The region is set to benefit from a major effort by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to establish a labour market information system (LMIS) as a vital element of the smooth functioning of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). As part of this effort, the Secretariat is undertaking a series of LMIS training workshops in Member States. The first one gets underway in Trinidad and Tobago from Monday, October 3 and lasts 4 days at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim of these sessions is to train stakeholders how to use LMIS in the development of policy and planning. This training initiative is being facilitated under the 10th European Development Fund CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Economic Integration Programme.
Approximately 30 representatives from Departments of Statistics, Finance, Planning, Health, Education, Social Security, Trade Unions, Employer Organisations are expected to participate. They will be trained in areas such as how to identify sources of labour market information, classification of labour statistics, labour market modelling, survey analysis and policy implications. At the end of the exercise, participants are expected to understand how to use labour market information in policy-making and its importance in the process. This training should also strengthen the management capability of these stakeholders who play an integral role in the free movement of skills and labour regime of the CSME.
This training will be rolled out in all the other member states, except The Bahamas, in the coming months. There is another phase of this LMIS training initiative that involves system and data administrators who will be carrying out the day-to-day operation of the system. They will be given the requisite knowledge and skills to do this and their training will also be conducted over the following months.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is ensuring that vital stakeholders continue to be well informed about the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and its significant benefits. On Wednesday, October 5, a one-day CSME sensitization workshop is being hosted in Barbados. Approximately 30 participants from private sector bodies and rural communities will convene at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre for information sharing and dialogue regarding the CSME. The activity is facilitated under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and Economic Integration Programme (EIP).
Presentations will be made by resource persons from the CARICOM Secretariat and will include topics such as the current status of the CSME; the CSME as a platform for private sector growth and development; and facilitating agricultural trade and investment in the CSME. The presentations will be followed by dialogue sessions in which participants can share their experiences and clarify issues surrounding the CSME. At the end of the workshop, participants should have a better appreciation of the benefits of the CSME for their respective sectors and how to take full advantage of them. The workshop will also be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tourism and the Office of the Prime Minister.
Similar workshops have already been held in Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines with others scheduled for Belize, Guyana and Suriname. This initiative forms part of a larger public education and awareness programme on the CSME in which certain target groups such as tertiary students, youth, teachers and the wider public are sensitised.
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The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat continues its drive toward establishing an integrated and single CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Public Procurement Regime. A week-long train- the-trainers workshop began on Monday, September 19 at the Secretariat’s CSME Unit in Barbados. The workshop’s aim is to train procurement specialists on the instruments that make up such a regime. Representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia are attending this week’s training. This is part of a consultancy that is facilitated under the 10th European Development Fund CSME Economic Integration Programme. Fourteen CARICOM Member States are targeted under the training exercise and the first series took place in Jamaica from July to August, 2016.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is hosting a one-day regional consultation on the establishment of a regional tripartite social dialogue mechanism and a regional social protection floor. It takes place on Monday, September 19 at the Secretariat’s headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana. The aim is to discuss a proposed social dialogue mechanism and social protection for the region in order to provide recommendations to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD).
Dominicans are now far more knowledgeable about their rights and responsibilities regarding the provisions for free movement within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). This is due to a successful public sensitization session hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat on Friday, September 9 at the Goodwill Christian Union Church. Just over seventy (70) persons representing a wide cross-section of the Dominican public attended the activity which was also broadcast live by the Government Information Service, Kairi FM and Marpin 2K4 Ltd. The event in Dominica is the first of three (3) such sessions being implemented by the Secretariat with assistance provided under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). The other two (2) sessions will be held later in Guyana and Jamaica.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is ensuring that key stakeholders are knowledgeable about the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and how they can maximise benefits under the CSME processes. On Monday, September 12, the Secretariat is convening a one-day CSME sensitization workshop for the private sector in Jamaica at The Pegasus Hotel. Approximately 35 participants from Jamaica’s corporate community are expected to attend the event. The CARICOM team will be headed by Assisitant Secretary-General for Trade and Economic Integration, Mr. Joseph Cox.
