Carib Scope

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  • CARICOM marks fifth Africa Day, highlighting progress with fresh push for stronger Caribbean-Africa ties

    CARICOM marks fifth Africa Day, highlighting progress with fresh push for stronger Caribbean-Africa ties

    Five years after the historic creation of an annual day of unity between the Caribbean and African regions, CARICOM is celebrating the anniversary of CARICOM-Africa Day with fresh momentum to expand collaboration across trade, public health, climate action and the global movement for reparatory justice.

    The annual observance was first established during the groundbreaking 2021 First CARICOM-Africa Summit, when leaders from both regions committed to building a structured, mutually beneficial long-term partnership. On this fifth anniversary, CARICOM Chairman and Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre emphasized how far the relationship has grown in the five years since that initial agreement.

    Pierre spotlighted key milestones that have anchored the deepening partnership, including the 2024 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the CARICOM and African Union Secretariats. He also highlighted expanding joint initiatives with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) focused on infrastructure development, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and expanded cross-regional trade. Beyond economic cooperation, Pierre noted meaningful progress in public health collaboration and improved air connectivity that links communities across both regions.

    Moving forward, Pierre stressed that the two regions must leverage their combined global influence to tackle shared pressing challenges: building climate resilience, advancing inclusive sustainable development, and advancing the priorities of small vulnerable developing states. A core ongoing priority, he added, is progressing the global reparatory justice movement for historical harms of chattel slavery. Pierre also framed Caribbean communities as a formal, integral part of the African Union’s Sixth Region, emphasizing that all partnership efforts must deliver tangible, measurable improvements for young people, local businesses and grassroots communities on both sides.

    Meanwhile, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley reflected on the progress made since the first in-person CARICOM-Africa Summit held in Addis Ababa in 2025. In a public statement shared to her official Facebook page, Mottley outlined a series of recent collaborative wins that demonstrate the partnership’s impact, from the completion and opening of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to Nigerian carrier Air Peace’s work expanding cross-regional air access. She also noted the ongoing development of the Afreximbank African Trade Centre based in Barbados, and the critical contributions of Ethiopian medical professionals serving at Barbados’ Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

    Mottley also highlighted major institutional progress on reparatory justice across the African continent: the United Nations’ formal recognition by Ghana of the transatlantic trafficking and racialized enslavement of Africans as the worst crime against humanity in history, Togo’s successful resolution of longstanding regional border map disputes, and the launch of the Global Advisory Panel on Reparatory Justice in Accra, on which Mottley personally serves.

    Despite these gains, Mottley acknowledged that significant work remains to remove barriers to free movement of people, trade, educational opportunities and economic collaboration between the two regions. “Too many voices tell us what divides us,” Mottley said in her statement, urging a greater focus on the shared historical and cultural ties that unite African and Caribbean communities. She called on both regions to build what she described as “a new passage of possibility” that allows the descendants of enslaved people — who were stripped of the right to choose their own futures and destinations — to finally shape their own collective destiny in the 21st century.

  • Dominican authorities seize more than 30,000 illegal goods from Chinese businesses

    Dominican authorities seize more than 30,000 illegal goods from Chinese businesses

    In a sustained push to root out illegal commercial activity across the Dominican Republic, national authorities have seized more than 30,000 unregulated, contraband goods from establishments owned by Chinese business operators, the country’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs (MICM) has confirmed. The seizures were carried out by the Specialized Corps for the Control of Fuels and Trade of Goods (Ceccom) in coordination with the Dominican Public Ministry, as part of the government’s ongoing campaign against unlicensed trade.

    The confiscated inventory covers a broad range of consumer products that failed to meet Dominican legal requirements, including premium alcoholic beverages, performance-enhancing sexual stimulants, unregistered pharmaceuticals, cigarettes and other everyday goods. None of the seized items held the mandatory permits, sanitary registrations or regulatory approvals mandated by national trade and public health rules.

    The latest phase of the operation focused on the northern city of Santiago de los Caballeros, where regulatory teams inspected four major commercial hubs: Mall Lindo, Well Being Malls, Plaza Moda Select and Kindo Mall. Leading the enforcement action was prosecutor Lía Collado, head of the Electronic Crime Department at the Santiago regional Prosecutor’s Office. During this single round of inspections alone, officials seized 5,872 non-compliant products. The breakdown of this recent haul includes 3,706 unregulated sexual stimulants, 2,141 unregistered medicines, 25 bottles of high-end alcohol, and other goods that lacked required sanitary registration and legally mandated Spanish-language labeling.

    MICM officials confirmed that the commercial practices uncovered during the inspections violate multiple core Dominican laws: the 2019 Law 17-19, which targets the eradication of illicit trade, smuggling and counterfeiting of regulated goods; the country’s General Health Law 42-01; and the updated General Customs Law 168-21. Beyond failing to secure basic regulatory approvals, many of the seized goods also lacked fiscal traceability for tax purposes, a violation that directly impacts national government revenue.

    Regulators emphasized that unregulated consumer goods of this type carry tangible risks for end users, particularly unregistered pharmaceuticals and medical products that have not undergone safety testing. To address this ongoing challenge, both MICM and Ceccom have committed to continuing widespread, targeted inspections across the country, with the goal of dismantling illegal trade networks and protecting consumers from unsafe, unapproved products.

  • Search on for missing family

    Search on for missing family

    A large-scale coordinated search operation is ongoing for four remaining members of a family whose small aircraft vanished over waters off North Andros, the Bahamas, on Monday, following an in-flight emergency that left one person already confirmed dead, according to local authorities and family statements.

    The doomed flight, a US-registered five-seat Piper PA-34 with registration number N212ML, was carrying experienced pilot Mario Lamar, his wife Lili, and their two grandchildren Sofia Sosa and Christian Sosa. The group was heading from Great Harbour Cay, where they had finished a holiday at their second home, to Opa-locka, Florida, when the aircraft ran into trouble mid-flight.

    The family’s last communication was a text message sent Monday confirming the group had departed for home. When hours passed with no further contact, relatives grew alarmed. In an official statement released Tuesday, the family confirmed one person on board had been found dead but declined to release the victim’s identity, requesting privacy to process their loss.

    Preliminary flight tracking data confirms the aircraft departed just after 10 a.m. local time, and contact with air traffic control was lost roughly 13 miles west of Andros. Before radar contact was lost, the plane was recorded circling near Red Bay, North Andros, before beginning an uncontrolled descent.

    Multiple agencies have been activated for the search: the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association, and the US Coast Guard all deployed assets to the region within hours of the plane being reported missing. Local commercial fishermen have also joined the operation to assist with scouring the search area, and additional civilian vessels organized by family friends are en route from Florida to boost search capacity, alongside another private vessel already staging in Bahamian waters.

    Initial sweeps of the plane’s last known position off North Andros’ west coast returned no trace of the aircraft or remaining passengers as of late Tuesday night. Search efforts were temporarily paused after worsening weather created unsafe conditions for crews, but operations resumed once conditions stabilized. RBDF Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Darius Adams confirmed late Tuesday that search teams would continue scouring the area overnight, despite ongoing choppy sea conditions that had delayed the start of operations.

    “ We have another flight that’s going out first light,” Adams said, adding that difficult sea conditions would not stop teams from continuing their work.

    Bahamas police have stated that locating the aircraft and its remaining occupants remains their top priority, and officials have committed to releasing new public updates as more information becomes available. For their part, grieving family members have issued a public appeal for additional assistance from anyone in the region who can help, saying they are desperate to bring their remaining loved ones home. Relatives also emphasized that pilot Lamar had extensive training and decades of flying experience, and that the Piper aircraft was well-maintained, fully inspected, and outfitted with all required safety equipment before takeoff.

  • Antigua and Barbuda Police Strengthen INTERPOL Ties to Combat Cross-Border Crime

    Antigua and Barbuda Police Strengthen INTERPOL Ties to Combat Cross-Border Crime

    On September 7, 2026, the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda (RPFAB) joined law enforcement agencies across the globe to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Police Cooperation, a yearly observance that spotlights how cross-border collaboration strengthens public safety, supports crime victims, and shields local communities.

    Established by the UN General Assembly in 2022, the annual day honors the critical role of international policing partnerships in advancing global peace, security, and equal justice. This year’s commemoration centers on the official theme: “Protecting against Vulnerability, Building Trust and Legitimacy in Policing,” which prioritizes safeguarding populations most at risk of criminal harm while reinforcing the transparency, accountability, and public trust that underpin effective modern policing.

    For the small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, cross-border police cooperation has become an indispensable tool for tackling transnational crime, which by nature does not respect national borders. Through long-standing partnerships with INTERPOL, regional security bodies, and other global law enforcement counterparts, the RPFAB has gained critical capabilities to advance public safety. These collaborations enable real-time intelligence sharing, targeted tracking of wanted fugitives, coordinated probes into cross-border criminal activity, more robust defense against cybercrime, and more effective tracing of illicit firearms and drug traffickers moving across jurisdictions. Beyond operational coordination, global partnerships also grant the RPFAB access to cutting-edge specialized training, expert knowledge, investigative technologies, global criminal databases, and shared resources that drastically boost the force’s capacity to prevent, detect, and solve crime.

    The tangible benefits of these partnerships extend far beyond routine law enforcement operations. They directly contribute to protecting vulnerable crime victims, dismantling transnational organized criminal networks, recovering stolen assets and property, arresting fugitives who have fled across borders, and upholding the overall safety and security of Antigua and Barbuda’s population.

    RPFAB Commissioner Everton Jeffers emphasized that sustained, strong ties with regional and international policing partners are non-negotiable for effective public safety. “Crime recognizes no geographical boundary, and neither can our determination to confront it,” Jeffers stated. “International police cooperation gives us the ability to combine our intelligence, expertise and resources with those of trusted partners around the world to protect our people and bring offenders to justice.”

    Jeffers also noted that a police force’s effectiveness is ultimately rooted in the confidence of the communities it serves. “We will therefore continue to strengthen our partnerships at home, across the region and internationally, while policing with integrity, professionalism, fairness and respect for all,” he added. The commissioner also publicly recognized the relentless dedication of rank-and-file police officers and law enforcement professionals who work daily with global counterparts to exchange information, coordinate cross-border investigations, and support operations designed to make local communities safer.

    As it stands today, INTERPOL connects law enforcement agencies across 196 member countries, creating a global network that allows intelligence and evidence shared in one jurisdiction to directly advance investigations and operations in another. As policing organizations around the world marked the 2026 International Day of Police Cooperation, the RPFAB reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to deepening its relationships with INTERPOL and all other regional and international law enforcement partners.

    The force also renewed its core pledges: to protect vulnerable populations, build and maintain public trust, uphold the rule of law, and collaborate closely with both local communities and global partners to address evolving transnational security threats. The end goal, the force confirmed, is to build a safer, more secure future for all residents of Antigua and Barbuda.

  • Hurricane Ivan: 7 September 2004

    Hurricane Ivan: 7 September 2004

    Nearly two decades ago, on September 7, 2004, the small Caribbean island nation of Grenada was struck by one of the most destructive hurricanes in its modern history – a Category 3 storm that would leave an indelible mark on the country’s landscape, economy, and collective memory.

    Before Ivan, the 1955 Hurricane Janet held the grim title of the deadliest and most destructive storm to hit Grenada in recent memory, claiming 147 lives. When Ivan made its direct hit, even those who had lived through Janet were stunned by the scale of destruction the new storm unleashed. While the final death toll for Ivan stood at 39, far lower than Janet’s, experts attribute this reduction in fatalities to decades of improvements in housing construction standards and emergency communication systems that allowed more residents to reach safety ahead of the storm’s arrival.

    Despite these advances, Grenada was largely caught off guard as Ivan barreled toward its coast. For eight consecutive hours, sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) pummeled the islands. Trees were stripped of their leaves, snapped in half, or uprooted entirely, while countless structures were leveled to the ground. Between 80% and 90% of all existing buildings in Grenada suffered severe roof damage or were completely destroyed. When the eye of the storm passed directly over the capital city of St. George’s, it left the capital in ruins, displacing an estimated 60,000 residents who suddenly found themselves homeless and without access to food or clean water in the storm’s aftermath.

    The damage extended far beyond residential and commercial buildings. Nearly the entirety of Grenada’s critical infrastructure was compromised or destroyed: telecommunications networks were knocked offline, power grids were leveled, roads were washed out, water supply systems were fractured, and public facilities including schools, churches, and the national stadium were heavily damaged. The country’s already fragile economy was brought to a standstill, as key export sectors including nutmeg and cocoa tree crops were entirely destroyed, while damage to hotels and tourism infrastructure crippled the other core pillar of Grenada’s economy.

    Hurricane Ivan did not limit its destruction to Grenada. The storm moved on to batter other Caribbean nations including the Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent, before making landfall in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and eventually the southeastern coast of the United States. Across the entire path of the storm, Ivan claimed more than 70 lives, stretching from Alabama in the U.S. all the way to Venezuela.

    Locally in Grenada, the storm earned two grim nicknames: “Ivan the Terrible” for its widespread destruction, and “Roofus” for the thousands of roofs it ripped off buildings across the islands. Total estimated damage in Grenada alone topped just under $1 billion USD, and reconstruction of all damaged infrastructure took more than a decade to complete. While international governments and humanitarian organizations quickly dispatched emergency relief supplies and personnel to the island, the United Nations later highlighted the Grenada recovery effort as one of the 10 most underreported major humanitarian stories of 2005. To add insult to injury, just nine months after Ivan, Hurricane Emily made landfall in Grenada, causing further extensive damage to the northern half of the island and claiming one additional life.

    Today, on the anniversary of Ivan’s devastating passage, visible scars of the storm still remain across Grenada. Iconic structures including the Anglican Church, Presbyterian Kirk, the Parliament building, and the Governor General’s official residence still stand in the same damaged state they were left in on the morning after the storm, permanent reminders of the day that changed Grenada forever.

  • Sustainable Use, Not Empty Slogans: Defending Antigua and Barbuda’s Right to Our Ocean

    Sustainable Use, Not Empty Slogans: Defending Antigua and Barbuda’s Right to Our Ocean

    As the annual gathering of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) gets underway each year, the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda finds itself in the crosshairs of a heavily financed international campaign aimed at shifting its policy position on whaling and ocean resource management. This repeated campaign pushes a narrow, binary narrative: conservation of whale populations is inherently good, while sustainable, regulated use of marine resources is inherently harmful. Tucked into this messaging is a persistent, damaging insinuation: the small island developing state (SIDS) only holds its pro-sustainable-use position because it has been bribed by foreign aid.

    In a direct, formal response from Ambassador Daven Joseph, Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda, the nation pushes back firmly against these claims, making clear that its stance on ocean resource management is rooted in principle, science, and sovereign law – not external funding.

    Antigua and Barbuda’s core position centers on science-backed, regulated management of global ocean resources, a policy that holds regardless of any development assistance received from any country. Notably, Japan – the country most frequently targeted by campaigners in this discourse – withdrew from the IWC years ago, yet Antigua and Barbuda’s position has not shifted. “Whether Japan provides us development assistance or not, our position will not change,” Joseph emphasizes. “Because our position is based on law, on science, and on the right of Small Island Developing States to develop and benefit from our marine resources.”

    This legal foundation is not an invention of Antigua and Barbuda’s policy; it is written into the foundational governing texts of international ocean governance. The original International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was explicitly established to advance both the conservation of whale stocks and the orderly development of the whaling industry, embedding the principle of sustainable use into the IWC’s own founding document. Beyond that, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) explicitly affirms the sovereign right of coastal nations to responsibly manage living marine resources within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

    Crucially, Antigua and Barbuda stresses it does not support unregulated, unconstrained whaling. Instead, it backs a balanced framework: controlled, science-based sustainable use that meets both conservation goals and human development needs. The nation argues that one-sided conservation frameworks that ignore the livelihoods and development needs of coastal and island communities only lead to entrenched poverty. In contrast, sustainable resource management rooted in scientific evidence delivers tangible progress on food security and supports stable livelihoods for local populations.

