Securing a Sustainable Caribbean Future – upcoming Forum

Regional and international leaders will gather in Port of Spain from 5 to 7 May 2015 to tackle intractable challenges to development and identify strategies for securing a sustainable Caribbean future.

The Forum for the Future of the Caribbean is being co-hosted by the University of the West Indies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago in collaboration with United Nations System and regional inter-governmental partners, and The Commonwealth.

Forum participants – including Caribbean heads of government and policy-makers, civil society and business leaders, and academic experts – will confront existing development paradigms through innovative, disruptive thought aimed at producing models for research, policy development and transformative action to support an equitable, sustainable Caribbean society in the post-2015 period and for generations beyond.  They will challenge each other to consider persistent development problems in new ways and identify approaches directed at widening opportunities and improving living conditions for all Caribbean citizens.  Agenda areas of focus include all dimensions of poverty, inequality, and resource mobilization, as well as the specific vulnerabilities of small – often high and middle income – Caribbean States.

Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Winston Dookeran, in welcoming announcement of the Forum, said:

“Business as usual cannot possibly meet the complex challenges of poverty, inequality and funding we now face in the region.  We need disruptive thinking and bold action if we are to create a resilient and international Caribbean future.  I believe we need to accelerate regional convergence and new models of diplomacy in a global setting and the forum provides us a real opportunity to do just that.”

University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor Designate Sir Hilary Beckles said, “UWI has a fine tradition of public-minded academic research. After fifty years of concerted effort Caribbean post-colonial development paradigms have climaxed having yield poor to moderate results. Required are radically different development ideas to structure new options.”He is optimistic that the ambitious goals of the Forum can be achieved and produce the “practical outcomes we need to forge a common and united Caribbean destiny.”

United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Trinidad and Tobago Richard Blewitt also expressed enthusiastic support for the forum, which he was optimistic “will trigger transformative academic research and public policy.”

Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor of the United Nations Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, is among the prominent speakers who will be featured at the Forum. “2015 offers an historic and once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Ms. Mohammed. “We need leaders to be courageous and ambitious. I look forward to a robust discussion at The Forum on how to deliver on Caribbean priorities.”

Sessions for the Forum for the Future of the Caribbean will convene at both the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain.