An economist, she brings over 30 years of professional experience in the Region to the post, including having served as Deputy Secretary-General at the CARICOM Secretariat, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, Financial Secretary of the Government of Belize, and Vice President, Operations at the Caribbean Development Bank, blazing a trail as the first woman appointed in these positions. She has also provided consultancy and advisory services in public sector financial management and strategic planning.
Her multi-faceted career also includes appointments as Senator and Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance and Natural Resources, and Labour and Local Government in the Government of Belize.
Dr. Barnett’s commitment to public service has extended to volunteerism as an active Member of the Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWiL) Belize Chapter, past President of the Belize Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), and Board Member for Haven House, a shelter for battered women. She is a consistent advocate for gender equality as good economic policy and as the sensible thing to do to create a more stable and equitable society.
Dr. Barnett has received several awards, including Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for distinguished public service.
]]>The early years of CARIFESTA were captured from the Newspaper clippings collection sourced from The National Library of Guyana. The CARIFESTA collection currently covers information emanating from all the CARIFESTAs held to date. The Collection is supplemented by contributions from the Directorate of Human and Social Development through its Culture desk which liaises with the various Directors of Culture in the region and with the Secretariats of the Host Country.
The Collection includes consultants’ and country reports, articles extracted from magazines, correspondence, press releases, information leaflets, presentations at Symposia, programmes, various CARIFESTA themes; posters, photographs and newspaper clippings.
]]>These goals serve as a guideline for developing appropriate programme interventions and resource allocations, both at the regional and national level. Goals and targets should be reviewed from time to time to ensure they adequately and effectively respond to the needs and challenges of target populations. Importantly, while achieving the goals and targets of the CYAP, CYAs can help young people achieve their goals through matching the programmes implemented and the policies with their needs.
The CSME Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat is the impementation office which assists the Member States in fulfilling the requirements of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
The Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) served as the governing body to remove tariffs and other barriers to intra-regional trade in Goods. In 1973, the CARIFTA agreement was deepened through the signing of The Treaty of Chaguaramas in Guyana. The Treaty included provisions to create a Common Market within the Caribbean region.
Following from this treaty, in 1989 at Grande Anse, Grenada, the CARICOM Heads of Government transformed the Common Market into the Single Market and Single Economy formally named the Caribbean Single Market and Economy- CSME. By 2002, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas was revised and updated to the removal of existing barriers of trade and to establish a Single Market space which included services, capital, technology, and the free movement of skilled professionals.
The CSME seeks to implement provisions for the removal of trade and professional restrictions. These provisions facilitate the right to establishment businesses, to provide regional services, the free movement of capital and the coordination of economic policies. In the ensuing years, some Caribbean economies, under the auspices of multilateral lending institutions, implemented structural adjustment programmes having at their core, programmes of economic, financial and trade liberalisation that far exceeded their commitments as expressed in the Treaty of Chaguaramas. The fundamental aspects of CSME are as following:
The political record of this great statesman dates back to CARIFTA, the precursor of the Caribbean Community.
Fuelled by a deep desire for the incorporation of Belize into the wider southern geo-political hemisphere, he united with the Caribbean leaders who advocated for the establishment of CARIFTA joining the league of founding fathers of this institution.
Like many of the political stalwarts of his time, George Price was the pillar of his nation’s political liberation, clearing its path to political independence in 1981. His political career revolved around a multiplicity of roles as founding member of the People’s United Party in 1950, Mayor of Belize City from 1958-1962, Member of the Legislative Assembly 1956-1956, First Premier and Prime Minister of Belize, and as Senior Minister of Government.
Against much opposition, he succeeded in the strategic relocation of his country’s seat of Government from Belize to Belmopan sparing the capital location from the uncertainties of natural disasters.
Because of its strategic geographic location, George Price oriented Belize’s external relations towards North America, Mexico and Central America, building on established linkages with the English speaking Caribbean.
He is described in the citation for his OCC Award as Political Leader and Parliamentarian emeritus “merited as much for his political feats as for his colossus of integrity, adoration and respect from a nation united in its diversity: a Caribbean leadership model”.
George Price remains the patriarch of his nation, birthing its existence as an independent national state and charting its emergence from economic backwardness to a state of development in which it stands as a centripetal and unifying force in Central American/Caribbean relations.
]]>Date of Membership in CARICOM: 1 May 1974
Also Known as:Mother Nature’s Best Kept Secret
Status of Independence:Independent 1981/09/21
Area: 22,966 km2; 8,867 miles
Capital City: Belmopan
Population: 344,700 (2010)
Currency: Belizean Dollar (Bz$)
Highest National Award: The Queen’s Award
GDP: EC$4,031Mn (2011)
GDP Growth: 2.3% p.a. 2009–13
GNI: US$1.6bn
GNI PC: US$4,660
GDP per Capita: EC$9.894 (2004)
1638 First recorded European settlement established
1798 Following victory over Spain in battle of St. George’s Cay, British rule confirmed
1862 Country officially became British colony known as British Honduras
1871 Crown colony system introduced. Ruled by Governor of Jamaica until 1884
1954 Universal Adult Suffrage
1973 Name changed to Belize after Mayan word ‘Beliz’, meaning muddy waters
1981Independence achieved. George Price, first Prime Ministe