“In our unity lies our strength. This must be our truth and our rallying cry. Whether tackling the climate crisis, addressing gun violence, or championing equitable global financial reforms, we must act with one voice and one purpose.”
My beloved brothers and sisters of the Caribbean,
As we step boldly into 2025, I greet you with hope, determination and an unyielding commitment to serve as your Chair of CARICOM.
Today, we stand at the crossroads of immense challenges and extraordinary opportunities. How we act, united as a people, and as nations will define not only this year, 2025, but the legacy of our generation.
The Caribbean is far more than a geographic space. We know it. It is a living testament to the power of courage, creativity, and our collective strength. Ours is a history marked by resilience, a word that we will have to embrace more and more in our future. Time and again we have faced storms most natural and manmade and risen stronger, more determined than ever, united in shaping our destiny; especially in this year as we saw the ravages of Hurricane Beryl make history not just for the history books, but regrettably, in the lives of too many families across our region.
I extend heartfelt thanks to the outgoing chairman, the Honourable Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada, for his wise and steady leadership. Together with my fellow leaders, I reaffirm our shared commitment to ensuring the prosperity, security and well-being of every citizen in our region.
A Region at an Important Juncture
We begin 2025 against that backdrop of global uncertainty.
The aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic linger. The worsening climate crisis endangers our homes and livelihoods – as I just referred to our experience with Beryl this year. The devastating conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine and Gaza and Lebanon reverberate far beyond their borders, while in our community, the multifaceted crisis in Haiti demands urgent, thoughtful and compassionate solutions, and we pray for the continued stability of our relations between Guyana and Venezuela.
These challenges, my friends, test our resolve, but they also underscore the urgency of adaptation, resilience and bold action. The Caribbean must not only weather these storms, but we must lead in crafting solutions for a changing world.
Advancing Regional Unity and Development
Central to our mission must be resuming the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. We paused our coordinated actions on this noble but critical mission as we applied all that we could muster to fight COVID and its trail of economic and social upheaval.
But five years on, we must resume our work on the CSME. For this is not merely an economic agenda. It is a vision of unity and opportunity for small states who know that we can achieve so much more together than we do so individually. Full realization of the CSME, including above all else, yes, the free movement of our nationals is essential for unlocking the true potential of our people and our economies.
So is the necessity for us to attain and go beyond the target that we set ourselves for food and nutritional security, best exemplified by the “Vision 25 by 2025” agenda, which we set in 2021.
We must now focus, my friends, to apply the few but necessary recommendations of the distinguished CARICOM Commission on Economy, who reported to us in the middle of the pandemic, when we were justifiably distracted. The pooling of our sovereignty must also be better addressed by the pooling of our efforts, from investment to skills to procurement. We can do better together.
We must also confront the injustices of the global financial system, which continue to marginalize Small Island and Low-lying Developing States. Unjust blacklisting practices, and insufficient access to concessional financing hinder our sustainable development efforts.
CARICOM will persist in advocating for reforms championed in the Bridgetown Initiative and working with others, like the 73 vulnerable countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum as we fight for a better financial landscape regionally and globally, within which we can build resilience, prosperity and yes, equity – fairness – for all our people. We also urge the adoption and the laser like refining of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) to secure critical resources for our region’s future as we face these crises that are often beyond our control to avoid, but for which we must strengthen our resilience to survive.
In so doing, my friends, we must urgently settle a floor of rights as a community for our people so that we agree on what must be the minimum protection and the opportunities that each and every Caribbean person must benefit from while we instill as well in all of us the need for each to live our daily lives to do better by our family, our communities, our country, and yes, our region. Our home will only be as good in this region as we collectively make it. We remain inspired by the principles of Ubuntu – “I am because we are”.
