CARICOM IMPACS developing new regional security initiative

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

The Trinidad-based CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) says it has officially commenced the process of developing a new CARICOM Security Strategy (CSS).

The agency, which was established in 2006 as the implementation arm of a new regional architecture to manage CARICOM’s action agenda on crime and security, said the CSS is being developed in “the face of intensifying security threats and a rapidly evolving geopolitical and geo-economic landscape”.

It said that an inaugural meeting of the CSS steering committee was held virtually last week as a critical step toward crafting a strategic, forward-looking and cohesive regional security framework that is responsive to current and future challenges in the Caribbean region.

“The CSS will serve as the region’s principal policy instrument for guiding countries, regional and international entities in response to the growing range of security threats in the Caribbean,” CARICOM IMPACS said.

It said that the strategy will reflect current geopolitical realities, align with regional development priorities and integrate emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, while embedding rights-and-responsibility based approaches and public health-informed frameworks. It will also drive the modernisation and strengthening of national and regional security institutions to ensure greater adaptability, resilience and effectiveness.

CARICOM IMPACS executive director, Lt Col Michael Jones, said the current environment demands a recalibrated and adaptive regional strategy “one that strengthens our collective capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond to multidimensional threats.

“The strategy must reflect the urgency of this moment while offering practical solutions rooted in Caribbean realities and aligned with evolving global norms”, he added.

The steering committee, established to guide the development of the CSS, includes representatives from five CARICOM member states – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the chairs of the CARICOM Standing Committees of Operational Heads (Police, Military, Customs, Immigration, Prisons, and Intelligence).

It also brings together key regional institutions, including the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Regional Security System, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Caribbean Examination Council, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the University of the West Indies.

Members of the private sector and youth representatives, civil society, and international development partners such as Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank are also represented on the steering committee.