean will continue to find new answers to this most difficult problem that affects all of us.  

As I close, I wish for us to remind ourselves that the race in which we are engaged is one that calls for endurance. There is no quick fix and no magic bullet and none appears to be looming on the horizon. This race is not like the one in which Usain Bolt has excelled and brought so much pride and glory to his native Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean. 

This one requires stamina and resolve, visionary leadership and purposive action, and the marshalling of all the forces at every level to breast the tape and win the prize. 

The people across the region - from Back River and Yallas in Jamaica, to Vielle Case and Grand Bay in Dominica, to Port-au-Prince Haiti and the the Bateyes in the Dominican Republic – depend on us to guide them to the promise land of universal access to HIV and AIDS-related prevention, treatment, care and support services. Let us not fail them. 

The Cuban authorities say the country may have more than twenty-billion barrels of oil in its offshore fields — more than double the original estimate.  The exploration manager for the state-owned company, Cubapetroleo, said he expected the first production wells to be drilled as early as the middle of next year.  Correspondents say the new reserves would probably place Cuba among the world’s top twenty oil producing nations.

Guyana News Today-Violent clashes between Indian protesters and riot police in southwest Colombia have left more than 50 people injured and at least one dead, spokesmen from both sides said.

Indians and riot police clash in Candelaria, in southern Colombia, on Tuesday.

Indians and riot police clash in Candelaria, in southern Colombia, on Tuesday.

An estimated 7,000 Indians from different ethnic communities used rocks and tree trunks early Tuesday to block the main Pan-American highway in at least four spots between Colombia’s second largest city, Cali, and the city of Popayan — 84 miles (135 kilometers) to the south.

The Indians are protesting against the Colombian government’s free market capitalist economic policies, regional landowners they say have stolen their territory and government plans for a free trade deal with the United States.

“Many of our brothers have been injured, others have disappeared and one is dead. This is the story of a massacre foretold,” Vicente Otero, a spokesman for the Nasa tribe and one of the protest leaders, told CNN by phone.

“The world must sit up and take notice because the police are threatening to mobilize against us tomorrow (Wednesday).”

The Indians, who are traditionally amongst the poorest sectors of Colombian society along with blacks, say capitalist economic policies have left them worse off than ever before.

Martin Martinez, a spokesman for the National Indigenous Council (ONIC), told CNN one Indian was killed and 25 Indians, mostly of the Nasa tribe, had been injured in clashes on Tuesday with riot police near the southwest town of La Maria Piendamo.

He said 18 of the injured had gunshot wounds.

About 20 other protesters were hurt in fighting farther north near a community known as La Candelaria, Martinez said.

Col. Jorge Enrique Cartagena, commander of the police’s elite riot squad known as ESMAD, denied his men had used live rounds but said they had driven back protesters with tear gas and water cannons.

He said seven of his men had been hurt, two seriously, by demonstrators who tossed rocks and fired stones from sling shots, and by exploding gunpowder.

“The Pan-American highway is blocked in about four or five points. Those blockades are still in place but our orders are to clear the highway tomorrow (Wednesday),” Col. Cartagena told CNN.

He also said leftist guerrilla fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had infiltrated the demonstration and were pushing the protest.

Indian organizations deny the charge, which law enforcement officials frequently level at social protests across the country.

The Pan-American highway is a network of routes stretching from Alaska to South America’s southern tip in Patagonia. It was first conceived of as an idea in 1923 to unite the Americas.

The road network is only broken at the jungle-covered border of Panama and Colombia — the so-called Darien Gap — for a stretch of about 54 miles. Otherwise the road network runs some 29,000 miles.

Guyana News Today-The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has embarked on a special and targeted intervention to assist Haiti in improving efficiency and professionalism in its Public Sector.

One of the major objectives of the project, funded by Canada , is to build capacity in key areas of the Haitian Public Sector, especially those related to the operations of the Single Market and the operations of the Community. The activity in its implementation targets areas such as trade in goods and services and training and technical assistance to specific departments and services including, tax collection, Customs, Commerce and Finance Ministries.

In explaining the rationale for the project, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations, Ambassador Colin Granderson averred that “if Haiti is to move forward in national development, then it needs a strong public sector.”

“We hope that through training and technical exchanges, we will be in a position to help Haiti through those precise and focused areas,” Ambassador Granderson stated.

Ambassador Granderson who was briefing the CARICOM Secretariat Public Information Unit recently, was of the opinion that Haiti could not be developed through the utilization of support of Non-governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and international donor agencies only. While those were already in the field in Haiti and provided tremendous help, he asserted, they could not replace an efficient and professional public sector, which he said was what Haiti needed for national development.

In underscoring the sentiment of Haiti ’s President HE Rene Preval, the Assistant Secretary-General reiterated that “ Haiti doesn’t want charity; Haiti wants support to deal with the root of its problems to allow it to be able to develop.”

