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XVI Ministerial Forum On Development Starts October 30

The Government of Barbados, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will host the XVI Ministerial Forum on Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, as a space to discuss opportunities to build resilience against future shocks that continue to challenge development in the region.

The Forum will be held from Wednesday, October 30 to Friday,1 November at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle. The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, and ECLAC Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, and is expected to have over 150 participants, including more than 20 Government delegations from the region. The full agenda is available here.

This gathering builds on the discussions initiated at the XIII Ministerial Forum in Antigua and Barbuda in 2021, which discussed disasters and social protection systems in the context of protracted crises. The XVI Ministerial Forum will discuss how the region can advance and protect social gains in the context of more frequent and intense shocks.

A Ministerial Declaration is expected to be the outcome of the Forum. The Declaration aims to be a roadmap for transformative policy action and impactful initiatives that transcend boundaries, ultimately steering the region toward a more equitable and resilient future.

Government

CARICOM Nations Grappling With Several Pressing Matters

Prime Minister of Barbados and Chairman of CARICOM, Mia Amor Mottley, has warned that it cannot be business as usual for Barbados and other CARICOM member states when countries are still grappling with a number of pressing matters that need urgent attention.

Ms. Mottley listed the climate crisis, achieving full freedom of movement in the region, reducing the cost of living, fixing an education system that is “in shambles; achieving food security, reducing gun violence, and an overall worrying crime situation as issues that need urgent attention.

The Prime Minister raised these matters while addressing the opening ceremony of the 48th Regular Meeting of Heads of Government of CARICOM at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, yesterday evening.

She told the audience, including the President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason; United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres; and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that CARICOM,  as an institution, needed to be reformed.

She added that the reform must include establishing independent funding mechanisms and reviewing governance structures. 

Ms. Mottley stated: “What is clear is that it cannot be business as usual. We have come to Bridgetown in this year of 2025 at a time when the world is reeling, reeling from all kinds of problems, the climate crisis; we don’t need anyone to tell us about it.

“We know what it is each summer to have to hold our breath and to wait and to hope that this is not going to be our turn. We know first-hand how the world has become an awful place since the pandemic, where all of the wars and all of the scars and all of the cuts have become very, very clear and open for everyone to see.  And where, effectively, the world has said that might is right, and where small states are often excluded because our orders are too minuscule to command attention.”

She urged regional leaders to use their deliberations during the sessions to agree on a common platform of critical issues.

“We will not get it all right one time, but we must have a common vision and we must be prepared to recognise that none of us will get exactly what we want, but we must all work for what the people of the Caribbean need. And if we can do that, then we will have run successfully our leg of the relay race,” she underlined.

The CARICOM business session got under way in earnest behind closed doors on Thursday, February 20. The summit, which has as its theme “Strength in Unity: Forging Caribbean Resilience, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development” concludes today Friday, February 21. (PR/GIS)

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Government

Prime Minister Mottley & UN Secretary General Discuss Geopolitical Tensions

Regional and international geopolitical tensions in Haiti, Venezuela, and the Middle East were high on the agenda during bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and United Nations (UN) Secretary General (SG), António Guterres.

During the meeting at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle the two officials also focused on the chronic lack of supplies situation in Cuba, the ongoing Ukraine War and efforts to broker a peace deal, among other issues.

In addition, Prime Minister Mottley and Secretary General Guterres spoke about violence in the Caribbean, with both sides agreeing that a greater effort was needed by all involved in the fight against crime, to stem the flow of illegal guns into the Caribbean. 

Present during the meeting were Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, and other government officials.

Caption: Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley listens attentively to United Nations (UN) Secretary General, António Guterres. during their bilateral meeting at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle

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BILATERAL TALKS HELD BETWEEN PRIME MINISTER MOTTLEYand PRESIDENT OF THE EU

Matters pertaining to further expanding Barbados’ pharmaceutical industry, cyber security, artificial intelligence and its regulation were among the issues discussed yesterday, during a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and President of the European Commission (EU), Ursula von der Leyen.

During the discussions at Ilaro Court, both sides praised their long-standing relationship, as they explored other avenues for cooperation in a number of areas that include, but are not limited to, battery storage; production of precision medicine to help the country in the fight against cancer and NCDs; genomic testing to explore the link between race and NCDs, among other areas.

Mrs Von der Leyen and Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley

Mrs Von der Leyen, who is the first EU Commission President to visit the region, expressed her delight to be in Barbados and expressed renewed optimism in the friendship and strategic partnership with the island.

Also present during the meeting with the EU Commission and her team were Minister of Health and Wellness, Senator Dr. The Most Honourable, Jerome Walcott; Attorney General Dale Marshall; Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins; Minister in Finance, Ryan Straughn; Minister with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight; Minister in Economic Affairs, Senator Chad Blackman, and other officials. (PR/GIS)

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