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  • JET Foundation and UWI Five Islands Campus Partner to Host the Wadadli Healing Symposium in Antigua and Barbuda

    JET Foundation and UWI Five Islands Campus Partner to Host the Wadadli Healing Symposium in Antigua and Barbuda

    A new collaborative initiative aimed at addressing deep-seated social harm and pressing community challenges across Antigua and Barbuda is set to launch in 2026, as the Jane E. Toussaint (JET) Foundation and The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus (UWI-FIC) announced their joint partnership to host the Wadadli Healing Symposium. Scheduled as a two-day gathering to be held October 6–7, 2026, the event will take place on the UWI-FIC campus in Antigua, with free public admission guaranteed for all attendees.

    Conceived as a coordinated national and regional response to intergenerational historic injury and modern-day social struggles, the symposium will gather a diverse lineup of local and global experts, led by renowned researcher Dr. Joy DeGruy, to share evidence-based, culturally rooted healing strategies. The partnership aligns with the shared mission of both organizations to uplift community well-being, expand equitable public access to specialized knowledge, and foster open, meaningful dialogue across Antigua and Barbuda. By hosting the symposium at its campus, UWI-FIC is positioning itself as a central regional hub for connecting cutting-edge research, public education, and actionable solutions to the ongoing impacts of intergenerational trauma and contemporary social challenges.

    Pre-symposium community engagement and preliminary research identified four core priority areas that will anchor the event’s discussions and programming: mental health and healing, parent engagement, youth development, and male engagement. These domains were selected to reflect the most urgent, widespread concerns currently facing Antigua and Barbuda’s families, local communities, and future generations. Unlike many conventional academic or community gatherings, the Wadadli Healing Symposium is designed to deliver tangible outcomes: all strategies shared will be actionable and data-backed, designed for immediate implementation by practitioners, family members, educators, civil society groups, faith-based organizations, and everyday community members.

    Dr. DeGruy’s participation brings globally recognized expertise to the symposium’s exploration of multigenerational trauma, healing processes, and community social recovery. Her insights will complement contributions from a wide range of local and international professionals, creating a dynamic, high-value forum for collective learning, critical reflection, and hands-on engagement. The combination of global research and local experience is intended to advance a more relevant, effective regional conversation around healing frameworks tailored to the unique social and cultural realities of the Caribbean.

    Inclusive, broad-based participation stands as a core guiding goal of the initiative. By waiving all attendance fees, the JET Foundation is actively removing financial barriers that would otherwise limit access, ensuring that high-quality programming is open to parents, young people, students, educators, mental health professionals, non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups, and the general public across the region.

    Dr. Camille Samuel, Campus Registrar at UWI-FIC, emphasized that the institution’s role extends far beyond traditional academic instruction. “The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus exists to be more than a place of academic study in our region; it is a space where knowledge meets the needs of our community,” she explained. “Hosting the Wadadli Healing Symposium is a natural expression of that mission. We are proud to partner with the JET Foundation to bring these critical conversations to Antigua and Barbuda and working together to build healthier, more resilient communities.”

    Founded by the Underwood family to honor their maternal grandmother, the JET Foundation centers its work on advancing healing, equity, and community well-being through culturally grounded, research-backed initiatives. The organization’s core focus is addressing the persistent impacts of both historic and contemporary harm, while building practical pathways to stronger families, healthier communities, and long-term equitable social development.

    UWI-FIC, established in 2019 as the fifth campus of the University of the West Indies system, brings world-class Caribbean-focused higher education to Antigua and Barbuda and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Ranked among the world’s top global universities by Times Higher Education, the campus offers more than 45 degree programs across four academic divisions: the School of Humanities and Education, the School of Business and Management, the School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and the School of Science, Computing and Artificial Intelligence. It is also home to the Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE), which leads innovative research in marine science and sustainable blue economy development. More information about the campus is available at its official website, www.fiveislands.uwi.edu.

  • Essay II: De schaal van de vondst en wat ‘veel meer’ concreet betekent

    Essay II: De schaal van de vondst en wat ‘veel meer’ concreet betekent

    When discussing Suriname’s emerging oil and gas industry, two critical terms often shape public and policy conversations — and getting their definitions wrong can lead to major misinterpretations of the country’s resource potential. Petroleum and energy advisor Marcel Chin-A-Lien breaks down these key concepts and outlines the scale of Suriname’s offshore hydrocarbon reserves in this second op-ed, making the case for planned onshore refining and gas pipeline projects.

    First, Chin-A-Lien distinguishes between proven (P1) and prospective (P50/P90, yet-to-find) reserves. Proven reserves are deposits that have already been confirmed by drilling, with geologists measuring their properties and confirming they can be extracted profitably using existing technology at current market prices. These reserves qualify as tangible assets on a company’s or nation’s balance sheet. Prospective reserves, by contrast, are strong geologically-based estimates supported by seismic data and geological knowledge, but have not yet been verified by drilling. They are a guide for planning exploration activities, not a confirmed asset to base borrowing on. The expert stresses both categories matter, but they must be communicated transparently and honestly to avoid misleading the public.

    Turning to confirmed reserves currently documented in Suriname, the numbers paint a transformative picture. For Block 58 oil discoveries including Maka Central, Sapakara, Krabdagu, Kwaskwasi and Keskesi, published data from operators and independent evaluators places total recoverable reserves between 2 billion and 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The standalone GranMorgu project alone targets production of roughly 220,000 barrels per day starting in 2028 — a production scale never before seen in Suriname’s history. For natural gas in Block 52, discoveries at Sloanea-1, Sloanea-2, SAC-1 and adjacent wells have confirmed 2.0 to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of reserves in the P50 scenario. At realistic production rates, this volume is enough to support a 33 to 35-year domestic gas program. Additional blocks, including Block 53, Block 65 and multiple deepwater blocks, have seen partial drilling with encouraging early results, placing these resources in the prospective reserve category for now.

    Independent geological research focused on the shared Guyana-Suriname Basin makes clear that current proven reserves are unlikely to be the end of Suriname’s resource story. The estimate that billions more barrels of oil equivalent and tens of trillions of cubic feet of gas remain untapped beneath Suriname’s offshore waters is not speculative: the same prediction methods correctly forecast the scale of Guyana’s major discoveries between 2015 and 2024. To put this in context, neighboring Guyana has already confirmed more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent in less than a decade. Suriname sits in the same geological province, with the same source rock and seabed geological structure, giving geologists good reason to expect significant additional discoveries over the next 10 years, rather than poorer resource outcomes than its neighbor.

    To put these large, abstract reserve numbers in human and economic terms, Chin-A-Lien offers relatable comparisons. Two billion barrels of oil equals roughly 150 years of Suriname’s current domestic oil consumption; even with significant growth in domestic energy use, that volume still equals decades of domestic fuel security. Two trillion cubic feet of gas is enough to provide electricity to every household in Suriname for multiple generations, or to power a substantial domestic industrial base including fertilizer production, chemical manufacturing and aluminum processing for decades. In short, Suriname holds enough offshore energy resources to drive a full domestic energy and industrial transformation, while still retaining enough volume for exports — a model successfully deployed for decades by Trinidad and Tobago, and built carefully by Norway since the 1970s.

    This large reserve base is the core reason why two major planned projects — a new domestic refinery (NR) and a gas-to-shore (GtS) pipeline project — are economically justified, the expert argues. If reserves were only large enough to support 10 years of production, the high fixed costs of building a refinery and onshore pipeline infrastructure would never be recouped, making the projects unviable. That is not Suriname’s situation. Even conservative estimates confirm decades of producible oil and gas reserves, with additional prospective reserves that only expand the total resource base. At this scale, domestic processing of hydrocarbons, rather than exporting all raw crude and gas, makes solid financial sense, not just ideological sense.

    The math supports this conclusion: A modular 30,000-barrel-per-day refinery can operate at full capacity for 20 to 30 years on a base of hundreds of millions of barrels of combined sovereign reserve access and import options — a scale Suriname already has. A 100-kilometer gas pipeline with onshore processing facilities can support decades of offtake from the 2 to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, which is also a scale Suriname already possesses. The country currently holds exactly the resource base a small nation needs to justify onshore hydrocarbon conversion, a point that has been largely missing from public debate to date, according to Chin-A-Lien.

    Chin-A-Lien outlines the tangible economic benefits the two projects can deliver for Suriname, using indicative estimates that will be refined during pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. The new refinery is projected to save Suriname hundreds of millions of dollars annually in fuel import costs, while also generating tax revenue and dividends for the state. In the baseline scenario, this would improve Suriname’s balance of payments by $400 million to $700 million per year, compared to the current status quo where all fuel is imported. The gas-to-shore project would replace expensive diesel and fuel oil power generation with low-cost gas power in its early years, saving the national electricity company EBS tens to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, while also generating government revenue from royalties and taxes.

    While exact figures will be refined as planning progresses, the overall scale of benefit is clear: upfront investment in the two projects over four to five years will be repaid in later decades through lower energy costs, new local jobs, increased government revenue and greater macroeconomic stability. Most importantly, this economic value stays within Suriname rather than flowing entirely abroad.

    In closing, Chin-A-Lien emphasizes that the goal of this essay is not to mandate that the refinery and gas-to-shore projects must move forward. Instead, it is to demonstrate that Suriname’s proven reserve base is large enough to support building a structural, long-term domestic energy industry with smart planning. Claims that Suriname is too small or lacks sufficient scale to pursue these projects refer to the Suriname of 30 years ago. Today’s Suriname sits atop one of the world’s major hydrocarbon provinces. The geology has already delivered the resource potential; the final outcome depends entirely on the policy choices Suriname makes going forward.

  • Cox calls for more platforms to showcase creative talent

    Cox calls for more platforms to showcase creative talent

    A veteran Barbadian secondary school art teacher and multi-disciplinary creative is pushing for systemic change to support local artists and filmmakers, arguing that the island nation must build consistent domestic exhibition spaces instead of pushing its homegrown talent to seek audiences abroad.

    George Cox, who brings more than three decades of experience in education alongside backgrounds in engineering and filmmaking, made the appeal while speaking at an ongoing art exhibition hosted by Inspirational Fine Arts Gallery, an unconventional creative space located on the upper level of Bridgetown’s Sugar Cane Mall on Roebuck Street. During his remarks, Cox emphasized that the Barbadian arts sector needs far more than occasional events like pop-up exhibitions and annual competitions to embed creative work into everyday national life.

    “Without the ability to display your work, it’s a problem and you need to display it to an audience. You need to display it to the people who are around you,” Cox told attendees of the show.

    To illustrate the gap in local opportunity, Cox pointed to his own daughter’s career trajectory: the film school graduate now holds a senior role with a production company that partners with Disney, building her successful career outside of Barbados after there were few pathways to showcase her work at home. Cox praised his daughter’s vision and storytelling skills, noting that her success abroad proves Barbadian creatives have world-class talent – but that talent too often has to leave the island to thrive.

    Cox stressed that Barbados already holds all the pieces to build a thriving, self-sustaining creative industry, if local stakeholders prioritize creating accessible public platforms for domestic work. He noted that while many Barbadian filmmakers are already creating intimate, authentic stories about life on the island, most of these projects never receive the distribution or exposure needed to reach broader local audiences.

    “We have film people out there, and they have to find a way to get themselves to express themselves out there, but there’s no platform where people get to see themselves,” he said.

    The educator specifically questioned whether national public broadcaster Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is doing enough to elevate local creative productions, pointing out that original Barbadian films almost never air on the network’s schedule. “We have a lot of films about Barbadians. But how many times have you seen it on CBC? Never,” he said.

    Cox described Barbadian filmmaking as a largely “untapped area”, adding that the island already has a skilled base of technicians and production crew capable of supporting large-scale domestic projects. What is missing, he argued, is intentional support to encourage more local storytellers to create work, paired with consistent spaces to share that work with the public.

    “We don’t get a lot of people creating film, creating story, and they don’t get to show themselves,” he added. Contrary to common attitudes toward critique, Cox argued that even negative feedback is a valuable tool for growth, as any form of public exposure gives creatives the chance to refine their craft and connect with audiences. “Even the worst opinions, or criticisms, is something, you know. It’s not negative,” he said.

    Cox held up neighboring Caribbean nations Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica as positive examples, where local creative work is far more visible to domestic audiences than it is in Barbados. He also highlighted the work of a former student who has built a consistent exhibition practice in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, noting that the creator is able to regularly share work and engage with other regional artists thanks to local support structures.

    He reserved particular praise for artist Sherridean Carmichael, founder of the Inspirational Fine Arts Gallery currently hosting the exhibition. Cox applauded Carmichael’s choice to locate the gallery in a repurposed corridor within a busy shopping mall, calling the unconventional space a creative statement in its own right. “Even this amazing art show. This could have been part of a documentary of some kind because this is an amazing lady and the very fact she’s found her little space where the gallery is the corridor, very creative,” he said.

    He added that the gallery and the diverse work on display there could serve as the foundation for a broader narrative about the struggles and triumphs of Barbadian creatives building their careers on the island. “This is a whole story all by itself,” he noted.

    While Cox acknowledged that the growth of the open internet has created new independent distribution avenues for creatives to share their work, he argued that traditional local media still has a critical role to play in centering authentic Barbadian stories. “The Internet is wide and vast. Television is ours right here. It’s one of our platforms that is right here,” he said.

    Cox concluded by noting that prioritizing local storytelling would not only benefit creatives – it would also help domestic media organizations build deeper connections with their Barbadian audiences. “I think more people would watch the CBC if there was more about them, you know, more storytelling about them,” he said.

  • ECAAM expands summer academic support programme to meet growing learner needs

    ECAAM expands summer academic support programme to meet growing learner needs

    Education Consulting, Academic Advising and Mentoring (ECAAM), a non-profit education organization focused on inclusive learning, has wrapped up the second iteration of its Summer Intensive Academic Support Programme (SIASP), marking steady growth in its mission to help learners of all needs build critical skills and enter the new school year with boosted confidence.

    Launched to address persistent academic struggles that many students carry from one school year to the next, SIASP was designed to fill gaps left by standard classroom instruction. Unlike one-size-fits-all summer review programs, the initiative develops fully personalized learning plans aligned with each student’s unique strengths, challenges, and learning pace, delivering targeted support over the summer break to set learners up for success when classes resume.

    A core principle that sets ECAAM’s approach apart is its commitment to whole-child development. The organization recognizes that academic readiness extends far beyond foundational reading and math skills, so the program integrates dedicated practice in social-emotional learning, communication competence, functional life skills, and independence—attributes that lay the groundwork for long-term educational and personal growth.

    SIASP has been tailored specifically to serve learners with special educational needs and students with documented learning gaps, groups that often do not receive the specialized, repeated practice and individualized strategies they require to thrive in mainstream classroom settings. From its small pilot launch, where the program supported just two students in its first year, SIASP has expanded to serve five learners in its second year: four joined in-person instruction, while one participated remotely to accommodate individual needs. ECAAM officials note that this steady growth signals a rising unmet demand for targeted pre-year support that addresses student gaps before the new academic term begins.

    This year, ECAAM also launched an all-new sub-program: the Kindergarten Readiness and Academic Support Programme, built to support children making the critical transition from early childhood preschool to formal kindergarten learning. The new initiative prioritizes transition skills specifically for autistic children and other learners that require extra preparation to adjust to the structured routines of formal elementary school environments. It builds foundational academic, communication, and social-emotional skills while helping young learners adapt to daily classroom schedules, express their needs clearly, engage in group learning activities, and develop age-appropriate independence.

    Across all its offerings, SIASP centers three core priority areas: academic preparedness, social-emotional growth, and functional and transition skills. This scope includes reinforcing core literacy and numeracy foundations, helping students build confidence and emotional regulation techniques, and developing competencies such as clear communication, organizational skills, problem-solving, and adherence to daily routines.

    A core belief guiding ECAAM’s work is that proactive intervention is far more effective than addressing academic struggles after they escalate into serious barriers to learning. The summer program gives students a low-pressure opportunity to strengthen gaps in their skills, build self-assurance, and start the new school year with the tools they need to succeed.