    Turning to the debate over foreign development assistance, Antigua and Barbuda makes no apologies for accepting development grants from global partners including Japan, China, the United States, and the European Union. As a small island developing state, the nation bears a disproportionate share of the costs of the global climate crisis and an unfair international economic system that it played no role in creating. International development finance for SIDS is not a charitable gift, the nation argues, much less a bribe – it is a binding obligation owed by wealthy developed nations to the world’s most vulnerable states.

    To claim that the nation’s sovereign vote at the IWC (or any other international forum) has been “bought” by development assistance is not just inaccurate – it is deeply insulting. The claim implicitly assumes that the people of Antigua and Barbuda lack the independent judgment to shape their own national policy, an offensive assumption that the nation rejects outright. As experts in the management of their own waters and marine ecosystems, Antiguans and Barbudans are fully capable of determining what resource management policies serve their national interest, Joseph argues. It is particularly offensive when large international non-governmental organizations and their local partners question the nation’s intellectual capacity to govern its own natural resources.

    For Antigua and Barbuda, the stakes of this debate extend far beyond the IWC’s annual agenda. More than 70 percent of the nation’s entire economy depends on ocean-related sectors, including tourism, commercial fisheries, marine transport, cruise shipping, and the potential future development of offshore oil and gas reserves. All of these sectors must deliver benefits to the people of Antigua and Barbuda first.

    The nation cannot build an inclusive, homegrown Blue Economy when foreign-funded campaigns seek to delegitimize its sovereign claims every time it asserts its rights over its own waters. The unspoken message behind these campaigns, Joseph argues, is that Caribbean nations cannot be trusted to manage their own ocean resources – a claim that Antigua and Barbuda calls entirely unacceptable. “The ocean must deliver tangible benefits, jobs, and prosperity for our people. Not just for NGOs based thousands of miles away,” Joseph states.

    Antigua and Barbuda’s position is clear and unwavering: the nation stands for a healthy, productive ocean, and it also stands for prosperous, empowered Caribbean communities. It supports both evidence-based conservation and equitable, people-centered development. Its stance at the IWC will always be shaped by science, international law, and the inherent right to development – never by which country provided a grant in the previous year.

    Moving forward, the nation will continue to advocate for sustainable ocean resource use within the IWC’s governing framework, and will continue building a people-centered Blue Economy that serves the needs of Antiguans and Barbudans. Joseph concludes with a firm rejection of the false choice pushed by campaigners: no amount of funding will convince the nation that it must choose between protecting its marine environment and growing its economy. Rooted in science, strong legal frameworks, and Caribbean ownership of national resources, the nation proves it is possible to achieve both goals.

  • Indonesie sluit luchthavens door vulkaanuitbarsting, tienduizenden gestrand

    Indonesie sluit luchthavens door vulkaanuitbarsting, tienduizenden gestrand

    A major ongoing eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano has triggered widespread disruption across the island nation, forcing the closure of eight airports—including the country’s primary international gateway, Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. As of early September 2026, the disruption has left roughly 170,000 passengers stranded and delayed or canceled a total of 1,558 flights, with more than 900 of those disruptions concentrated at the busy Jakarta hub, according to official data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation.

    Airport operations at the affected sites were extended through 8:59 a.m. local time on Monday, as plumes of volcanic ash spread across Jakarta and surrounding regions. Additional impacted airports include Husein Sastranegara Airport in the West Java city of Bandung and Radin Inten II Airport near Bandar Lampung on the island of Sumatra. To offset the travel backlog, authorities have activated contingency plans, positioning airports in the Javan cities of Semarang and Surabaya to accept diverted flights.

    In response to falling ash that poses respiratory risks, Jakarta’s municipal government ordered all schools to close Monday and shift fully to remote online instruction, with no set end date announced for the public health measure.

    The eruption cycle began on Friday evening, when Anak Krakatau burst into activity with fountains of superheated lava and deafening explosive blasts loud enough to be detected more than 700 kilometers from the volcano’s vent. Volcanic ash plumes have reached altitudes of up to 6,000 meters above the Java side of the volcano, and as high as 15,000 meters over Sumatra and parts of Banten Province on Java. Two additional powerful eruptions were recorded by monitoring agencies on Sunday, confirming the event remains highly active.

    Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has moved to reassure at-risk populations that there is no immediate threat of a tsunami related to the current activity. To speed up the clearing of dangerous ash from air and populated areas, the agency has already begun implementing mitigation measures, including cloud seeding operations designed to trigger artificial rain that will wash ash out of the atmosphere.

    Anak Krakatau is located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, a busy strategic shipping lane used by global maritime trade. Authorities have issued warnings to all commercial and private vessels transiting the region to exercise increased caution due to hazards from ongoing volcanic activity, and have established a 3-kilometer radius no-go safety zone around the volcano that prohibits all maritime traffic.

    The impacts of the eruption are not limited to Indonesia, experts note. Wind currents can carry ash plumes across regional borders, threatening air traffic safety in neighboring countries and potentially causing secondary flight delays and cancellations across Southeast Asia. Volcanic ash poses a severe hazard to aircraft: it can abrade and damage jet engine components, cause catastrophic engine failure, and drastically reduce pilot visibility, forcing full airport closures until atmospheric conditions are confirmed safe for flight operations.

    The volcano itself has a well-documented history of major explosive activity. It formed in the 1920s inside the caldera left by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of the parent Krakatoa volcano, one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded human history. Anak Krakatau has experienced regular periodic activity in the decades since its formation. In 2018, a major eruption triggered a partial collapse of the volcanic cone, which in turn generated a tsunami that killed more than 400 people along the coastlines of Java and Sumatra.

  • Minstens vijf doden bij crash vrachtvliegtuig op luchthaven Miami

    Minstens vijf doden bij crash vrachtvliegtuig op luchthaven Miami

    On Sunday, a devastating aviation accident at Miami International Airport has left at least five people dead and five more injured, three of whom are in critical condition, emergency authorities confirmed. The crash involved a Boeing 767-300 cargo freighter operating for Amazon Prime Air, which overran the runway during landing, collided with multiple ground vehicles and burst into flames.

    The incident, designated as Prime Air Flight 7598, was operated by third-party cargo carrier 21 Air. The aircraft departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and approached Miami for landing just before 2 p.m. local time. According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane failed to stop before reaching the end of the airport’s diagonal runway, exited the designated airport perimeter, and struck moving vehicles on adjacent roadways before catching fire.

    Footage from the crash site captured thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky above the airport. In response to the emergency, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue deployed more than 60 response units and roughly 200 emergency personnel to contain the incident. First responders also had to manage risks posed by leaking jet fuel that spread across the crash site.

    Both the plane’s captain and first officer were initially trapped in the damaged cockpit, while additional victims were extracted from the wreckage of the collided vehicles. As of Sunday evening, authorities have not yet released details confirming whether the five fatalities were crew members on the aircraft or occupants of the ground vehicles.

    Following the crash, Miami International Airport implemented an immediate full ground stop, closing all runways and taxiways temporarily to support emergency response operations. The shutdown caused substantial widespread delays for commercial passenger flights across the airport schedule. By later that evening, airport operators reopened two of the facility’s four runways to resume limited operations.

    Amazon issued a statement confirming that the aircraft was operating under the Prime Air cargo network and was operated by 21 Air. The company said it is coordinating fully with investigating authorities to uncover the sequence of events that led to the accident.

    At this stage, the root cause of the overrun and crash remains undetermined. The FAA is assisting with the probe, while the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the formal investigation into the incident. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy has traveled to Miami to oversee the on-site investigation work.

  • ABRSC Calls For Stronger Africa-Caricom Unity

    ABRSC Calls For Stronger Africa-Caricom Unity

    As the global community prepares to mark Africa-CARICOM Day 2026 on September 7, the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Committee (ABRSC) is joining communities across Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the African Union (AU), and the African diaspora in celebration and collective reflection on the ties that bind these two regions together.

