KINGSTON, Jamaica, Sept 23, CMC – A three-day symposium examining Caribbean security challenges will be held in Barbados from October 7, the University of the West Indies (UWI) announced Wednesday.
It said that the Caribbean Security Futures Symposium is being held in collaboration with the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) bringing together security practitioners, policymakers, academics, regional and international partners, technology experts and other key stakeholders.
“The Caribbean’s security challenges are deeply interconnected and require equally integrated responses. As the region’s premier university, The UWI has a responsibility to generate knowledge, foster meaningful dialogue and support the development of innovative solutions that strengthen institutions, protect communities and advance regional resilience,” said UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.
“This symposium represents an important opportunity to bring together expertise from across sectors to help shape a more secure future for the Caribbean.”
RSS executive director, Rear Admiral Errington Shurland, said the changing security landscape requires the region to deepen collaboration and move beyond traditional approaches to security.
“The threats confronting the Caribbean today do not recognise national borders, and our responses cannot be confined by them. The growing interconnectedness of transnational organised crime, cyber threats, illicit financial activity and emerging technologies across borders requires us to think and act collectively.
“The RSS has long recognised that regional security is strongest when our institutions combine their expertise, resources and capabilities. Our regional security architecture has been strategically designed to enable the effective delivery of the right mix of services required to address the region’s evolving crime and security challenges.”
Shurland said that the symposium therefore provides an important platform not only to bridge operational experience, academic research and technological innovation, but also to critically examine the existing regional security architecture, identify its shortcomings and determine what adjustments are needed to make it more responsive to the changing needs of member states.
The organisers said they will examine emerging threats and develop practical solutions for a safer and more resilient Caribbean. The event is being supported by the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and DC Office People and will also examine the evolving security landscape, particularly the high-impact, interconnected security risks and threats faced by the region.
“Through keynote presentations, expert panel discussions, strategic sessions, roundtable dialogues and interactive workshops, participants will explore how the Caribbean can strengthen collective security while developing more coordinated and sustainable responses to emerging threats.
“ A key area of discussion will include how illicit financing flows, exacerbated by virtual assets, fuel the complexity of criminal networks and weaken national and regional financial systems. Participants will also examine approaches to disrupting transnational organised crime and criminal networks while strengthening cross-border law enforcement cooperation.”
The organisers said that other sessions will focus on confronting transnational organised crime, human trafficking, irregular migration, criminal networks and cross-border law enforcement cooperation.
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