(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) - As a Community, we have just concluded a year that was marked by several incidences, some of which were specific to individual Member States; in other instances, several states were impacted at the same time. We will recall the devastating earthquake in Haiti which claimed the lives of not only Haitians, but the lives of nationals from some of our other Member States who were in Haiti on business of the Community; the hurricane which affected the OECS; the financial crisis which began in 2009 and continued to negatively impact the economies of our Member States.

I believe that I am correct in saying that even if only one Member State of our Community is impacted negatively, the effect is felt and shared by us all collectively in one way or the other. I do believe that herein lay our strength for as a Community we are each other’s keeper; and indeed the peculiar circumstances of 2010 has only served to strengthen our resolve to deepen our integration initiatives.

In the midst of this all, I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the sterling contribution of Sir Edwin Carrington, who has served us, the people of this Community, with distinction over the past eighteen years.

Ambassador Applewhaite, our Secretary General (ag), in her remarks reminded us all of the pivotal role of our Council, the Community Council, in the governance and management of the affairs of the Community. Today we will have the opportunity to see the progress made with respect to several of the matters which have engaged our attention over the past six months; and to chart the way forward in other initiatives of our Community.

As we take time to reflect on our programme of work over the past six months, we would wish to acknowledge the stewardship and leadership provided by the outgoing Chairman of the Community Council the Hon. Dr. Kenneth Baugh, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and in particular in the area of Governance of the Community.

In our reflection as well and as we mark the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, we would wish to recall the contribution of the Community to the efforts of reconstruction in our Sister State. This contribution began within the critical first 48 hours of the disaster under the system established by one of our regional institutions, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency; and included the deployment of medical personnel and security forces to Haiti from Jamaica, the respective focal point of the CDEMA. Since then, other regional institutions (UWI and CARDI), CARICOM Member States and Associate Members have contributed. Indeed, 2010 was the Annus Horribilus of the Haitian people. In addition to the magnitude 7 earthquake, they have to grapple with a devastating cholera outbreak and inconclusive elections.

Haiti has enormous potential for economic takeoff, but a precondition for economic and social development is the consolidation of a climate of peace and security. For most of Hiait’s history, the armed forces arrogated the right to govern or to choose who would govern the country. Under pressure to liberalise the political system, decent elections were held for the first time in 1990. The political centre of gravity moved from the barracks to the Electoral Council. But most of Haiti’s elections since 1990 have been clouded by a crisis of confidence in the electoral councils and failure to observe universal standards of fair play.

Haiti’s politics tend to be driven by personalities rather than principles. It is in this context that I view with unease, the return to the country yesterday, of one of those personalities whose mode of governance from 1971 to 1986 was not consistent with such democratic edifices as the rule of law.

The return of Baby Doc could be an unwelcome distraction in the current volatile situation and just when the international community is trying desperately to sustain the fragile security gains in recent years.

Despite our limited resources, our Caribbean Community has contributed immensely to the political, economic and social stabilisation of Haiti and our efforts are ongoing.

The Community has remained active in responding to President Preval’s request that the Community should spearhead advocacy and engagement with the international donor community to fulfil their pledges to finance the reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti.

As we look towards the future, one area of importance for the Community, which it is proposed that we must consolidate and begin to demonstrate progress, is in the area of Information and Communication Technologies for Development. It will be recalled that at its Thirtieth Meeting (July 2009, Guyana), the Conference had mandated that preparation of an Action Plan for this Sector. The importance of this sector was further emphasised during the deliberations of the Thirty First Meeting of the Conference (July 2010, Jamaica). On that occasion, the Conference had endorsed the recommendations of the Prime Ministerial Committee on External Negotiations namely, that Information and Communication Technologies must be one of the areas to be included in a major CARICOM Aid for Trade Project to be presented to international development partners. It is my hope that during the Chairmanship of the Community, this portfolio which falls under the remit of the Honourable PM of Grenada will be further advanced.

Hon. Ministers, Delegates,

We look forward to fruitful deliberations of this the Twenty-Seventh Meeting of the Community Council.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org