St. Kitts and Nevis pushes for strengthening the role of the National Commissions in the Caribbean region to maximize UNESCO expertise on the ground
~~Adz:Right~~ The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis seized a key opportunity at a UNESCO meeting in Paris this week to urge the specialized UN body to strengthen the Caribbean regional national commissions that represent the interest of the region’s governments, NGOs, and civil society. Increased UNESCO’s efforts and resources are needed to boost the capacity of national commissions in the Caribbean region, including in the Federation, designed to ensure that all facets of society are engaged in contributing to UNESCO’s work programme via the national commission.
St. Kitts-Nevis representatives stressed during the 180th Session of UNESCO Executive Board Meeting held in Paris that by strengthening national commissions in the Caribbean region, highly relevant and targeted UNESCO expertise could be brought to the Federation, and its neighbors in mitigating the effects of climate change and addressing the social implications of unemployed youth.
The St. Kitts and Nevis presence was led by Antonio Maynard, Secretary-General, St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, and Dr. David Doyle, Permanent delegate of St. Kitts-Nevis to UNESCO, who represented the Hon. Sam Condor, the official Representative of the Government to the Executive Board for a 4 year term.
Some 58 member States sitting on the UNESCO Executive Board, which is a significant decision-making authority within the Organization, heard Mr. Maynard itemize the priority areas in which the Federation sought UNESCO’s unique blend of multi-disciplinary expertise to assist in its transformation from a mono-agricultural country to a wide-based economy led by environmental friendly tourism, higher educational attainment and inward investment opportunities.
Mr. Maynard said that these included mitigating programmes in the field of Climate Change, “to assist St. Kitts-Nevis in adapting and building the capability to militate against the destructive impact of climate change”. He went on to underline that UNESCO actions needed to be implemented on the ground to address coastal erosion caused by increased storm severity and changes in ecology. “Educational programmes to build awareness of climate change, enhance sustainable development and adapt strategies on the ground are key to enabling us to successfully manage the effects of natural disasters".
Another priority according to Mr Maynard was education, “especially teacher training, vocational and inclusion education, as well as pursuing measures to deal with violence in our schools and social harmony amongst the youth”.
In his opening address before 58 Member States including the USA, China, India, Brazil, Mr. Maynard referred to the need for UNESCO’s continued expertise and assistance, “in the face of ever-increasing complex and rapidly changing economic, social and natural resource challenges”. “Coping with these global developments has never been more challenging for small-island developing states like St. Kitts and Nevis”, he added.
The dual challenge of skills-training and climate change was encapsulated in Mr. Maynard’s statement to both UNESCO Member States and the UNESCO’s experts: “my government is pre-occupied with building and enhancing the skills capacity of its people to promote growth, and accelerate social development, while at the same time, coping with the effects of climate change like natural disasters, and, in recent times, the dramatic escalation in global food and energy prices”.
In delivering these programmes, Mr. Maynard was keen to emphasize that UNESCO must seek to avoid functional duplication that can easily result from spreading its resources too thin on the ground. “We call for greater co-ordination, both at global and at country level, in terms of funds and programmes deployed for varied programmes, in order to foster and harness synergies, and optimize results”.
Echoing Mr. Maynard’s statement to the UNESCO Executive Board, Dr David Doyle, the Federation’s Permanent Delegate to UNECO in Paris, remarked that “I believe that optimal delivery of UNESCO’s programmes in the Caribbean region, and in St. Kitts and Nevis, can only be brought about by ensuring that UNESCO regional office in Jamaica and National Commissions work much closer together on a regular basis in drawing up collective action plans for joint action”. “It is vital that St. Kitts and Nevis extract the rich expertise from UNESCO in dealing with the devastating effects of climate change and disenfranchised young men who need vocational and professional training to ensure that they can be re-integrated in society”.
Mr. Maynard is working with UNESCO experts in Paris and its Caribbean regional office in Jamaica to build stronger links with his national commission aimed at harmonizing activities, fostering information exchange on completed activities, and the jointly evaluating activities on the ground.
Some of these activities include the Youth Path project, vocational educational programmes for young males, sandwatch, a range of preparedness and mitigation techniques to deal with the effects of climate change, such as natural disasters, young professional programme at UNESCO, the re-vitalization of the Slave Route awareness project, the establishment of community media centres, creating a UNESCO Club in the Federation, training of media/journalists, and improved interface between the National Commission in St. Kitts-Nevis and UNESCO HQ. .
The past legacy of St. Kitts and Nevis was also evoked when Mr Maynard praised UNESCO for its Slave Trade programme had regained prominence on the UNESCO Executive Board agenda, as a means of raising the awareness of this aspect of the Caribbean history. “The Caribbean dimension of this period of our history should not be neglected, or diminished, as our past, present and future are all intrinsically linked to the slave trade era”.
UNESCO has pledged continued support in educational and teaching material to be disseminated via UNESCO Association Schools Network. Also, St. Kitts and Nevis is applying for UNESCO assistance to “revitalize forcefully and vigorously the work on inventory sites and places of memory”. Added Mr Maynard after the Executive Board, “these historical places are still evident on our landscape, and could be transformed in to valuable tourism products and educational tools”.
The St. Kitts-Nevis representatives at the UNESCO Executive Board, Mr. Maynard and Dr. Doyle met Mario Barbosa, also seized the opportunity while in Paris to meet a number of high-level officials within the Secretariat, including Assistant Director-General Ahmed Sayyad, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Co-operation, and Mario Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO.
The meeting with Mr Barbosa focused on ways to reinforce the Federation’s relations with the Organization and identify areas where St. Kitts and Nevis could work with UNESCO in delivering expertise in the Federation, but also beyond, in assisting other Caribbean national commissions to build up their capacity to benefit from UNESCO membership.
