A second Africa Caricom (Caribbean Community) summit is being planned, and former prime minister PJ Patterson has made an urgent appeal for preparations to be made in order to fortify relations between the two areas.
A press statement issued on Saturday in honor of Africa Caricom Day, which is being observed for the third time, stressed the significance of the two areas—connected by shared social, political, and economic circumstances as well as historical and cultural affinities—speaking “with one united voice” to tackle shared problems. According to Patterson, the resident stateman of The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy (Institute), “African and Caribbean states comprise more than a third of the membership in the United Nations (UN). This significant membership should be maximized as leverage for a more powerful voice of African and Caribbean states on the global stage.”
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He added, “At present, there is the need for global restructuring against the background of wars and ethnic conflicts, global warming, food security, energy, and financial crises. The UN Secretary-General has warned that gains made in development and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals are in danger of being eroded,” he continued, adding “It is therefore essential that Africa and the Caribbean speak with one united voice and make good on the promise of full collaboration and a single position to address the common issues facing Africa and the Caribbean.”
Considering this, he stated that representatives from Africa and the Caribbean must be assigned the task of quickly organizing a second Africa Caricom summit, which will take place on September 7, 2021, four years after the first one, which was hosted electronically by the Republic of Kenya.
“Despite the hectic schedule of intense international engagement, the Institute is compelled to implore our Heads of government and state to avoid a collapse or disappearance from their focus the consequential decisions taken at the first Summit,” Patterson noted.
He continued by noting that, “The Institute, therefore, urges the AU and Caricom to designate a Head on both sides of the Atlantic who will ensure that the Second Summit takes place as a matter of urgency and in the most propitious environment for moving forward.”
Among the pressing issues at hand, according to Patterson: “There is present, an urgent need for Heads to determine how we can proceed most effectively in areas of joint interest, such as climate change and resilience, health and food security, trade and investment as we promote greater people to people exchange in sports, music, culture, technology, and innovation.”
Patterson has urged leaders in Africa and the Caribbean to take action to set up the second Summit on previous occasions.
A year ago, the stateman-in-residence of The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy expressed the institute’s concern that “no host, time or place for the second Summit that was due in 2022 were in place.”
Patterson alerted us, “Further delay in setting these constitutes a clear and frightening danger.”