He further acknowledged that in an effort to rebuild the country’s image, and change the negative perception, greater emphasis must be placed on public education as well as cultural exchanges.

According to Ambassador Granderson, there was “an extraordinary cultural richness in Haiti which is glimpsed from time-to-time but not well known,” as a result, “more positive messages need to be transmitted more regularly – messages which tell the story about a country which is extremely dynamic with great potential in tourism; a country that has a future; a country which may be going through a difficult time now but one that has hope.”

It may be a difficult and long haul in reengineering public perception but it is not an impossible task; the CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General concluded.

On 18-19 November, 2008, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will again, after ten years, bring toge the r Ministers of Education and the ir technical advisors for a comprehensive evaluation of the last ten years of the Community’s work in education.

This Seventeenth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) with special focus on Education has been described as “a meeting for  frank discussion on how we can do things better in education within the Region.” The first COHSOD on education was held in 1998 under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and according to Dr Edward Greene, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development, this COHSOD would be a one with a difference.

“The difference is that we would not only be looking at the achievements over the last ten years but also looking at those things that did not get implemented for one reason or the o the r; and in so doing examine how we can expedite the rate of implementation…by understanding some of the reasons why some things did not get done in the first place,” explained Dr Greene.

Dr Greene, who was briefing the Public Information Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat, fur the r explained that since the first COHSOD on education in 1998, a number of policies and programmes in education had evolved and it was now time to assess the ir impact on the Community.

He added that every effort would be made to ensure that all Ministers of Education attend the meeting. He noted that with the change of Governments over the past ten years, the re were seven new Ministers of Education who should view this as an opportune time to be engaged in action- planning for the future of education in the Region.

“There is a general perception that the Secretariat  does not do things quickly,” Dr Greene noted,  “but some times the reasons are rooted at the country level,  hence the necessity to engage the Ministers at the country level in meetings such as the COHSOD,”  he continued.

Besides the comprehensive evaluation to be undertaken, the COHSOD will engage Education Ministers in critically examining the implications of various components of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for education as well as ways in which the education sector could tap into the opportunities it holds for the Region.

Scheduled for Georgetown , Guyana , the 17^th COHSOD, Dr Greene stated, would also identify and discuss the elements in education that could help to promote the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, (CSME).

He cited the establishment of the Caribbean Vocation Qualification (CVQ) which was launched in 2007 as one of the standards which would help to facilitate the movement of skilled persons o the r than University graduates within the Region.

Teacher education and training will also be one of the agenda items Dr Greene anticipates will generate much discussion. The COHSOD is expected to examine the treatment of teacher education and training especially in this age of New Information technologies:  “We developed and promoted a science and technology policy in 1998 and we now need to assess how we have advanced on that and to address its relevance of those recommendations from 1998 to what we have to do in 2008,” the Assistant Secretary-General explained.

In addition, Dr Greene noted that “ the new dimension of teacher education means coming to grips with the sociology of the environment and exploring distance education to reach the perceived ‘un-reachable.” As a result, the 17^th COHSOD will also review the work of the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN) which was established in 2004 to foster the upgrading of tertiary institutions across the Region in an effort to increase the ir ability to use modern approaches to learning; and make recommendations on how this tool could be fur the r maximized in facilitating greater collaboration between tertiary institutions in reaching a wider cross-section of the Community’s students.

Also at the COHSOD, the New Vision for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) as proposed by the new Director Dr Didacus Jules will also be presented. According to Dr Greene, “we are hoping that this new vision will engender vigorous discussion among Ministers and provide useful insights on where the Council goes from here as a credible institution making a greater contribution to learning and education in the Region.”

Guyana News-The work towards the development of a regional Information and Communication and Technology for Development (ICT4D) strategy and Action Plan will continue when the members of the Regional ICT Steering Committee meets in Barbados 13-17 October.

The meeting will bring together representatives from Member States of the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), other Regional and international organisations, representatives of private sector and civil society and the CARICOM Secretariat. This meeting is a follow-up from the meeting of the Committee in May of this year where it was agreed that the Committee would meet to develop a draft action plan to augment the development of a regional strategy.

In Barbados four working groups will outline specific deliverables of the draft action plans. The Working Groups that will meet are: Capacity Building ; Access Connectivity and Internet Governance; Legal and regulatory Framework; and Business, Trade, Culture and Disaster Management.

In addition to reporting on the work of their Working Groups delegates will also   review the draft framework of the Regional ICT4D Strategy. The Draft Framework and Action plan are to be presented to the next Meeting of ICT Ministers of the Caribbean Community.

The Regional ICT Steering Committee was established in 2004 and brings together a range of expertise and is organised in sub-committees.  The Regional ICT Steering Committee serves as an advisory and support body to the CARICOM Secretariat identifying issues relevant to ICT4D and the Information Society and providing technical advice and briefs.