    “ECAAM is investing in the whole child because academic success is strengthened when children are also supported socially, emotionally and functionally,” the organization noted. “Every child deserves a head start and an opportunity to enter the next stage of their education prepared to succeed.”

    In addition to SIASP, ECAAM offers a full suite of services including one-on-one academic support, inclusive education programming, professional development for educators, academic advising, mentoring, and innovative teaching approaches. The organization’s overarching mission is to build more inclusive, equitable, and meaningful educational experiences that meet the needs of every child.

  • Urban gospel artiste lands global award nomination

    Urban gospel artiste lands global award nomination

    Karlos Cobham, an established urban contemporary gospel musician and Billboard chart-topping artist, has secured two nominations at the 11th annual Avidity Gospel Music Awards, positioning him to claim his first-ever international industry win. Born in Barbados and currently based in the United States, Cobham advanced through the initial open voting round to earn his spots on the 2026 shortlist. He is nominated in two categories: Gospel Rap Artiste of the Year, and Gospel R&B/Hip Hop Single of the Year for his 2025 hit track *Blessed*. This is not Cobham’s first brush with industry acclaim. In 2022, his Christian hip-hop single *Royalty*, which featured veteran artist Emcee N.I.C.E., climbed to the number one spot on the Billboard Christian charts and earned him consideration for a Grammy nomination. Now, the multi-hyphenate creative—who works as a songwriter, producer, and the chief executive officer of his independent label KWEST Records, where he also serves as the flagship signed artist—is on the cusp of marking a new milestone in his career. The 11th Avidity Gospel Music Awards will be hosted in Dallas, Texas, running from November 6 through 9. The event is organized by the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent recording professionals and creative collaborators across the global music industry. The ARA’s core mission centers on three pillars: recognizing outstanding artistic work, delivering educational resources for emerging creators, and advocating for the independent music sector. Beyond celebrating top talent, the academy works to raise industry standards, nurture the next generation of music professionals, and help independent artists build sustainable, long-lasting careers within the broader mainstream music ecosystem. Cobham has publicly expressed gratitude to all the fans and supporters who took part in the first round of voting, which closed on July 19, and helped him secure his place among this year’s nominees. As the awards ceremony approaches, the gospel rap performer is poised to make history as he competes for his first international win, adding another chapter to his already impressive career in independent Christian music.

  • Ackers Driving School holds first Summer Drivers Camp

    Ackers Driving School holds first Summer Drivers Camp

    Ackers Driving School has wrapped up its first-ever Summer Drivers Camp, a two-day community-focused initiative held from August 4 to 5, 2026, at the Botanical Gardens and Elmshall, that aims to equip young people and first-time drivers with foundational knowledge for safe, responsible road use.

    Organized to fill critical gaps in pre-license driver education, the inaugural camp brought together new drivers for hands-on and classroom learning focused on building lifelong safe driving habits, rather than just teaching the skills needed to pass a licensing exam. Relda Andre, chief driving instructor at Ackers Driving School, explained that the program was crafted to inform, educate, and inspire new drivers to prioritize safety every time they get behind the wheel. Unlike standard pre-test lessons that focus heavily on exam requirements, the camp introduced participants to core driving fundamentals before they began regular practical training, with the end goal of nurturing courteous, confident, and hazard-aware road users.

    The camp’s curriculum covered a wide range of essential topics that are often overlooked in rushed standard driver training. Attendees learned basic road safety protocols, the meaning of common traffic signs, the full scope of legal driver responsibilities, defensive driving techniques, how to complete pre-trip vehicle safety checks, and the basics of proper vehicle setup including correct seating position, mirror adjustment, and consistent seat belt use. Instructors also introduced participants to the easy-to-remember LLLC driving method: Look Ahead, Look Around, Leave Space, and Communicate Your Intention, a framework designed to reduce collision risks by boosting proactive decision-making behind the wheel. Additional modules focused on hazard recognition and evidence-based accident prevention strategies.

