St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves will be one of the featured speakers at the “Peaceful Caribbean Conference 2012: Focus on Solutions” to be held in Barbados on April 20, 2012.
The conference is being put on by the Peaceful Caribbean Initiative, in conjunction with Caribbean News Now, and according to the organisers is an effort to highlight the increasing problem of crime in the Caribbean and to focus on enabling the region to regain its rightful place in the world as a peaceful and stable place.
Conference Director Rebecca Theodore said, “Whilst each country and territory in the region has its own unique set of complex problems, we believe that much more can be achieved by sharing what works and what doesn’t in this respect, rather than trying to achieve results in isolation.”
The conference will feature top personalities and experts from the Caribbean and North America, as well as editors and contributors from Caribbean News Now. There will be key addresses and panel discussions on the major issues confronting peace and stability in the Caribbean. It promises to be a hugely important event for anyone interested in the future of the Caribbean as a place to live and visit.
During his recent Budget Address in the St Vincent and the Grenadines parliament, Gonsalves, who also holds the portfolio as Minister of National Security, remarked that the nature of man results in a propensity to break the law and a crime-free society will exist only in Heaven.
“However, in this earthly city we must strive to curtail crime and reduce it to an acceptable minimum, consistent with the highest possible level of civilised living,” he added.
“When discussing this subject we must present facts; seek the truth from the facts; analyse the issues dispassionately and rationally; make practical and effective proposals to tackle crime; and then let us all work together on fighting crime,” Gonsalves continued.
After hearing Gonsalves’ remarks, Theodore said she was confident that his clarion call was not only for the government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines, but that it was for the entire region, and every stakeholder who is passionate about a Peaceful Caribbean.
She added that she looks forward to Gonsalves’ contributions in not only making the Peaceful Caribbean Conference a success, but in also paving the way forward for the discussion of crime outside the partisan political debate.
The Peaceful Caribbean Initiative is the brainchild of Dominican-born Theodore, who has been on the frontlines of the international political scene for over a decade, writing and speaking in print, online and broadcast media within the Caribbean, the US and Canada on national security and political issues. The vision and mission of the Peaceful Caribbean Initiative is to have the Caribbean regain its rightful place in the world and to re-establish the perceptions and realities of the region as a peaceful and stable place for residents and visitors alike.
For more information and to register for the Conference, visit www.peacefulcaribbean.com.
Caribbean News Now
