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| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (l) congratulating the newly-appointed Associate Peace Corps Director, Ms. Roslyn Hazel |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (MARCH 12TH 2004) - The re-opening of the Peace Corps Offices in St. Kitts and Nevis signals a great opportunity for the public and private sectors to ensure that the new programme strengthens the local human resource base and produce additional skills that would redound to the benefit of the citizens of the twin-island Federation.
So says St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas as he delivered the Feature Address at the re-opening of the Peace Corps Office in Basseterre after an absence of several years.
Dr. Douglas told the large gathering, which included the new United States Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, Her Excellency Mrs. Mary Kramer, that the Peace Corps has returned to a very different Caribbean.
“Globalisation and trade liberalisation are new, impacting policies, trends and circumstances, and present enormous challenges for small developing states like ours,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who added that the Peace Corps must be sustainably dynamic and responsive to the changing environment and needs of countries.
“It is the only way that Peace Corps would remain relevant to the cause of developing nations, and the only way the organisation could facilitate meaningful change,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who told the 10 volunteers, they are spearheading a new journey of collaboration between the United States of America and St. Kitts and Nevis and urged them to view their roles as integral to the process of development.
“I encourage you to perform to the best of your abilities and capabilities. You would find that, in time, the bonds or linkages that you foster would help to make your work interesting, challenging and rewarding. You must know, also, that the learning process would be a dynamic two-way channel that would provide you with greater insight into the culture and norms of our people here in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader said that for many decades, the Peace Corps has been a symbol of friendship between the peoples of the United States of America and those of developing countries around the entire world and its contribution to the development process has been well documented, with volunteers serving in a wide range of social, health and educational activities.
“For us, here in St. Kitts and Nevis, we can never forget the substantial contribution that Peace Corps have brought to our education system, at a time when we were just building capacity in our teaching resources. I am assured that both the Public and Private Sectors have benefited through a large extent from the work of Peace Corps in our country, and we now stand ready to build on that relationship,” Prime Minister Douglas said.
He was confident the new relationship will result in even more benefits to St. Kitts and Nevis especially in terms of building national capabilities in specific areas of need.
“The vacuum that was created in the past with the departure of the volunteers would be now minimised if not totally eradicated. This is a very promising basis upon which we can both move forward together as part of the process of creating a much brighter future for the people of this proud Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Dr. Douglas, who pointed to the ideals of the Peace Corps as encapsulating the ideals of volunteerism, whether it is on a local basis or an international basis.
“Today, good international volunteerism is founded upon a wide range of focal issues, from humanitarian relief, peace building and technology transfer, to education, income generation, community development and gender mainstreaming,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who wished the Peace Corps a highly successful year of operations in nurturing the prospects for global peace, while cementing the ties of friendship between countries.
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| The new volunteers in their cultural performance at the official opening with the assistance of Roy Phipps (left) of the Ministry of Culture. |
The volunteers were presented with certificates. The ribbon cutting was carried out by His Excellency the Governor General, Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian; Prime Minister Douglas, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Dr. Izben Williams, Regional Director of the Peace Corps, Mrs. Maryann Minutillo and Associate Peace Corps Director, Ms. Roslyn Hazelle.
