Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, is best described as a regionalist who dedicated his time and effort towards realizing the regional integration agenda set by CARICOM Heads of Government. In doing so he has served as Assistant Secretary General at the CARICOM Secretariat and the seventh Secretary General of our Community.
Ambassador LaRocque was born in the Commonwealth Of Dominica where he received his early education. Subsequently, he attended the Queens College, the New School for Social Research and New York University where he majored in Political Philosophy, Political Economics and Economics.
In the Commonwealth of Dominica he accepted the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development and subsequently served as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs. There is no doubt that his tenure in the Public Service of the Commonwealth of Dominica prepared him for his duties and responsibilities at the CARICOM Secretariat.
Ambassador LaRocque joined the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana in 2005 as Assistant Secretary General. In 2011, he was appointed Secretary General by the CARICOM Heads of Government and served for two consecutive terms. Upon his appointment, he immediately became the champion for reform at the Secretariat.
With the assistance of staff, consultants and various organs of CARICOM, the first CARICOM Strategic Plan 2015-2019 was approved at the Conference of Heads of the Government in 2014. The Strategic Plan outlined a framework for social and economic development, with Caribbean citizens as the beneficiaries of the actions to be implemented by the Secretariat, Organs and Institutions of the Community as well as Member States. The preparation and adoption of the first Strategic Plan was indeed a major achievement for Ambassador LaRocque and his staff.
His major achievements are listed accordingly:
His emphasis on and interest in the youth was a major driver of his work. He oversaw the development of the CARICOM Human Resource Development Strategy 2030 and Action Plan and was a keen advocate of the Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) Programme which fostered an entrepreneurial spirit among our youth.
Secertary-General LaRocque was also instrumental in the Re-engagement of the private sector with regular interaction with Heads of Government and other Community Organs resulting in the formation of the CARICOM Private Sector Organization which was formally established in 2021, and is an Associate Institution of the Community.
He worked to the end, bringing global attention to issues that were significantly impacting member territories, such as; Climate Change; the ongoing Covid 19 Pandemic and in particular the acquisition of vaccines; Blacklisting and De-risking, security, maritime and border protection.
Issues of staff tenure and advancement were fixtures on his agenda, as was the budgetary limitations of the Secretariat and he used every opportunity to dialogue with Heads and colleagues, always hopeful for better outcomes.
Throughout the many seasons of global and regional challenges, natural economic and manmade, Ambassador LaRocque maintained his calm nature and skillfully navigated the Caribbean Community through the raging waters and rugged landscapes.
For his contribution and devotion to Caribbean unity and sustained commitment to regional integration and advancement, we applaud Ambassador LaRocque for outstanding service to the region.
We salute him for leaving and indelible mark on this intuition and the region and confer on him the Community’s Highest Award.
]]>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.
Her entry into the political arena came in 1968 owing to the attempt of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to have a Sedition Act passed. From then onward she never looked back and confidently blazed the trail for what was to become a distinguished course of statesmanship.
She was appointed to the Legislature in 1970 and to the House of Assembly in 1975. She co-founded the Dominica Freedom Party in 1972 and became the Leader of the Opposition in 1975. Her involvement with her party helped her country relinquish colonial rule on 3rd November, 1978.
Mounting dissatisfaction with the pace of reconstruction after a devastating hurricane helped Ms. Charles lead a political campaign which ensured victory in the 1980 general elections. Thus it was that she was elected Prime Minister, a position which she held for fifteen years. During this period she earned for herself the title of “Iron Lady of the Caribbean”, no doubt because of her indomitable will and unflinching dedication and commitment to set principles and her fearlessness in giving utterance to her beliefs in the face of opposition or maybe, in spite of it.