    To cater to different learning styles, organizers blended a variety of teaching formats to keep participants engaged. The schedule included traditional classroom lectures, live practical demonstrations, collaborative group discussions, visual learning aids, interactive skill-building activities, and open question-and-answer sessions where attendees could raise concerns and get personalized answers from experienced instructors. To boost participation and reward engagement, the camp distributed a range of prizes, with generous support from three local sponsors: Do It Center, Digicel, and Ackers Driving School itself.

    In a post-camp assessment, Andre called the inaugural event a resounding success. Buoyed by strong turnout and overwhelmingly positive feedback from both participants and their parents, Ackers Driving School has already announced plans to make the Summer Drivers Camp an annual community tradition. The school also intends to roll out additional road safety workshops and driver education programs throughout the year to expand access to high-quality training for new drivers across the community.

    Andre noted that attendees brought high levels of enthusiasm to every session, showing a genuine eagerness to learn while enjoying the interactive camp format. The positive response from students and parents, she added, has reinforced the organization’s belief that targeted, early road safety education for young new drivers is a critical community need.

    Addressing the core mission of the program, Andre stressed that driving is not a right, but a privilege that carries heavy responsibility for the safety of everyone on the road. “I encourage everyone, especially young people and first-time drivers, to receive proper training from qualified instructors before driving on public roads,” she said. “Good driving habits save lives. Never stop learning, always obey the traffic laws, remain patient and courteous, and remember that every safe decision you make behind the wheel helps protect you, your passengers and every other road user.”

    She reiterated that Ackers Driving School’s core mission extends far beyond helping customers pass their driving tests and obtain licenses. Instead, the organization’s long-term goal is to cultivate a new generation of safe, confident, and socially responsible drivers who prioritize safety for their entire driving careers.

  • Chamber of Commerce cautious on calls for carnival holiday

    Chamber of Commerce cautious on calls for carnival holiday

    A renewed public debate over elevating Carnival’s status in Saint Lucia has reignited calls to designate Carnival Monday and Tuesday as official public holidays, but the island nation’s leading business advocacy group is pushing for a measured approach, warning that additional statutory time off would create unmanageable operational strains and disrupt the delicate balance of the country’s economy. Brain Louisy, Executive Director of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, emphasized that the current regulatory framework for public holidays already strikes a functional balance that most local businesses have adjusted to over time, making a major shift unnecessary.

    The push for new public holidays stems from growing advocacy to recognize Carnival as a cornerstone of Saint Lucia’s national cultural identity. While Louisy confirms that the vast majority of local business owners actively support and participate in the annual cultural celebration, he argues that practical economic constraints cannot be sidelined in the debate. Adding two new public holidays, he explains, would place disproportionate pressure on sectors that cannot suspend operations even during major national events.

    The tourism industry, one of Saint Lucia’s core economic drivers, serves as a key example: hotels, resorts, restaurants, and excursion providers must remain open to serve both international and domestic visitors, even on public holidays. Requiring these businesses to operate while paying mandatory holiday overtime rates would impose unplanned, significant extra costs that many small and medium-sized enterprises cannot absorb. Beyond tourism, Louisy notes that the broader population relies on continuous access to essential goods and services throughout the festive period, meaning the national economy cannot grind to a halt for two additional days of public holiday.

    Louisy added that many local businesses already face operational disruptions from Carnival events even without official public holiday status, particularly when street parade route changes block access to storefronts and leave some enterprises unable to conduct transactions for full days. In these cases, businesses already must make costly adjustments to offset lost revenue. For Louisy, adapting existing operations rather than adding new public holidays is a far more sustainable solution that avoids imposing unnecessary financial burdens on the private sector.

    “The current status works,” Louisy stated, though he acknowledged that targeted improvements to holiday management can be made at both the national government and individual business levels. Turning to the broader landscape of public holidays in Saint Lucia, Louisy pointed out that the country already recognizes a robust number of statutory holidays spanning religious, cultural, and national observances, which local society has adapted to accommodate.

