The RSS and The UWI Bring Global Expertise Together to Strengthen Caribbean Security Architecture

The Caribbean’s security challenges are becoming  increasingly complex and interconnected, spanning organised crime, cyber threats, illicit financial flows and  climate-related risks. To help shape a coordinated regional response, The University of the West Indies (The  UWI) and the Regional Security System (RSS) will convene a landmark Caribbean Security Futures Symposium  in Barbados from October 7 to 9, 2026.

The three-day Symposium will bring together security practitioners, policymakers, academics, regional and  international partners, technology experts and other key stakeholders to examine emerging threats and  develop practical solutions for a safer and more resilient Caribbean. Supported by the Pan American  Development Foundation (PADF) and DC Office People, it will examine the evolving security landscape,  particularly the high-impact, interconnected security risks and threats faced by the region, and identify  practical, evidence-based solutions to strengthen security governance across the Caribbean.

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. Other sessions will focus on confronting transnational organised crime, human trafficking,  irregular migration, criminal networks and cross-border law enforcement cooperation.