标签： Dominica

Against a backdrop of accelerating climate risks that disproportionately threaten vulnerable small island nations, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission has announced it will convene the 13th session of its Council of Ministers: Environmental Sustainability Meeting (COM:ES 13) in Dominica from May 27 to 28, 2026. Built around the central theme “The OECS Collective Resolve: Innovative Pathways in a High-Risk Global Landscape,” the high-level gathering will bring together a diverse cross-section of stakeholders to advance coordinated regional action on environmental protection and climate adaptation.

Per an official OECS press statement, attendees will include cabinet ministers leading environmental sustainability portfolios from all OECS full member states and associate members, alongside representatives from regional and international development partners, specialized technical agencies, leading climate researchers, and practicing environmental professionals. The entire two-day meeting will be chaired by Cozier Frederick, Dominica’s Minister for Environment, Rural Modernisation, Kalinago Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment.

Organizers emphasize that the meeting convenes at a defining moment for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which have faced escalating climate-driven threats and systemic environmental challenges despite contributing the least to global carbon emissions. Central discussions will center on deepening cross-border cooperation among OECS member nations while co-developing practical, innovative solutions that boost regional sustainability and climate resilience across the Eastern Caribbean.

COM:ES 13 builds on foundational policy commitments reached during the 10th session of the council, when ministers formally endorsed the OECS Environmental Sustainability Roadmap to 2030. This strategic framework aligns with two broader regional and global commitments: the St. George’s Declaration for Environmental Sustainability (SGD 2040) and the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), ensuring OECS actions align with larger shared climate and sustainability goals.

Over the course of the two-day gathering, ministers and technical experts will dive into seven core priority areas that shape regional environmental health: ocean governance and sustainable fisheries, biodiversity and ecosystem protection, climate adaptation and disaster resilience, integrated land and water resource management, scaled-up sustainable energy adoption, and cross-border pollution and waste reduction. The agenda also carves out space to address pressing ongoing challenges that threaten regional livelihoods and ecosystems, including gaps in accessible climate financing, large-scale ecosystem restoration needs, marine plastic pollution, expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, and the rapidly growing crisis of invasive sargassum seaweed blooms along Caribbean coastlines.

The meeting’s program combines multiple engagement formats to drive actionable outcomes, including interactive ministerial panels, evidence-based technical presentations, contributions from partner organizations, and closed-door strategic discussions designed to accelerate ambitious, coordinated environmental action across all OECS member states. A long list of regional and international institutions have confirmed their participation, including the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the World Bank, the European Union, Expertise France, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, among dozens of other development and conservation partners.

Complementing the official ministerial meeting, the OECS Commission and the Government of Dominica will co-host a public Environmental Sustainability Exhibition running from May 25 to 28, 2026, at the Goodwill Parish Hall in Roseau, Dominica’s capital. Carrying the sub-theme “From Aspiration to Focused Action,” the exhibition will showcase cutting-edge environmental projects, community-led climate solutions, and innovative green technologies from across the OECS region, with targeted focus on renewable energy deployment, mangrove restoration and conservation, and community-scale sargassum management.

The exhibition is designed to be accessible and educational for general visitors and local students alike, featuring interactive displays, hands-on educational exhibits, immersive virtual reality experiences, documentary videos, and on-site project showcases that illustrate how Eastern Caribbean nations are already responding to climate and environmental challenges. Highlighted initiatives on display will include the European Union-funded BioSPACE and Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) programmes, the Resilient Ecosystems Through Mangrove Restoration (REMAR) Project, the Sargassum Regional Strategies for Ecosystem-Based Actions (SARSEA), and a range of other programs focused on boosting climate resilience, expanding sustainable energy, improving ocean governance, and advancing sustainable fisheries.

In closing, OECS Commission leaders noted that COM:ES 13 will serve as a critical regional platform to strengthen cross-border collaboration, reinforce the organization’s commitment to equitable sustainable development, and advance the goal of building a resilient, inclusive future for Eastern Caribbean communities amid growing global climate uncertainty.

The Caribbean’s flagship agricultural industry gathering is gearing up to mark its 20th iteration this year, with an official hybrid launch ceremony scheduled to kick off Thursday, May 21, 2026, from Kingston, Jamaica — the selected host city for 2026’s series of regional agricultural events.

Organized under the framework of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) has established itself as the region’s premier gathering for agriculture-focused collaboration. The event consistently brings cross-sector stakeholders together to advance collective progress on Caribbean food systems and agricultural growth, through a packed schedule of collaborative sessions, industry exhibitions, and strategic dialogues.

