标签： Barbados

A regional search is now open across 10 Caribbean markets to shine a long-overdue spotlight on ordinary people whose quiet, consistent contributions make extraordinary differences to their communities, as CIBC Caribbean brings back its popular Unsung Heroes programme for 2026. The initiative, which was first relaunched last year, offers thousands of dollars in cash prizes to standout winners, and organizers are now calling on members of the public across Barbados to submit their nominations.

Speaking at the official launch event held Thursday at Bridgetown’s Michael Mansoor Building, Victor Boyce, CIBC Caribbean’s Barbados Country Head, highlighted the overwhelming success of the 2025 relaunch and reiterated the programme’s core mission: to celebrate unrecognized acts of service, bravery, and compassion that often fly under the public radar.

Operating across all 10 Caribbean territories where the bank maintains a presence, the Unsung Heroes programme follows a two-stage judging process. First, each participating territory selects its own local winners. Those local champions then advance to a regional judging panel, which picks one overall regional unsung hero and two second-place runners-up.

When the programme was relaunched in 2025, organizers expanded eligibility to include any individual aged 10 and older, a change that uncovered a wealth of inspiring stories from young community changemakers that would have otherwise gone uncelebrated, Boyce explained. Beyond youth involvement, the programme accepts nominations across three core categories: outstanding community service, acts of bravery or heroism, and extraordinary acts of kindness, all carried out within the past 12 months.

Boyce noted that a common thread across all past nominees and winners is their humility: most had no idea how much their actions had impacted the people around them. “Almost all of our heroes whom we have identified via this programme have been surprised when they were chosen, and they tell us that they were humbled even to have been nominated,” he said.

As a standout example of the kind of work the programme celebrates, Boyce pointed to 2025’s Barbados national winner, Carla Daniel, whose grassroots work protecting local sea turtle populations and boosting community environmental awareness captured widespread public admiration. Daniel once even dove into a muddy drainage ditch to rescue a trapped sea turtle, and her efforts have not only helped stabilize local turtle populations but also inspired hundreds of Barbadians to care more about coastal conservation, Boyce added.

Organizers are encouraging nominations from a broad group of people, including native Barbadians, visitors, and temporary residents who have encountered an unsung champion making a tangible difference in the country. “Do you know of someone who has performed an act of heroism or bravery which has not been recognised?” Boyce asked the public. “Log on to our corporate website, CIBCCaribbean.com, and follow the easy steps to nominating your CIBC Caribbean Unsung Heroes.”

The prize structure for 2026 offers substantial rewards for honorees. Barbados’ national winner will take home BBD $10,000, with the national runner-up receiving BBD $5,000. At the regional level, the top winner earns US $10,000 (equal to BBD $20,000), while the two regional runners-up receive US $7,000 (BBD $14,000) and US $5,000 (BBD $10,000) respectively. New for 2026, the person who nominates the eventual regional winner will receive a US $1,000 (BBD $2,000) incentive prize for their participation.

Two days after airport workers held a public protest over stalled wage negotiations, leadership at Grantley Adams International Airport Inc. (GAIA) has pushed back against allegations from the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) that company management has refused to engage in collective bargaining.

In an official statement provided to local outlet Barbados TODAY on Thursday, GAIA spokesperson Sharleen Browne-Jones refuted the union’s claim that airport leadership has ignored multiple outreach attempts to schedule formal negotiations. “That assertion is incorrect,” Browne-Jones stated, pointing to a documented trail of communications between GAIA Inc. and the NUPW spanning several months, with confirmed exchanges on February 10, April 2, April 7, April 14, and May 8.
Browne-Jones explained that scheduling conflicts rooted in conflicting availability on both sides have been the primary barrier to holding formal talks, rather than deliberate delay from management. “At different points, availability constraints arose on both sides, including instances when NUPW representatives were unavailable and other instances when GAIA Inc. was unavailable,” she said. “It is therefore not accurate to suggest that GAIA Inc. has been unresponsive or that it is delaying the process.”

Browne-Jones’ comments came in direct response to industrial action held at the Barbados airport on Tuesday, when dozens of workers walked off the job to demonstrate against what union leadership described as months of silence from management in response to a formal wage adjustment proposal. The NUPW, which represents the airport’s frontline and administrative staff, submitted its formal bargaining package nearly five months ago, calling for a 20 percent wage increase for the 2025–2027 period. According to the union, GAIA management has still not tabled a formal counter-proposal to the workers’ request.

