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7/2/2018

CARICOM's Implementation Deficit & Functional Cooperation-A Community for ALL

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​CARICOM’S Implementation Deficit and the Neglect of Functional Cooperation: A Community for ALL 
 
The – CARICOM Heads of Government in Montego Bay 4-6 July has a golden opportunity to change the directions of the Community, triggered by the insightful recommendations of the Golding Report, Reviewing Jamaica’s Relations within the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Frameworks, March 2017. There have so far been several forums and valuable opinions and assessments of this Report. Except, very tangentially, the role of functional cooperation, has been underestimated if not neglected.     
 
It is worthy of recall that CARICOM Heads of Government at  the Twenty-Eighth Session of their Conference held in Barbados in July, 2007, adopted the Needham’s Point Declaration in which they expressed their determination to make functional cooperation a priority within the Community. This was to be one of the principal means by which the benefits of the integration movement can be distributed throughout the length and breadth of the Community, including the Associate Members and among its entire people, thereby engendering a ‘Community for All’.  They therefore pledged to invest in functional cooperation for the further development of the human and social capital of the Region.  But as with so many others this pledge fizzled.  
 
The earliest reference to functional cooperation appears in the decisions adopted at the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held in October 1972 at Chaguaramas in Trinidad and Tobago. The original Treaty of Chaguaramas which created the Caribbean Community and Common Market in 1973 identified three main objectives of the Community, namely, the economic integration of the Member States by the establishment of a Common Market regime; the coordination of foreign policy of Member States; and functional cooperation, including the efficient operation of certain common services and activities for the benefit of its people. The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was adopted in 2001, reiterated the importance of functional cooperation as one of the main pillars of the integration movement. The activities under functional cooperation  referred to in Articles 4 (iii) and 18 of the Treaty include  air transportation, meteorological science and hurricane insurance, health, intra-regional technical assistance, intra-regional public service management, education and training, broadcasting and information culture, harmonization of the law and legal systems of Member States, the position of women in Caribbean society, travel within the Region, labour administration and industrial relations, technological and scientific research, social security, other common services and areas of functional cooperation as may from time to time be determined by the Conference.
 
This concept was explicitly articulated during the Twenty- Seventh Meeting of the Conference held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in July 2006, at which the Heads of Government agreed that there was an urgency in addressing functional cooperation that paralleled developments related to trade and economic cooperation, and stated in this regard that increased attention should be paid to those issues that would enhance the welfare of citizens, including the reduction of poverty, social protection, human resource development, health and education among others. 
 
A second consideration is that it is also necessary to develop mechanisms that would create opportunities for increased participation in the work of the Community by all Member States, including a Member State such as The Bahamas which does not participate in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy arrangements;  the Associate Members which, it is felt, should also play a greater role in the activities undertaken by the Community; and the wider consideration of cooperation with networks of countries, referred to as “the variable geometry of integration”.   Functional cooperation is therefore seen to be an extremely useful mechanism for fostering multilateral and global solidarity to achieve the pragmatic economic objectives.
 
The recommendations of the Task Force included in the Needham Point Declaration approved by Heads of Governments in 2007 were that: 
  • Functional Cooperation be defined as a cross-cutting element and a driver of regional integration for development.
  • Regional institutions have played, and must continue to play, an important role in such cooperation in their respective fields of competence.
  • In order for functional cooperation to permeate all aspects of the work of the Community and to be experienced by all its citizens, it is necessary to implement specific projects that have definable goals and measurable objectives.
  • The four main approaches to functional cooperation – sharing policies and programmes, dissemination of information, development of human resources, and monitoring and evaluation. 
  • The structure and role of Regional Institutions within the Community should be clearly identified, effectively organized to deliver functional cooperation as a series of activities with widespread benefits to all Member States, including Associate Members and all other groups within the Community.  
  • The informal and formal attachment of NGOs to the organs of the Community should be streamlined, through for example the Council on Civil Society, tapping their expertise and engaging them in functional cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.
 
The failure of CARICOM to move forward with this template for action is due as much to the non-responsiveness of the designated Lead Head for this area (Bahamas), as well as other Heads of Government that did not press the issue. In contrast, in the same period, the ASEAN countries accelerated their implementation of functional cooperation Its  Secretary-General of stated that “functional cooperation has become a way of integrating ASEAN’s political and economic goals with its social, cultural, scientific, technological and environmental objectives”
 
As we optimistically hope for positive changes, there are contrary signals reflected in a failure to make the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and civil society pivotal to regional revival.  We are therefore reminded of an observation by the celebrated West Indian Commission with respect to the transformational CARICOM Charter of Civil Society signed in Antigua and Barbuda in February 1997: “the Charter can become the soul of the Community, which needs a soul if it is to command the loyalty of the people of CARICOM”  
 
The Community could discover its soul by reversing its neglect of functional cooperation intended to propel a Community for ALL.
 
 
Edward Greene 
 

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18 Comments
Amb. A. Missouri Sherman-Peter, CARICOM Permanent Observer
7/5/2018 09:43:13 am

Dear Dr Greene,

I thank you sincerely for sharing this Paper, with its interesting perspectives, with me.

Kind regards,


Reply
Frank Antony
7/5/2018 09:44:51 am

Dear Dr. Greene,
Thanks Dr Greene for your insights.
Regards,
Frank

Reply
Aldrie Henry-Lee
7/5/2018 09:47:20 am

Many thanks. I will read carefully.