    Rather than framing the debate as a question of cutting or adding public holidays, Louisy argued that policymakers and stakeholders should redirect their focus toward improving how existing holidays are managed and coordinated. “We certainly do not believe that there is a really strong case for increasing the number of holidays as it stands,” he said. “We do not have a perspective that reducing or increasing holidays is the answer. We need to adjust to make it more effective for the society as a whole.”

    For the specific challenges posed by Carnival, Louisy said businesses and individual stakeholders bear shared responsibility for adapting to event-related disruptions. Practical adjustments, such as modifying opening hours, adjusting supply chain logistics, or reconfiguring customer access to storefronts, can mitigate disruptions without requiring the systemic change of adding new public holidays. While flexible adaptations will look different for every sector and individual business, Louisy emphasized that flexibility, rather than new regulation, is the key to balancing cultural celebration and economic continuity.

  • CTUSAB urges family-friendly workplaces, better support for women

    CTUSAB urges family-friendly workplaces, better support for women

    Barbados’ peak labor organization is calling for sweeping updates to the nation’s workplace rules, pushing policymakers and private sector employers to center women’s health, caregiving needs, and mental well-being in a new generation of people-first employment standards. At the organization’s monthly press briefing on Tuesday, Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) President Ryan Phillips laid out the case for reform, noting that while women form the backbone of Barbados’ economic and social progress, they continue to navigate unnecessary, life-altering barriers in workplaces across the country.

    Phillips highlighted that a wide range of common reproductive health conditions—issues too often dismissed as private, personal matters—directly interfere with workers’ quality of life and on-the-job performance. From endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to debilitating menstrual pain and heavy bleeding, these chronic health issues require systemic workplace accommodation, not stigmatization or silence. Acknowledging these widespread challenges, Phillips emphasized, is the first critical step toward building a modern, supportive working environment that values all employees.

    One of CTUSAB’s flagship proposals is the creation of a formal national breastfeeding policy, designed to remove barriers for nursing mothers transitioning back to work after childbirth. Under the policy, workplaces would be required to offer reasonable lactation breaks, dedicated private hygienic spaces for milk expression, flexible work arrangements where practical, and targeted training to build widespread awareness of maternal health needs and family-friendly work practices. Beyond private workplaces, Phillips also called on government-run day nurseries to revise their current storage policies to accommodate and encourage breast milk drop-offs, particularly for infants under six months old.

    Turning to overall worker well-being, Phillips stressed that mental health deserves the same level of attention and proactive support as physical safety in every workplace. A range of overlapping stressors—from heavy workloads and chronic pain to unpaid caregiving responsibilities and financial uncertainty—take a measurable toll on workers’ psychological health, he explained. To address this, employers must work to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health struggles, build cultures of psychological safety, and put accessible support resources in place for employees who need them.

    Finally, Phillips called for systemic reform to Barbados’ health insurance sector, urging financial regulators, industry leaders, and insurance providers to update outdated rules that disproportionately block women with long-term reproductive and chronic health conditions from accessing fair, affordable coverage. Any equitable health insurance framework, he argued, should be transparent, rooted in up-to-date medical research, and structured to support early diagnosis, preventative care, and evidence-based treatment rather than penalize people for preexisting conditions.

    “A modern workplace must support the whole person,” Phillips told the briefing. “If we are serious about building a modern and resilient Barbados, our workplaces must reflect compassion, dignity, equality, and respect. Healthy workers build healthy workplaces, and healthy workplaces build a stronger Barbados.”

  • Business forum calls for greater public education on government budget, and national development

    Business forum calls for greater public education on government budget, and national development

    On August 8, 2026, the Dominica Business Forum Inc. (DBF) hosted a virtual public forum via Zoom to bring local business stakeholders together to deliberate on the government’s upcoming 2026/2027 national budget, and DBF leadership says they are heartened by the high level of participation from across the country’s private sector.

    Daryl Bobb, president of the DBF, noted that the 2.5 to 3-hour dialogue was far more than a routine stakeholder session: participants engaged in productive, solution-focused exchanges, raised critical pressing concerns, and mapped out actionable priority areas to support Dominica’s ongoing economic progress.

