Distinguished people of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I wish you a Happy New Year 2011. As we welcome the second decade of the century and the New Year 2011, we must prepare ourselves to face and surmount the challenges which continue to confront us. The end of the first decade of this century was marked by the triumph of the human spirit over the ravages of nature as exemplified by the courage and resilience of the Chilean, Pakistan and Haitian people.

One year ago this month, two significant events occurred which have had lasting effects on our Community. The first was the calamitous earthquake of 12 January which devastated our Member State Haiti, taking a terrible toll in human lives and wreaking widespread destruction of property. The tragedy has continued with the dilatory response of the international community in meeting its financial pledges to assist in the reconstruction of Haiti.

By year’s end not even a quarter of the amounts pledged had been delivered with the consequent deleterious, ruinous and slothful effect on the rebuilding process. The Caribbean Community, spearheaded by the Special Representative of the Heads of Government to Haiti, the Most Honourable P. J. Patterson, will continue to use every opportunity and seek to devise fresh initiatives in order to accelerate the process in 2011. The situation in Haiti has been exacerbated by the outbreak of the cholera epidemic which, apart from having already claimed close to 3,000 lives, has stretched beyond the limit, the capacity of the Haitian Authorities already overburdened by the challenges posed in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The Caribbean Community recommits itself to continuing and intensifying its assistance to its beleaguered Member State in the year ahead.

The second event was the Special Summit on Youth Development which took place in Paramaribo, Suriname at the beginning of the year. At that landmark event, the report of the Caribbean Community Commission on Youth Development was presented to Heads of Government. The years of research and the voice of the Youth at the Summit clamoured for a quickening of the pace of the integration process and for the greater involvement of the young people of our Community in its decision-making.

That cry for the “quickening of the pace” was heard by Heads of Government and was translated into active consideration of new governance structures to improve the rate of implementation. One of the main ideas in taking the necessary steps will be tested in this coming year with the establishment of the Permanent Committee of CARICOM Ambassadors (PCCA). This body heralds a new dawn for our Community. The Committee, in order to succeed, will need the full support of all, including the Heads of Government.

Our Administrative structure, particularly our Secretariat, will also be undergoing changes with the retirement of our long-serving Secretary-General, Sir Edwin Carrington. I would like to take this opportunity to record the greatest appreciation to Sir Edwin for his tireless and inspiring leadership over the 18 years that he served the Governments and Peoples of the Caribbean Community in that position. His is an example of the kind of devotion and commitment necessary if we are to achieve the goal of a viable, prosperous and secure Community for All. The Community will show its appreciation, when it confers on him its highest honour, the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC).

As we approach 2011, one of the greatest dangers to the existence of our Community of small island and low lying coastal states remains the effects of climate change – not least that of sea-level rise. As a world leader in the battle to restrict the limit of greenhouse gas emissions to ensure that global temperature does not rise more than 1.5⁰ Centigrade above pre-industrial levels, the Caribbean Community is striving to ensure its very survival. Already in the Pacific region, island states are losing land to the rising seas and this should serve as a warning for us to be even more strident in our demands to the industrial giants that we need them to limit the levels to no more than 1.5 for us to stay alive.

It is against this background and many other challenges, including the continuing effects of the global financial and economic crisis on our countries, that we enter the New Year. We are convinced that unless we believe in our integration movement and so demonstrate by strengthening its bonds significantly, unless we continue to build on the co-operation with each other, unless we are prepared to use all the skills and tools at our disposal to build a strong CARICOM Single Market and Economy – particularly those available through Information and Communication Technology – we will not be able to combat those challenges successfully.

Let us resolve therefore to make this year a watershed year in the history of our integration movement – a year in which a new generation of CARICOM leaders at all levels ensure that they play their part in building a strong, resilient and dynamic Caribbean Community and thereby take their place in history.

I wish you all a Happy, prosperous and productive 2011.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org