It is my pleasure to chair this opening session of the Seventh Meeting of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE). I am sure that you will have no reservation endorsing my request for this CONSLE to join President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Republic of Guyana, the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community and other CARICOM leaders in acknowledging one of the most historic events in modern times and offering our warmest congratulations to President-elect of the USA, Senator Barack Obama.

On behalf of the Directorate of Human and Social Development, I specifically wish to acknowledge the work of the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) in advancing the regional agenda for crime and security and to congratulate Ms. Lyne Anne Williams, its Executive Director for the leadership she has provided.

The preparations of the documentation and logistical arrangements for this meeting required the dedication of the staff of the Secretariat led by Myrna Bernard, Director of Human Development and Col. Fairbairn Liverpool, Coordinator of the Crime and Drug programme of CARICOM as well as the members of our Conference Services and Ms Tonya Ayow,the Director of Administrative Services, IMPACS.

However, for the marshalling of the troops, as it were, our appreciation goes to Ms Joan Massiah, Chief Executive Officer, National Security Council Secretariat in the Office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Hon. Patrick Manning who is the Lead Head for the portfolio of crime and security. It was her effective chairing of the Security Policy Advisory Committee (SEPAC) over the past two days that produced the summary reports for the consideration of this Ministerial meeting, thereby making the task of CONSLE so much easier.

The Agenda for this meeting is an ambitious one and requires decisions to be taken on a number of critical issues. No doubt the substantive chair of this Seventh CONSLE will provide the necessary guidance to ensure a successful conclusion to this gathering. However there are some important steps that are required to pilot the work programme of this Council within the next year.

First there is the legal agenda and the drafting and ratification of important legal frameworks for the implementation of Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and the Advance Customs Information System (ACIS)

Second , there is need to focus on building human resource capacity including training and retraining of law enforcement officers to cope with the new security threats and the new challenges such as cyber crime, criminal deportees and the threats of terrorism

A third important area that is of specific concern to the Council for Human and Social Development is the development and implementation of a regional strategy for crime prevention especially geared to greater involvement of the in and out of school youth and the recognition of the structural and systemic nature of crime which if not controlled could destroy the fabric of our societies with deleterious consequences for our economies.

Fourth it seems reasonable to request CONSLE to pay more attention to the need for policy research and to seek to incorporate our regional universities to collaborate with the Law Enforcement and other Social Sector agencies in a sustained series of data and analysis of data on which to frame policies to inform crime prevention.

Finally, it is clear that there is need for CONSLE to secure regional and international partnerships, to assist in the mobilization of the required technical and financial resources. The legacy of CWC 2007, in particular the strides that were made in the orchestration of a regional security agenda, is testimony to the political will and competences available among the law enforcement, health and disaster management agencies in this Region.

These are some thoughts on the way forward in our discussions at this meeting as I reiterate my greetings to you all.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org