KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC:
JAMAICA'S AMBASSADOR to the United States Seymour Mullings has described the just-concluded Second High-Level Meeting on the Security Concerns of Small Island States as an important step forward in deepening the dialogue on critical security challenges facing small island states.
He said the meeting would also go a long way towards developing a coherent and effective strategy to address the range of concerns that these countries collectively face.
Representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as well as other OAS member states, such as the United States and Canada attended the Organisation of American States (OAS) sponsored meeting, which was held in Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Several officials from international financial institutions, as well as interest groups and organisations focused on security issues were also in attendance.
The three-day conference, which concluded on Friday, assessed the implementation of the recommendations of the First High Level Meeting, which was held almost five years ago in El Salvador and sought to identify and discuss special security threats to small island states and consider appropriate multilateral strategies to addressing those threats and concerns in a holistic manner.
Mullings said the convening of the meeting was "a timely response to the range of security-related concerns being expressed within our region" and added that a collaborative approach, based on a regional and hemispheric consensus was key to facing these problems.
Since last year, CARICOM delegations to the OAS have been calling for a new assessment of hemispheric security, which focused less on direct military threats, but more on non-traditional challenges to security, such as transnational crime.
CARICOM representatives to the OAS have argued that transnational crime, particularly linked to the drug trade, had the potential to undermine democratic and juridical institutions in the Caribbean.
At last November's meeting of the OAS's Committee on Hemispheric Security in Washington, CARICOM delegates, in a statement to the forum, raised the issue of the HIV/AIDS pandemic as "one of the gravest security challenges facing the region, which poses an immense threat to social and economic development and has the potential of undermining the fabric of our societies." The statement also noted that the AIDS epidemic was placing tremendous burdens on health care systems and on the region's labour force.
Guyana's Permanent Repres-entative to the OAS, Dr. Odeen Ishmael, pointed out that 83 per cent of AIDS cases in the Caribbean occurred in the age group 15 to 54 years, which constitutes the bulk of the region's working population.
"This has the potential to cause a devastating negative impact in various key sectors, from agriculture, tourism, and mining, to trade, and the pressure it will place on national budgets is considerable. And when these areas come under pressure, society becomes undermined and resulting social disruptions can easily threaten national security and democratic governments."
He also noted that HIV/AIDS infection rates in the Caribbean are among the highest in the world, second only to Sub-Saharan Africa, and thus threatens the long-term economic and social security of the region.
The St. Vincent meeting also sought to acquaint larger states within the hemisphere, as well as the international community, with the special security concerns of the Caribbean, particularly those of an economic and financial nature, and highlight the region's vulnerability given its largely un-diversified economic base.
Discussions focused on arriving at a suitable management model for responding to these security challenges and examined approaches aimed at protecting small states from environmental and ecological disasters, which could imperil their viability. Participants also explored the link between trade, economic development, and security and considered ways to protect democratic institutions and ensure social stability.
Deliberations from this forum, and other recently held meetings of the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security as well as the San Salvador Conference on Confidence and Security Building Measures, will frame discussions at the upcoming Special Conference on Hemispheric Security, which will be held in Mexico City in May.
