Chair Mia Mottley calls for units, says CARICOM must stand strong amid global challenges

The Prime Minister of Barbados and the new Chair of the CARICOM Mia Amor Mottley called for the regional leaders to stay united. She said that the only way the Caribbean Community would overcome these challenging times is by staying united.  

She made this statement while speaking during the opening ceremony of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the member-states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held at the Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Bridgetown, Barbados on Wednesday.  

The three-day conference is themed “Strength in Unity: Forging Caribbean Resilience. Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development”. 

In her appeal for Caribbean unity, the Barbadian leader recalled the famous “one from ten leaves nought” dictum of the former prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams, at the break-up of the erstwhile West Indies Federation to say that the heads of government and state of the region today must show in a mathematical way that one times 15 is equal to one.  

“If one times 15 is equal to one, then we shall be able to withstand all that is thrown upon us from the world and from within, and rise to the point where we will bring to our people a level of economic development, stability and prosperity,” Mottley, who took over as the chair of the grouping from her Grenadian counterpart Dickon Mitchell, said. 

PM Mottley stressed regional unity after taking over as CARICOM chair in January 2025 

The leader, who is known to be a strong advocate against climate change, emphasized on CARICOM’s unity during her New Year’s message in January after taking over the responsibility. She also touched upon the issue of CARICOM Single Market and Economy saying it is not just an economic agenda but a vision of unity and opportunity for the small states to achieve greater economic resilience.  

“How we act, united as a people, and as nations will define not only this year, 2025, but the legacy of our generation,” she said in her New Year message. 

In her speech at the CARICOM meeting which saw the presence of international dignitaries such as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and ministers from Saudi Arabia, Canada, France and a special envoy from the United Arab Emirates, Mottley said global partnerships will be key for the Caribbean countries to withstand challenges.  

CARICOM chair seeks international partnerships 

“This meeting, my friends cannot be business as usual. We thank you Ursula (von der Leyen) for coming to the Caribbean because in this world of grave difficulties confronting us at all levels, partnerships across the world will be important if we are going to survive the many challenges that are not unique to any one region, but indeed hold all of us in a very, very difficult position,” she said.  

 “We know firsthand how the world has become an awful place since the pandemic where all of the warts and all of the scars and all of the cuts have become very, very clear and open for everyone to see and where effectively the world has said that might is right.” 

 According to Mottley, the Caribbean region needs decisions that have eluded its leaders thus far if it wants to find itself worthy of purpose in the third decade of the 21st century.  

Mottley speaks on cost of living, climate crisis, labour movement 

The PM said that a high cost of living continues to make life hard for the Caribbean people and that the region’s traditional sources of food might become more difficult to access due to the climate crisis and decisions on the movement of labour. She said while there have been lengthy talks about creating new sources for imports while boosting domestic and regional production, it is high time to act. She called food and water as the new oil of the 21st century. 

Mottley also spoke about the state of regional education saying it is in shambles and called for quick and united action to bring necessary reforms.  

“We cannot build out this region with the old educational systems of the colonial system that are hierarchical in nature and ignore the reality, that we have to put systems in place for our children to earn and learn while ensuring that they reach the social and emotional learning targets that make them good citizens and good human beings in our region,” she cautioned.  

Another important area that Mottley spoke about is crime. She said even though the Caribbean countries did not or do not manufacture guns still they are paying a high price for the Second Amendment rights of Americans which allows them to bear weapons.  

Like in her New Year speech, she spoke about the George-Bridge Declaration reached by the heads of government in Guyana in November 2024 which sees crime and violence in the Caribbean as a public health issue.  

“We have come at this point with a George-Bridge Declaration reached by heads of government in Guyana on the 25th of November last year that will allow us to address issues of strengthening our law enforcement, strengthening and reforming our criminal justice system, but above all else, treating crime as a public health disease and also ensuring that we create the opportunities for our young people so that they are not taken on that path that has led us in this region to have one of the highest homicide per capita rates regrettably in the world,” she said.  

What is required of me as chair: PM Mottley

Mottley said as the chair of CARICOM, she is expected to ask every member “to make that commitment, to expose our hearts and our minds and find common ground and common purpose so as to ensure that as the world starts to fall in ways that none of us expected 20, 30 years ago or even 10 years ago, that we can hold a centre, recognising that we will always, always, always be stronger together”. 

Asserting that CARICOM deserves reforms, Mottley spoke about independent funding mechanisms saying it depends on the Caribbean community to settle the question of its independent source of funding.