The United Kingdom plans to put 75 million pounds sterling over a four-year period into development projects in the Caribbean, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague told Caribbean Foreign Ministers on Saturday.
Speaking at the Opening Plenary of the 7th UK-Caribbean Forum held in St. Georges, Grenada over the weekend, Hague said that the investment represented a considerable increase on previous aid budgets and signaled the UK’s strong commitment to the region, a release from the CARICOM Secretariat yesterday stated.
“We are one of the few nations in the world that is maintaining its international development commitments at a time of financial difficulty. We will stick to our pledge to raise our aid to 0.7 of GNI, and you will find us a reliable partner,” said Hague, according to a transcript of his remarks. The minister outlined four areas – prosperity, security, climate change and foreign policy – for which the funds will be allocated and for which the UK was seeking greater cooperation with the Caribbean. “The programme focuses on economic growth and jobs, improving security and fighting corruption and combating the threat from natural disasters and climate change,” he explained.
In the area of prosperity, Hague said that the core task of both regions was to create new opportunities for trade, investment and innovation in their respective economies. In this regard, he stated that he would consider pushing for greater representation of the Region’s interests in the G20. “I’d like to see the UK, as well as other partners represented here today such as Canada, the EU and the US, ensuring that the particular challenges of this Region are taken into account,” he stated, according to the release.
The UK Foreign Secretary also said that his government would continue to work with the Caribbean to tackle drugs and violent crime, which affects both the UK and the Caribbean.
With regard to climate change, Hague applauded the Caribbean for the crucial role it had played “in focusing the attention of the international community on the existential threat posed by climate change to small island states,” and expressed hope that the Caribbean would continue excellent cooperation on this issue.
Falklands
The Foreign Secretary also expressed an interest in fostering closer collaboration in the area of foreign policy noting that several political and governance issues have had serious impact on global stability and prosperity. He singled out Iran and Syria and the Falklands, asserting that as a matter of principle a country should have the right to determine its own future. “When these issues are discussed at the United Nations and other international organizations, your votes matter and we hope that we can work together more closely and consistently than perhaps we have in the past. We should also strive to get into the habit of more regular discussions about foreign policy issues as a whole, where we value your perspectives,” he was quoted as saying.
The meeting, which began on Friday evening ended yesterday with the release of a 31-point action plan. The plan outlines four major areas of cooperation: economic resilience, security, climate change and sustainable development and foreign policy.
The foreign ministers agreed to build economic resilience through development of practical mechanisms that will boost growth in investment, employment, production and trade opportunities that would redound to the benefit of both regions.
The UK committed to support the efforts of the Caribbean in improving their food security through efficient production and distribution measures.
The UK has also agreed to re-open dialogue on issues relating to the Air Passenger Duty (APD) which is threatening the Caribbean’s tourism sector. The UK agreed that in the spirit of cooperation and in the context of the importance of tourism to the economic development of the Caribbean, it will continue dialogue with a view to assisting the region in mitigating any deleterious effects that the application of the tax may have on its economies.
Proceeds of crime
The Foreign Ministers also agreed to develop effective coordination mechanisms to help advance the fight against drugs and international crime. In this regard, a UK-Caribbean Expertise Exchange Mechanism to promote best practices on security issues across the region will be established. They have also agreed to greater intelligence sharing in the fight against drug trafficking, and targeting the proceeds of crime and supporting the Caribbean to engage more effectively with the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI).
Further, the ministers agreed to establish, in full collaboration with the US, a regional network of land- based law enforcement units trained and equipped to a common standard. These units would provide a fully inter-operable regional resource to conduct land based surveillance and interdiction operations. In addition, they have agreed to work to restrict the illegal trade and availability of small arms and light weapons which contribute to the increasing level of armed violence and undermine stability, security and development as well as to remain engaged in negotiations to conclude an Arms Trade Treaty in 2012.
The partners have committed to work together to strengthen the criminal justice systems in countries, including through the establishment of national prosecution services, modernisation of laws of evidence to include forensics and best practice on gathering evidence from suspects and witnesses.
The UK and the Caribbean will work with the Common-wealth Legislative Drafting Programme to assist with the development of criminal procedure/justice in the region.
They have agreed to share best practices and use this to strengthen efforts to reduce youth crime, gangs and violence and improve the juvenile justice system in the Caribbean. The Foreign Ministers also committed to strengthen efforts to combat the trafficking in persons; and to keep each side apprised of issues related to criminal deportees.
In the area of climate change and sustainable development the UK noted that the Caribbean already had a very strong voice in the international community and is poised to “give value for money.” Therefore Foreign Ministers agreed on the urgency of closing mitigation gaps to bring global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius or below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
They have also committed to ensure that the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is made fully operational and begins to disburse funds as expeditiously as possible, including to enhance climate resilience in the most vulnerable countries.
They have agreed to develop a long-term strategy to ensure energy security for the Caribbean through the greater use of indigenous and renewable sources.
As it relates to foreign policy, the Foreign Ministers agreed to work together in international fora to tackle pressing socio-political and security issues which threaten international peace and security.
The CARICOM Foreign Ministers were pleased with the outcome of the forum, the Caricom Secretariat said.