As Prime Minister Eugenia Charles was instrumental in the introduction of programmes aimed at economic reform and as Chairman of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), encouraged the US led invasion of Grenada in October 1983. She later held the positions of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Economic Affairs and Defence. Her stand on the regional integration movement can be determined from the following words taken from her address to the 8th Heads of Government Meeting in Castries, St. Lucia in 1987:
“…I am of the firm opinion that CARICOM must continue to exist, but it must exist for the purpose of improving the quality of life of all our people. If it does not succeed in doing this, then we must abandon it. We must emphasize that we are not in CARICOM merely to show that there is “unity” among us in the English-speaking Caribbean – no, we are in CARICOM because the unity it aims at achieving will bring benefits to all our people. Therefore we must work hard at making CARICOM what it should be, what it was meant to be and what in our dignified and formal speeches we say that it is.”
Mary Eugenia Charles was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 11 at Harare, Zimbabwe in 1991, a fitting tribute to her distinguished career as lawyer, politician and journalist. She retired from the duties of Office in 1995 and very soon enrolled at the John Hopkins School of International Studies where she studied the European Union, the United States of America and Canada.
An evaluation of the life of Dame Eugenia Charles reveals that she has herself lived up to her own conception of the qualities of a good leader, and that is, “Leaders must look after the things that need looking after without looking after themselves.”
In February 2003 the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community conferred upon her the Order of the Caribbean Community.
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The distance from Grand Bay in the south east corner of Dominica to Government House in Roseau is not much more than ten miles but for His Excellency Dr. Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool, President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, it has been an extraordinary journey by way of Britain, most of the Western world, and every country of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Young Nick was born in Grand Bay, a renowned centre for culture. He was educated at the Dominica Grammar School in Roseau and preceded to the University of Hull in Yorkshire, the home town of the famous abolitionist, William Wilberforce. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in London in 1961 but with a much greater vision he went on to complete his PhD from Sheffield University in 1965. After a post of Lecturer in Law at the University of Ghana and a research fellowship at McGill in Canada, he returned home to practice briefly in Dominica and then to open a Law School for the Government of the Bahamas.
In 1973 he accepted his first appointment as a judge of the High Court of Antigua and Montserrat, but he was too young and much too vigorous to spend the rest of his life merely sitting on a Bench. And when the light out of the west beckoned he joined the UWI Law Faculty at Cave Hill in 1974. During his tenure at the Faculty of Law of for almost two decades he served in every capacity as Dean, Head of Teaching to member of many commissions in Barbados; and consultant to various Regional and International organisations too numerous to mention on various legal matters throughout the Caribbean Community.
His research, advocacy and training make him equally recognisable in Roseau, and in other parts of the Region. He has contributed to the training and certification of several outstanding Caribbean professionals: among whom are judges (including a Chief Justice), Ministers of Government (including one Prime Minister), Attorneys General, Solicitors General, Directors of Public Prosecutions and many others
It is with self assuredness that he accepted the appointment as Justice of Appeal under the Peoples Revolution Government of Grenada, considered by many at that time to be a demonstration of his courage and commitment to regional justice system He also served as Justice of Appeal in Belize from 1990 to 1992; Justice of Appeal in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court from 1992 to 1995; in the Bahamas from 1996 to 1997; and again in Belize from 1996 to 2000.
These are just a few illustrations of the many major regional roles to which must be added approximately one hundred scholarly articles and several monographs of great intellectual weight.
But let us not think that Dr. Nick lives the motto ‘all work and no play’, after all he found the time, considerable time, to father and raise five children. A colleague has described him as ‘a man for all seasons; full of life and a most mischievous sense of humour.’ Indeed, he is a famous prankster and his close family and friends would attest to this uncannily wicked streak that is part of his uniqueness. most of which cannot be admitted as ‘evidence in court’
No doubt Justice Liverpool’s character was honed in the famous village of Grand Bay, of legendary cultural richness that has produced many musical bands, traditional dancers, and cultural activists. His Excellency still comes out on Carnival Tuesday to play mass in his favourite carnival band called ‘For Old Time Sake’ and is ever present at village feasts throughout his native isle. When not playing mass, or pursuing his passion for dominoes, or attending to affairs of State, he can be found at his farm in the hills of Bellevue Chopin tending his crops of vegetables, citrus, dasheen, yams and Dominica plantain, producing enough to spare for his friends. His Excellency is, indeed, a man from the people, chosen by the people and working for the people – the very essence of democracy.