In tandem, we must deliver on the commitments of the recently concluded George-Bridge Declaration, which built on the regional symposium in Port of Spain that recognized crime and violence as a public health issue in the Caribbean. This declaration reached at in Georgetown, Guyana, under the chairmanship of Barbados, prioritizes citizen security and safety by addressing it as a public health challenge while innovating and strengthening our efforts nationally and regionally in law enforcement and the modernization of our criminal justice systems.
This is absolutely critical for the majority of our people who simply want to ensure that the zone of peace that we aspire to as a region for the Caribbean is a lived reality in each of our communities. We look forward to the meeting in Saint Kitts and Nevis this year, which will add to the meetings in Trinidad and Guyana on this most critical of issues that affects each and every Caribbean person.
Championing Global Justice
We also welcome as a community, the declaration of the second decade for people of African descent, beginning today, the 1st of January, 2025. This achievement reflects the tireless advocacy of our region and the strides made during the first decade, including global recognition of our ten point plan for reparatory Justice and the establishment of the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.
Yet, my friends, so much remains to be done in this area. We must continue to press the international community for a mature, face to face conversation at all levels, so that we may see them repair the damage from the exploitation through the immoral institutions of slavery and colonialism which our people suffered from.
We must also urge the international community to provide resources necessary to improve the dignity, security and material conditions of African descended people worldwide. The spectacle of 600 million Africans without electricity in an age of AI is in no way morally acceptable to us as a community, which is part of the African diaspora that is a six region of Africa. Yes, us CARICOM people. In this regard, we will further continue our work to strengthen our relationship with the African Union as a community of Caribbean people.
Seizing Opportunities for Transformation
So, my friends, this year, let us seize the boundless opportunities before us. The world is racing into a digital future, and the Caribbean must not be left behind. From green energy to artificial intelligence, we must lead with alacrity as innovators, not blindly but responsibly equipping our young people with the tools to drive change and to position our region as a hub for sustainable industries.
This is even more so when we consider that we equally face the challenge of many developed countries. That is, an aging and declining population.
It is for that reason that our young people, therefore, must be given every opportunity to ensure that when they to age, that there are those who are young enough to help them mature in their gray and silver years.
Our creativity, my friends, has long been our greatest asset. From the arts to technology. Let us inspire the world with our ingenuity and originality that every child, and entrepreneur and national, know they are part of a community that supports and uplifts them. And let us celebrate all that is good and is possible for our Caribbean civilization, as we do what we do best in the expression of our Festival of Arts CARIFESTA.
My friends, my brothers and sisters. CARIFESTA XV will be held in Barbados from August 22nd to 31st, 2025. I’m inviting you, God willing to create, to participate and simply to come. I speak to each and every one of us as Caribbean people, not just as members of Caricom, but everyone of the Caribbean people that can hear my voice, come.
As we would say in Barbados, “miss this and blame yourself”. Food and fashion. Music and dance, art, craft, sculpture and good old Caribbean talk from philosophy to attitudes from religion to development. Let us use this as an opportunity to build resilience in our region spiritually and psychologically each of us individually. Let us gather and feed our souls and nurture our spirit as Caribbean people.
The Power of Unity
In our unity lies our strength. This must be our truth and our rallying cry. Whether tackling the climate crisis, addressing gun violence, or championing equitable global financial reforms, we must act with one voice and one purpose.
To our Caribbean people, let us put aside what divides us and focus on what binds us together. I call on us to stay engaged. I say hold us, yes, as leaders accountable.
But remember, building this region we love is not only about the governments and its work. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us as Caribbean people, as Caribbean institutions. So, my friends, let us contribute our energy and our talents to this cause that matters most to us.
This must not, however, be our cry alone, but it must be the actions of our generation of Caribbean people.
We know better. We can do better. Together we can build a Caribbean that is resilient, prosperous, healthy and united. A beacon of hope in a world yearning for solutions. And we do so in our own, indomitable style with a smile on our face and a pep in our step.
Happy New Year, CARICOM The future is ours.
Yes, ours to create. Thank you.
