Guyana President Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali is hoping to continue work in assuring regional security as he prepares to take over stewardship of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) for the next six months.
Ali takes up the mantle from Dominica's Roosevelt Skerrit, who chaired the regional bloc over the last six months. He will head the body from January 1 to June 30, 2024.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Ali thanked his predecessor for leading Caricom as he looked toward the new year as bringing renewed possibilities to continue "targeted programmes to advance Caricom's strategic priorities with the objective of pursuing the region’s development goals and striving for peace and prosperity across our Caribbean Community."
As tensions between Guyana and Venezuela grow once again over the Essequibo region, following a brief respite with the Argyle agreement, Ali put regional security at the top of the list.
He was referring to the mid-December meeting in St Vincent where both he and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro agreed to reject any threat of violence in their dispute over the Essequibo region and to refrain from any escalation of the disagreement.
"Regional security is an increasingly critical matter. We live in a world where peace is challenged from one corner of the universe to the next. We ended 2023, however, with Caricom’s robust role in assuring the rule of international peace and security in our corner of the world and ensuring that Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole remained a zone of peace."
He said in 2024, Caricom countries will continue the respect international law.
"We all remain committed to peacefully and by legal means resolving border controversies. We are resolved to effectively address crime and violence in our region including combatting the illegal weapons trade through our “War on Guns” campaign. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to return our member state, Haiti, to peace and stability. Our region must remain a zone of peace."
Also on his list of issues are the region's food and nutrition security. He said despite challenges, including climate change, member states have made steady progress towards the target of reducing the region's food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.
"We will build on these achievements, including advancing our regional agenda for energy services that are available, reliable, affordable and sustainable – to support expected innovations in the agricultural sector. Crucial to this initiative is the need to improve regional transportation and this will remain as one of our top priorities."
Under his tenure, Ali said Caricom will continue advocacy for the early and fair operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund that was agreed to at the recently held United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai. Some of the wealthiest nations, who are also the largest contributors to climate change, like the United Arab Emirates, Germany, China and the United States pledged a total of just over US$700 million to the fund which