    One core takeaway that emerged from the collective discussion, Bobb explained, is the widespread recognition that Dominica needs expanded public education initiatives focused on national economic and development issues. Unlike traditional formal academic learning, this outreach would center on helping ordinary citizens grasp on-the-ground economic realities, clarify the distinct roles of government and the private sector, and highlight pathways for more effective collaboration between the two groups. To advance this goal, the DBF intends to organize additional public engagement activities designed to ensure that national policy decisions are rooted in factual, accessible information rather than ungrounded emotional reaction.

    Bobb highlighted that the forum drew participants from a diverse cross-section of Dominica’s business sectors, and he emphasized that interest in structured multi-stakeholder dialogue is growing steadily among business leaders, political representatives, and other community stakeholders. The DBF has committed to continuing to create dedicated, inclusive spaces for these critical conversations moving forward.

    Looking ahead, Bobb expressed optimism that the insights and perspectives shared during the August forum will reach top national policymakers. He revealed that the DBF is considering formalizing the collective input from the discussion into a structured recommendations document, which will be submitted to the government to inform budget drafting and support the development of a more robust, inclusive national economic environment.

    Closing his remarks, Bobb extended gratitude to every participant, including audience members who listened without contributing public comments during the session, and he encouraged ongoing active involvement from all groups in future national discussions on economic policy.

  • Investing in young people across the Caribbean

    Investing in young people across the Caribbean

    Despite the varied social and economic circumstances that shape young lives across the Eastern Caribbean, one unifying thread connects the region’s adolescent population: a widespread desire to access high-quality education, dependable healthcare, and the opportunity to build stable, prosperous futures. As the Caribbean prepares to observe 2026 International Youth Day, which carries the official theme ‘Different Contexts, Common Aspirations’, one regional initiative is turning that shared vision into tangible, on-the-ground change: the Reproductive Education and Adolescent Health Community (REACH) Project.

    Designed to address gaps in adolescent health support across four Eastern Caribbean nations — Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines — the 4-year regional initiative is focused on equipping young people with the tools, knowledge, and resources to make autonomous, informed decisions about their physical and mental well-being. Funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by Alinea International in partnership with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Caribbean Technical Assistance and Education Centre for Health (C-TECH), REACH works hand-in-hand with national health ministries across its member states to strengthen local health systems and expand youth-friendly services.

    In the lead-up to International Youth Day 2026, the REACH Project has rolled out a series of targeted programming to meet the diverse needs of Caribbean adolescents. Most recently, it launched a multi-part webinar series covering five critical, often underdiscussed topics for youth: reproductive health, mental wellness, balanced nutrition, healthy romantic and peer relationships, and constructive communication between teens and parents. These online sessions have intentionally cultivated judgment-free, safe spaces that bring together a cross-section of stakeholders — adolescents themselves, parents, teachers, healthcare providers, and local community leaders — to engage in open, honest dialogue about the most pressing challenges facing young people in the region.

    Between March and May 2026, the project also completed foundational orientation training for more than 138 representatives from national health ministries and local civil society organizations. Trainees gained practical skills and context in core areas including evidence-based sexual and reproductive health guidance, anti-stigma frameworks for working with marginalized youth, asset-based approaches that center adolescent strengths, and modern research on adolescent brain development to better understand young people’s decision-making processes.

    Recognizing that educational awareness alone cannot address the barriers young people face to maintaining good health, the REACH Project has also invested in practical, on-the-ground support to meet immediate needs. In partnership with St Lucia’s Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition, the initiative funded the distribution of 500 hygiene kits to secondary schools across the island, guaranteeing hundreds of adolescents have consistent access to essential hygiene supplies that many otherwise struggle to afford.

    By combining capacity building for frontline stakeholders, expanded access to youth-centered health services, and direct support to address the daily practical needs of adolescents, the REACH Project is working to build more inclusive, supportive environments for young people across the region. Project organizers emphasize that investing in adolescent health and well-being today is not just a benefit for young people themselves: it is an investment in stronger, more resilient communities and a more prosperous future for the entire Caribbean. The initiative’s core mission remains centered on its founding promise: to ensure no adolescent is left behind in the region’s progress, empowering young people to advocate for their own health and build the futures they aspire to.