CARICOM Foreign Ministers meet to coordinate foreign policy amid COVID-19 pandemic

CARICOM Foreign Ministers were reminded of the importance of regional foreign
policy coordination in the current uncertain times, as they opened the 23^rd
Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) via
videoconference, Wednesday.

CARICOM
Secretariat’s Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Colin Granderson in
reminding the meeting of the global health, social and economic crisis in the
form of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, noted that the unity
of the Region is being put to the test in a very crucial way.  The fast approaching 2020 Atlantic Hurricane
season also looms large, he added.

“The
climate experts forecast that the 2020 season will be above average in the
number and magnitude of the predicted hurricanes. These twin threats will
certainly test the resilience of our Community,” he stated in remarks delivered
on behalf of Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.     

Ambassador
Granderson urged CARICOM Foreign Ministers to speak “with one voice” as they
continually and actively engage with international development partners. Of
significance in this regard, he said, was action required to advance the
initiative undertaken by the Chair of CARICOM, Prime Minister the Hon. Mia
Mottley of Barbados, who has written to global leaders and financial
institutions seeking their support for CARICOM’s position on access to
concessional financing based on vulnerability and not on GDP per capita.

Ambassador
Granderson said the Community welcomes support from countries like the UK and
the US, and others like the Kingdom of Norway which have supported CARICOM’s
efforts to keep issues of importance to it on the international agenda where it
is not represented.

“Issues
such as climate change and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
have been raised at the Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors
of the World Bank and the IMF in Oslo in April by Norway’s Minister of
International Development. We look forward to exploring further co-operation
when we interface with the Foreign Minister of Norway, Her Excellency Ine
Eriksen Søreide, during this meeting,” Ambassador Granderson stated.

“A
weakened multilateral system, and the impulse of individual countries to rush
to look inwards during these unprecedented times, are all the more reason for
the Community to continue to reach out to its existing partners while expanding
its relations with new partners,” Ambassador Granderson added.

The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Dr. Claude Joseph, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Haiti.

See also: Haiti’s Foreign Minister calls for collective action amidst coronavirus pandemic