– urges leaders to accelerate CSME, climate & food security goals

Secretary-General (SG) of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Dr Carla Barnett has revealed the organisation will invest in training and capacity building for its electoral observer missions, strengthening a key mechanism that supports democratic processes across the region. She made the remarks on Sunday during the opening of the Fifty-First Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom underway in St Lucia under the theme “Caricom: from resilience to renewal in a changing world. ” “Over the past two years, we have organised a relatively large number of Caricom Electoral Observer Missions, the most recent being two in Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas this year. We are also engaged in activities to strengthen our Elections Observation Missions through training and capacity building, including observers who are from election bodies in Member States,” she said. Caricom Electoral Observation Missions (CEOMs) are independent, impartial assessment teams deployed by the Secretariat at the formal invitation of a Member State. Their primary goal is to observe national elections and ensure they align with the democratic traditions and accepted standards of the region. Each CEOM is led by a Chief of Mission, supported by a Deputy Chief of Mission (in the case of a large Mission) and consists of members drawn mainly from the electoral bodies of Caricom Member States. The Chief of Mission is the head of the observation team and is selected by the Caricom SG based on seniority, level of experience, leadership ability and history of sound judgment. Funding and administrative support are provided by the Caricom Secretariat.

Caricom mounted its first Election Observer Mission in 2000 at the invitation of Haiti and Suriname for parliamentary elections in these countries. The Secretariat was then mandated by the Conference to mount the Missions as requested.