This year’s full week of programming will run from September 27 to October 2, with organizers projecting attendance from hundreds of stakeholders across the Caribbean. Attendees will include small-scale and commercial farmers, youth agricultural groups, agri-business entrepreneurs, tech innovators, regional policymakers, international development partners, and other key industry representatives, all converging in Jamaica for the event.

The 2026 agenda includes a diverse range of activities designed to address pressing regional priorities: interactive seminars highlighting emerging best practices, technical showcases showcasing new agricultural tools and solutions, industry trade exhibitions connecting producers to buyers, statutory business meetings for leading regional agricultural bodies, and multiple high-level policy forums. A centerpiece of the week’s official business will be a special convening of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), CARICOM’s key decision-making body for trade and economic coordination.

Event organizers have unveiled 2026’s overarching theme: “The New FACE of Caribbean Food Systems.” The acronym was intentionally crafted to center four non-negotiable priority areas for the region’s agricultural sector: Food Security, Agri-Business development, Climate-Smart Technologies adoption, and Export Expansion for Caribbean agricultural producers.

A diverse lineup of senior regional and international officials is confirmed to take part in next week’s launch ceremony, with featured speakers representing leading Caribbean and global agricultural institutions. Notable confirmed speakers include Floyd Green, Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining; Zulfikar Mustapha, Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture and Chair of the Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Security and Food Production; and Carla Barnett, Secretary-General of CARICOM.

Additional participating speakers include Muhammad Ibrahim, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture; Rene Orellana Halkyer, representing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Patrick Antoine, head of the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation; and David Prendergast of the CARICOM Secretariat.

On May 20, 2026, during a high-level official visit to the Commonwealth of Dominica, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita toured ongoing development activities in the Kalinago Territory — the ancestral homeland of Dominica’s Indigenous Kalinago people — spotlighting a landmark collaborative resilience project backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The visit underscored the depth of partnership between the Indian government, UNDP, the Dominican government, and the Kalinago community to advance locally led climate adaptation and inclusive sustainable development.

The on-site review centered on progress of the Strengthening Community Resilience within the Kalinago Territory (SCR-K) Project, a development initiative financed through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, a mechanism managed by the UN Office for South-South Cooperation. The project is jointly implemented by UNDP, the Dominican government, and the Kalinago Council, rolling out an integrated development strategy focused on boosting climate-resilient agricultural practices, strengthening regional food security, restoring degraded forest and watershed ecosystems, and expanding sustainable Indigenous-led tourism to create stable local livelihoods. Throughout implementation, the project has centered inclusive community participation, gender equity, and national ownership of development priorities.

Margherita’s delegation toured multiple project sites that demonstrate how cross-border South-South cooperation is translating global support into tangible local impact for Dominica’s Indigenous population. The first stop was the Forestry Propagation Centre in Pond Casse, where local teams grow native tree seedlings for large-scale reforestation work across the Kalinago Territory. This restoration effort is a core component of broader watershed protection work, and it actively engages Kalinago children and young people to build intergenerational environmental stewardship.

Next, the delegation traveled to Kalinago Barana Autê, a cultural heritage site operated by the Kalinago community, where they were greeted with traditional Kalinago cultural performances. Following the welcome, the delegation participated in a symbolic handover of backyard gardening kits to low-income and vulnerable Kalinago households. The kits are designed to expand local food production,推广 climate-smart farming techniques, and help households better absorb the economic and food security shocks brought by increasingly frequent extreme weather events, a top priority for climate-vulnerable small island nations like Dominica.

The visit also included a public tree-planting ceremony to mark ongoing restoration work, a guided tour of the Kalinago Barana Autê cultural grounds, and a live demonstration of traditional Kalinago cassava production. These activities emphasized the project’s commitment to centering Indigenous cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge alongside modern sustainable development goals.

The engagement brought together stakeholders from across the partnership, including senior representatives from UNDP, the Government of India, the Dominican Ministry of Foreign, International Business, Trade and Energy, the Dominican Ministry of Environment, Rural Modernisation and Kalinago Upliftment, the Kalinago Council, and local community members. The gathering reinforced the critical role of South-South cooperation in supporting community-designed solutions for climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and Indigenous development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that face disproportionate climate risk.

Speaking during the visit, Minister Margherita emphasized that India takes great pride in seeing the India-UN Development Partnership Fund deliver community-centered development to the Kalinago Territory. “This collaboration embodies the core spirit of South-South cooperation, rooted in shared solidarity, mutual respect, and alignment with locally identified development priorities,” he noted.