His Excellency Dr. Nicholas Liverpool is indeed one of the ‘Acclaimed Legal Luminaries of the Caribbean’ of his generation and a truly deserving candidate for the conferral “The Order of the Caribbean Community”.
]]>Professionally, Justice Georges boasts a brilliant career in the legal field serving the Region as a Judge of the High Court and Acting Justice of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago and Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Serving across the Region in various capacities including appointments as Justice of Appeal in the Courts of Belize, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, Justice Georges epitomised regionalism.
His career in law led him to extend his services beyond the Caribbean to Africa where he functioned as Chief Justice of Tanzania, and as Judge of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Zimbabwe.
His contribution to the Region was further visible in his tenure as Professor of Law at the University of the West Indies where his impact on legal education was profound.
His prominence and stature as a legal practitioner attracted numerous opportunities to serve on various legal bodies among which were posts he held as Member of the Judicial Committee on the Highest Court of Appeal of the Commonwealth, Member of the Judicial Committee of the OAS, Member of the Administrative Tribunal of the IDB, Member of the University of the West Indies Chancellor’s Commission on Governance, Member of the International Commission of Jurists and Chairman of the Regional Constituent Assembly of the Windward Islands.
His service to the Region continued in his capacity as Law Reform Commissioner in The Bahamas.
As an acknowledgement of his remarkable contribution to the practice of law and legal education, several Universities, including the University of the West Indies, conferred an Honorary Doctor of Law degree on this eminent son of the Caribbean soil.
]]>Ambassador LaRocque’s service at the CARICOM Secretariat began in September 2005, when he assumed the position of Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration. In that post Ambassador LaRocque provided strategic leadership for the continuing implementation and further development of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary-General, he served as Permanent Secretary in various Ministries in Dominica for more than fourteen years, including in the Ministries of Trade, Industry, Enterprise Development, Tourism, and Foreign Affairs where he headed the diplomatic service. He also served as the principal advisor to the Government of Dominica on all matters pertaining to economic integration and regional and international trade.
Ambassador LaRocque has a wealth of experience in management, public administration, economic development, trade, foreign affairs and diplomacy. During the period when Dominica underwent a structural adjustment programme, Ambassador LaRocque was a member of the Cabinet-appointed Public Sector Reform Task Force, which included the private sector, trade unions and non-governmental Organizations, with responsibility for the overall management, planning and performance review of the public sector reform process. He also served as the Chairman of the Consultative Working Group, a public/private sector consultative and advisory committee appointed by Cabinet, with focus on the enabling environment for private sector development and growth.
He has served on several Boards, including the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, Caribbean Export, the Dominica Agricultural, Industrial and Development Bank, and the Dominica National Development Corporation. Ambassador LaRocque also managed diplomatic negotiations with third countries and international development partners.
Ambassador LaRocque was educated at Queen’s College and the New School for Social Research, both in New York, and New York University and majored in Political Philosophy, Pure Economics and Political Economics.
]]>Date of Membership in CARICOM: 1 May 1974
Also Known as:Nature Island of the Caribbean
Status of Independence:Independent 1978/11/03
Area: 750 km2 (290 miles2)
Capital City: Roseau
Population: 71,898 (2009)
Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
Highest National Award: Sisserou Award of Honour
GDP: EC$771.0 Mn (2004)
GDP Growth: –0.5% p.a. 2009–13
GNI: US$493m
GNI PC: US$6,760
GDP per Capita: EC$11,045 (2004)
1493 Arrival of Columbus on island called Wai’tukubuli’ (tall is her body) by Caribs and Arawaks. Named Dominica Spanish translation of Sunday (Domingo)- the day Columbus first sighted the island
1660 Agreement between Britain and France to leave island to the Caribs
1783 Finally ceded to Britain following numerous exchanges between Britain and France
1871 Incorporated into Leeward Islands Federation
1939 Transferred from Leeward to Windward Islands Federation
1967 Associated Statehood with Britain (full internal self-government) within the West Indies Associated States (WISA) Edward Oliver Lablanc, first Premier
1978 Independent Republic within the Commonwealth. Patrick John, first Prime Minister