OECS Commission hosts US ambassador courtesy visit

The US Ambassador to the OECS and Barbados has paid a courtesy visit to the OECS Commission offices.

Linda Taglialatela met with Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS, last week to discuss a number of cooperation matters, including ways to strengthen the bond between the USA and the OECS.

The United States Agency for International Development – also known as USAID – is one of many major parters to the OECS.

Among the key areas of cooperation are education, juvenile justice and regional statistics.

The Early Learners Programme is one of the major OECS/USAID initiatives.

It aims at improving the level of literacy of young learners (Grade K to Grade 3) in six member states: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The programme is being implemented by the Education Development Management Unit of the Commission.

“Besides education, a major initiative is being implemented in the area of juvenile justice reform with the support of USAID,” the OECS said in a statement.

“This programme – Juvenile Justice Reform Project 2 – aims at encouraging social reintegration of young people involved in conflict with the law through alternative sentencing programme.”

The OECS, USAID and UNICEF have also collaborated on the development of a regional database programme, named OECSInfo 2.0, which was launched in last month.

This centralised database facilitates public access to social and economic statistics of member states, and serves as an important tool for students and the media in this regard.

OECSInfo 2.0 also has a strategic dimension in that it provides accurate statistics to enhance decision making at the policy level in respect of national and regional development initiatives, the OECS added.