Speaking at Tuesday’s protest, NUPW president Kimberly Agard accused GAIA Inc. of refusing to enter meaningful negotiations despite the union’s repeated requests for a meeting. “The NUPW would have put a position to the management of GAIA Inc. since last year December, and to this date, no response has been given,” Agard told reporters. She emphasized that the union had “continuously reached out to management” in an effort to return to the bargaining table, noting that staff frustration had grown steadily over the months of delay. “The members are frustrated. They work hard, they deserve better,” she added.

In Thursday’s statement, Browne-Jones pushed back against that narrative, confirming that discussions remain active and that management is fully committed to reaching a resolution through open, constructive dialogue. “The management of GAIA Inc. remains in communication with NUPW. A meeting in June has already been proposed, and GAIA Inc. continues to work toward that date,” she said. Browne-Jones added that if an earlier time slot that works for both parties becomes available, airport management stands ready to convene negotiations ahead of the planned June date.

“GAIA Inc. values its employees tremendously, respects the role of the union, and remains ready and willing to engage constructively,” Browne-Jones said.

A leading historian from one of the Caribbean’s most prominent academic institutions has laid out a bold blueprint for Barbados’ long-term prosperity, calling for sweeping shifts in higher education training, urgent action to reverse democratic decline, and a renewed commitment to teaching national history across the country’s school system.

Dr. Henderson Carter, who leads both the History Department and the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, delivered his vision during the annual Dean’s Lecture, hosted by the St Michael Centre for Faith and Action. Titled *Movers and Shakers: Activism for Democracy Building*, his address centered on the urgent need to build a more resilient, inclusive nation for current and future generations of Barbadians.

Carter’s first key proposal targets a fundamental gap in Caribbean higher education: a lack of training focused on entrepreneurship and self-employment. Instead of directing graduates solely toward traditional job hunting, he argues universities must reframe curricula to teach students how to turn their academic skills and degrees into sustainable self-employment and new business ventures. He points to diverse examples across disciplines to illustrate this potential: a biology or chemistry graduate could launch a biotech startup, an agricultural consulting service, or a sustainable food production enterprise, while a history graduate can monetize their expertise by developing well-researched scripts for feature films, streaming docuseries, and historical documentaries, which command growing global demand. Carter also notes that graduates need clearer pathways to access startup financing to turn these ideas into viable operations, a critical support system currently missing from many higher education outcomes strategies.

Beyond education reform, Carter identified three pressing systemic challenges Barbados must confront to secure its democratic future. The first is widespread voter apathy, which he describes as a critical threat to the country’s democratic foundations. From growing numbers of eligible voters choosing to stay home on election day to the emergence of paid vote-buying, Carter emphasizes these trends cannot be ignored and require intentional, collective action to reverse. The second challenge is weak institutional responsiveness across both public and private sector entities. Carter stressed that delayed, unresponsive service from institutions undermines public trust and weakens national stability at every level. “Institution-building starts with individual accountability,” he explained, noting that even frontline staff and senior leaders have a role to play in prioritizing timely responses to public, student and stakeholder needs. “If your institutions are unresponsive and weak, your nation will be weak as a result,” he said.

The third critical gap Carter highlighted is the erosion of historical education across Barbados’ primary and secondary school system. Walking audiences through centuries of the island’s history, from the mass resistance of enslaved people to the decades-long work of national heroes that shaped modern Barbados, Carter argued that widespread gaps in historical knowledge pose a direct danger to national identity. He emphasized that history must be restored as a core subject in schools, warning that it is unacceptable for children to complete the national education system without ever engaging deeply with their country’s past.

Pointing to the rusted shackles featured on the monument at Barbados’ Heroes Square, Carter noted this public memorial is a vital, tangible reminder of the island’s history of chattel slavery, a past that was long erased from public landscapes across the country. “For generations, you could travel across the entire island and find no public marker acknowledging that slavery ever existed here. That is an inherently dangerous omission,” he argued. “Children grow up never seeing tangible evidence of this history, and without that reminder, we risk repeating the injustices of the past. We have to remember the slave society that once shaped Barbados to ensure it can never happen again.”