CARICOM developing new regional security strategy

Apr 29, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- In the face of intensifying security threats and a rapidly evolving geopolitical and geo-economic landscape, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) has officially commenced the process of developing a new CARICOM Security Strategy (CSS).

The initiative began with the inaugural meeting of the CSS Steering Committee, which was convened virtually on 24 April 2025. This high-level gathering is a critical step toward crafting a strategic, forward-looking and cohesive regional security framework that is responsive to current and future challenges in the Caribbean Region.

According to a press release from IMPACS, the CSS will serve as the Region’s principal policy instrument for guiding countries, regional and international entities in response to the growing range of security threats in the Caribbean. The strategy will reflect current geopolitical realities, align with regional development priorities and integrate emerging issues such as artificial intelligence (AI), while embedding rights-and-responsibility- based approaches and public health-informed frameworks. It will also drive the modernisation and strengthening of national and regional security institutions to ensure greater adaptability, resilience and effectiveness.

“The current environment demands a recalibrated and adaptive regional strategy – one that strengthens our collective capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond to multidimensional threats,” said Lt. Col. Michael Jones, Executive Director, CARICOM IMPACS. “The strategy must reflect the urgency of this moment while offering practical solutions rooted in Caribbean realities and aligned with evolving global norms”, he added.

The Steering Committee, established to guide the development of the CSS, includes representatives from five CARICOM Member States including Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Chairs of the CARICOM Standing Committees of Operational Heads (Police, Military, Customs, Immigration, Prisons, and Intelligence). It also brings together key regional institutions, including the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the Regional Security System (RSS), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) as well as private sector and Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) youth representatives, civil society, and international development partners such as Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Delivering the lead presentations, Mr. Callixtus Joseph, Assistant Director (Ag), Policy, Strategy and Innovation, CARICOM IMPACS, outlined the core rationale behind the renewed strategy. He emphasised that the evolving nature, scale, and complexity of today’s threats alongside the significant transformation of the global and regional security landscape, require new thinking and strategic repositioning. He noted the CSS will provide a forward-looking, action-oriented roadmap. “This strategy will serve as a unifying framework to drive smarter, faster, and more adaptive responses to evolving threats. It will harness the full potential of frontier technologies such as AI, predictive analytics and digital innovation to strengthen national and regional capabilities and accelerate

institutional modernisation”, he explained. “Above all, it will reaffirm CARICOM’s unwavering commitment to collective security as the cornerstone of sustainable development, regional resilience and a safer, more prosperous future for all Caribbean citizens”, he stated.

The CSS is anticipated to deliver wide-ranging benefits across the Region including crime reduction, improved public safety, a stronger investment climate and greater regional influence in global security governance. By strengthening national security capacities, modernising infrastructure, digitizing security systems and aligning national policies with regional and international commitments and frameworks, the strategy will equip Member States to prevent, detect and respond to threats more effectively, while advancing stability, investor confidence and collective resilience across the Caribbean.

During the meeting, members adopted the Steering Committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR), which outlines its mandate to provide strategic oversight, policy direction and quality assurance throughout the development process. Trinidad and Tobago was elected to serve as Chair of the Committee, with Antigua and Barbuda serving as Vice-Chair. The Steering Committee is expected to meet periodically over the coming months as CARICOM IMPACS leads the CSS’s development. The final draft will be presented for endorsement by the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) and CARICOM Heads of Government.

The CARICOM IMPACS was established by the 27th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in July 2006, in Bird Rock, St. Kitts and Nevis, as the implementation arm of a new regional architecture to manage CARICOM’s action agenda on crime and security.

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