Cozier Frederick, Dominican Minister of Environment, Rural Modernisation and Kalinago Upliftment, welcomed the visit as a formal recognition of the multi-stakeholder partnership driving resilience and sustainable livelihoods in the Kalinago Territory. “Our ongoing collaboration with UNDP and the Government of India continues to advance our national development priorities and lift up local Kalinago communities,” Frederick stated.

Anette Sanford, Chief of the Kalinago Territory, thanked partners for their shared commitment to empowering the Kalinago community. “This initiative, led by UNDP with generous support from the governments of India and Dominica, reflects a collective promise to empower our people, invest in sustainable livelihoods, and build systems that let our community thrive,” Sanford said. “Your partnership demonstrates the power of collective action and international solidarity to address local challenges, and we are grateful for the national government’s consistent support for strengthening Indigenous communities. Most importantly, this work centers our community members — their participation and stewardship will shape the long-term impact of this project.”

Justin Shone, Head of UNDP’s Project Office in Dominica, highlighted the cumulative impact of India’s investment in the region. “We are grateful for the continued trust and partnership from the Government of India, which has provided funding through the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, and for our close collaboration with the Government of Dominica,” Shone explained. “This is the second project India has supported in the Kalinago Territory, bringing total investment to $2 million, and it is already driving real, lasting change to boost the resilience of the Kalinago people.”

Through its long-standing development partnership with Dominica, UNDP remains committed to supporting Indigenous peoples and vulnerable communities across the country to withstand and recover from climate and economic shocks, while strengthening local institutions and initiatives that advance inclusive, long-term sustainable development.

Five days of specialized training focused on Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) kicked off in Bridgetown, Barbados, bringing together security and law enforcement professionals from across the Caribbean region to strengthen collective defenses against transnational organized crime, cross-border financial fraud, and illicit money flows.

Hosted at the Courtyard by Marriott Bridgetown, the collaborative workshop is co-organized by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Regional Security System (RSS) Headquarters. According to an official press statement from the RSS, the event draws a diverse cohort of participants, including seasoned prosecutors, criminal investigators, customs enforcement representatives, intelligence analysts, and technical specialists from multiple Caribbean territories.

In her opening remarks to attendees, RSS Programme Officer Elizabeth Bynoe framed the JIT model as a transformative step forward in cross-border investigative cooperation. Unlike traditional information-sharing frameworks, Bynoe explained, the JIT structure enables authorities across different jurisdictions to rapidly exchange sensitive intelligence, synchronize operational plans, and collectively admissible evidence—all while upholding the sovereign legal authority and investigative independence of every participating nation.

Bynoe emphasized that this targeted training could not come at a more critical juncture for the region, noting that transnational criminal organizations have rapidly adapted their operations, adopting increasingly sophisticated tactics to evade detection and expand their illicit activities across Caribbean borders.

“This second in-person JIT workshop is a rigorous, top-tier training initiative built to sharpen our collective ability to counter complex transnational crime,” Bynoe told participants. “Over the next five days, we will move beyond foundational concepts to hands-on, real-world practice, equipping every attendee with the specialized tools needed to systematically dismantle modern criminal networks.”

A core distinguishing feature of the workshop, Bynoe added, is its intentional focus on practical application rather than theoretical instruction alone. “Theory alone will not put criminals behind bars,” she noted. “For the final three days of the program, immersive, real-world case simulations will take center stage. These exercises will challenge participants to operate as a cohesive cross-border team, navigating differing national legal requirements, distinct inter-agency operational cultures, and complex overlapping intelligence streams—all to build the muscle memory needed to deploy the JIT framework seamlessly in the field.”

Attendees were also urged to leverage the in-person gathering to build lasting professional relationships and strengthen collaborative ties between regional agencies tasked with combating serious organized crime.

Throughout the five-day program, participants will dive into all aspects of JIT structure and operations, covering topics including standardized case management protocols, advanced intelligence analysis techniques, the critical function of Financial Intelligence Units in disrupting illicit finance, and the strategic use of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) in contemporary cross-border investigations.

Sessions are also dedicated to addressing rapidly evolving criminal trends in illegal financial activity, including the growing misuse of virtual assets for money laundering, the transnational smuggling of gold, links between financial crime and human trafficking, and other emerging forms of transnational financial offending that present new challenges for Caribbean law enforcement.