    The annual commemoration traces its roots back to the groundbreaking first Africa-CARICOM Summit held on September 7, 2021. During that landmark gathering, Gaston Browne — who served as both Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda at the time — put forward the proposal to establish September 7 as a yearly shared observance. In his keynote address, Browne urged for deepened collaborative ties across multiple critical sectors, from cross-border trade and foreign direct investment to maritime transportation, multilateral diplomacy, and broad-based sustainable development. He also underscored the significant collective global negotiating power that Africa and CARICOM nations can unlock when they align around shared goals and present a unified front in international forums.

    For ABRSC, this annual day is far more than a symbolic gesture: it serves as a powerful public affirmation of the deep shared ancestral roots, interconnected cultural identities, and aligned collective ambitions that connect the people of Africa and the Caribbean. The observance also creates a critical annual moment to reaffirm shared commitments to building a more intentional, strategic partnership between two regions richly endowed with vast human, cultural, and natural resources. Together, their combined collective strengths span a wide array of high-growth and foundational sectors, including commercial agriculture, renewable and traditional energy, critical mineral extraction, sustainable blue economy development, international tourism, digital technology, creative and cultural industries, formal education, international financial services, plus a large, young, and increasingly digitally connected population that forms the backbone of future growth.

    ABRSC stresses that the most valuable shared asset between the two regions is their people and their combined collective ability to shape their own sovereign futures. In its statement marking the 2026 commemoration, the committee emphasizes that the project of Africa-CARICOM unity is inextricably linked to the ongoing global movement for reparatory justice for harms inflicted during the transatlantic slave trade and colonial era. That said, the organization makes clear that this shared vision cannot remain a purely aspirational goal — it must be translated into measurable, time-bound action that delivers tangible, meaningful outcomes for communities across both regions.

    To turn vision into impact, ABRSC is issuing a broad call to action to national governments, regional governing bodies, civil society organizations, and individual citizens across Africa and the Caribbean. The committee urges all stakeholders to deepen existing collaborative partnerships, ramp up advocacy and on-the-ground action to advance reparatory justice, and work to transform the ancestral bonds that connect the two regions into durable ties of cross-border cooperation, expanded economic opportunity, cultural revitalization, and shared collective progress.

    “Happy Africa-CARICOM Day 2026!” the statement concludes. “One People. Shared History. Common Purpose. A United Future.”

  • Interpol warns child sexual exploitation is a growing global threat

    Interpol warns child sexual exploitation is a growing global threat

    On the United Nations International Day of Police Cooperation this year, the global police coordination body Interpol issued an urgent, stark warning: child sexual exploitation is rapidly evolving into an ever-expanding transnational threat, and nations must ramp up collaborative international action and cross-border law enforcement work to shield children and other at-risk groups from harm.

    In his address marking the annual observance, Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza highlighted that transnational criminal activity is on the rise, making coordinated action between national jurisdictions an absolute necessity rather than an option. Urquiza stressed that child sexual abuse and exploitation ranks among the most abhorrent, complex challenges facing law enforcement agencies worldwide. Without coordinated global effort, he noted, identifying surviving victims and holding offending perpetrators accountable will remain out of reach for many communities.

    A key tool powering global efforts to combat this crisis is Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database, launched in 2011. In the 15 years since its deployment, the platform has delivered transformative results: authorities across 75 countries have used it to identify 65,181 child victims and 26,840 perpetrators. Even in 2026 alone, by the end of July, the database had helped locate nearly 5,800 new child victims – a statistic that underscores the persistent, widespread scale of the ongoing threat.

    Interpol emphasized that the criminal networks behind child sexual exploitation often operate in tandem with other transnational illicit activities, including human trafficking, cybercrime and organized crime. These criminal groups deliberately exploit gaps in cross-border information sharing to evade capture, meaning that coordinated investigation and open data exchange between nations are non-negotiable for breaking up these networks and protecting vulnerable populations.

    Framing his appeal around this year’s International Day of Police Cooperation theme – “Protecting against vulnerability: building trust and legitimacy in policing” – Urquiza reaffirmed that stronger cross-border collaboration is the only way for law enforcement to effectively respond to complex, multi-jurisdictional crimes. More integrated global cooperation, he argued, not only improves outcomes in tackling child sexual exploitation but also strengthens public trust in policing institutions across the world.