British foreign secretary to announce £22 million in funding to Jamaica
Published:Wednesday | May 17, 2023 | 8:03 PM
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is set to announce £22 million in funding for violence prevention and climate financing during a visit to Jamaica on Thursday.
The British High Commission has announced he will arrive in Jamaica on Thursday for the first leg of a tour of countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The British High Commission says the four-country tour is aimed at cementing partnerships on climate, people and peace.
It notes that in Kingston, Cleverly will announce £15 million in funding for a Violence Prevention Partnership to counter serious and organised crime, as well as up to £7million for climate finance, supporting the island's security and protecting vital sites against flooding and coastal erosion.
He will attend the UK-Caribbean Forum to set out support for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), following a reception he hosted in London on the eve of the Coronation. He will then meet with Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Cleverly will then travel to Colombia, Chile and Brazil, 200 years after Britain first began establishing diplomatic ties with the independent Latin American republics, to deliver a keynote speech on the future relationship with the region.
It is the first visit by a Foreign Secretary to the Caribbean since 2017 and the first to South America since 2018, helping meet a UK foreign policy objective to revive old friendships and build new ones beyond established alliances.
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