Reply
Jerome Walcott
7/5/2018 09:49:11 am

Thanks Eddie, this is so timely. Only last evening the PM in a briefing session with the Secretariat was discussing the need for us to push functional cooperation.

This is very good information.

Thanks again,

Reply
Ambassador Izben Williams
7/5/2018 09:53:23 am

Professor Greene:
The Board of Trustees of The Ripple Institute, and I personally, applaud you and Auriol on the launching of GOFAD.
It is our considered view that the Caribbean could not be better served in such a venture than through your proven leadership, bringing as you do to the regional and global developmental discourse a highly acclaimed journey through academia, regional and global public policy influence, and many bold and successful social development undertakings.
In consideration of such a background, we anticipate that GOFAD would bring added value to, and strengthen the capacity for progress of the Caribbean’s growth with interdependence imperative and help position our region and our peoples for the global engagement that this new era demands we use to our best advantage.
The Ripple Institute looks forward to exploring synergies with GOFAD.
Again, congratulations.

Ambassador IzBen C. Williams
Founder and President
The Ripple Institute

Reply
Elizabeth Murray
7/5/2018 09:57:41 am

Very nice Eddie!
Thank you for sending
Love your “functional cooperation” term
Good title for the book you should publish

I was reviewing the CARICOM site this morning to see what’s on the agenda for the HOG meeting in MB this week.

Interested to see if CSME gets any legs.
Also saw the social media opportunity for reaching youth

Reply
Clifford Samuel
7/5/2018 09:59:02 am

a brilliant read indeed - chock full of insights. Let’s hope our Caribbean leaders ready it and learn from it

Reply
Snadra Granger
7/5/2018 10:00:43 am

Dear Dr. Greene,
Thank you for this.
The issue is always political will. Now we have leaders beholden to third countries whose foreign policy if determined by that indebtedness. Hence the lack of cohesion in foreign policy.
Just wondering where CXC, CCCCC, CDEMA, CARIFESTA, CARPHA, PANCAP, and the regional passport play into this.
After the success of FIRM during CWC 2007, Heads of Govt (particularly the small states) rejected the proposal for it to continue because they feared losing revenue from visas.
Countries still certify people for the free movement of skills.
In addition, I think we are doing fairly well in the area of HSD, but lagging in respect of trade. I don’t think Jamaica has weighed the cost of withdrawing from the CSME: it will then fall under the rules of the CET.
Economic and financial issues have been the bugbear.
Just my thoughts.
Sandra

Reply
Riyad Insanally
7/5/2018 10:03:34 am

Well said, Eddie! Perhaps Mottley can bring some new energy to the project although she will, understandably, be distracted by the domestic crisis.

Reply
Ronald Sanders
7/5/2018 10:06:15 am

Great, Eddie Best regards

Reply
Yldiz Pollack Beighle
7/5/2018 10:10:49 am

Very useful, Dr. Greene.
Very insightful.
Kindest Regards,
Yldiz

Reply
Garth Minott
7/5/2018 10:16:08 am

Dr Greene

This is very useful. I am particularly interested in the role of NGOs. I remain hopeful that this matter will be pursued with vigour, especially as we move towards achieving the SDGs and ending AIDS in the region. This will be a useful agenda item to put on the agenda of the upcoming steering committeemeeting. GM

Reply
Carol Bishop
7/5/2018 10:17:30 am

Thanks for sharing this. Excellent analysis.

Reply
Sir George Alleyne
7/6/2018 06:05:05 am

Dear Eddie
Absolutely brilliant-spot on-cogently argued! I hope it gets recognition in Montego Bay as the way forward.
Best
Champ

Reply
Compton Bourne
7/7/2018 05:17:36 pm

Hi Eddie, Thanks.I truly hope your piece gets some traction. Love to you and Auriol. Compton

Reply
Trevor Boothe
7/8/2018 09:09:20 am

Dear Eddie,

Many thanks for sharing this with me.

An excellent article and a very good web site.

Please keep me on the distribution list



Trevor

Reply
GARFIELD BARNWELL link
7/8/2018 06:39:51 pm

Dear Eddie
First, many thanks for your contributions at the different levels to Caribbean development and the motivation to myself and so many others in the Caribbean. This innovation is timely and provide the much need institutional memory lacking across the region.
However, I wish to underscore two important organic points that could be considered in advancing the document, namely: (1) the need to stress the role science and technology in policy design and actions. This important in the context of AI and other emerging technologies along with the necessity for data and information to achieve results-based outcomes, and (2) the need to integrate the Regional Institutions into the decision-making processes. As you are aware, SG Carrington in the first meeting with the RIs, let the RIs meet among themselves on day to articulate their issues and then spend the next 2 days with the CCS to outline their work program.. From this arrangement not only clusters where established among the institutions but also to make arrangements overtime to meet with groups of HOG. This is important since the RI are in the forefront of implementation but also to avoid duplication. of project and policy actions. With the current SG, There is now a periodic one day event with the view of the CCS trying to impose its views on the RI.

These are critical components to advancing functional cooperation and addressing the implementation deficit.

Thanks for this opportunity.

Best regards,
Garfield

Reply
Carlos Hee Houng
7/10/2018 10:00:25 am

Your frustration is noted. So too is your continued commitment.
Change your name to Green Tea and go East.

Reply



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    Edward and Auriol Greene Directors, GOFAD.

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