Caribbean Security Futures Symposium
Towards Smart Technologies, Safe Spaces, and Resilient Communities
The Caribbean states have long acknowledged that no single government is capable of independently addressing the region's intricate and interconnected security threats. Transnational organized crime, which encompasses drug, arms, and human trafficking; cyber-enabled crime; money laundering and other financial crimes; and terrorism, continues to utilize porous borders, maritime spaces, and governance gaps. Simultaneously, the destabilizing effects of irregular migration, pandemics, and climate-related disasters are increasingly intersecting with crime and violence, thereby exacerbating the strained security institutions of the member states of the Regional Security System. As a result, the planned symposium is made to address these opportunities and pressing needs. The symposium will involve keynotes, open-table discussions, and workshop sessions over the course of two days. It will bring together regional and international experts, senior practitioners, and policymakers to collaborate on the development of realistic roadmaps and implementable solutions to enhance Caribbean security governance over the next decade. The symposium endeavors to address the persistent disparity between research, practice, and policy in regional security by grounding debates in empirical findings and practitioner experience. In doing so, it will contribute to a Caribbean security architecture that is more coherent, responsive, and future-oriented and that better protects citizens, safeguards democratic institutions, and supports regional security goals.
Objectives
The primary goals are to enhance the efficacy of the current governance structures in the Caribbean region to confront current and future security challenges. The event will synthesize the policy experience of the past years by the RSS, the empirical scholarship findings, and the views of practitioners and experts brought together in one space. The event will facilitate the identification of proposed solutions to strategic gaps in regional security, as well as the promotion of evidence-based recommendations for institutional strengthening and effective coordination. In addition, it will provide an opportunity to enhance the capacity of Caribbean security professionals, encourage policy-relevant Caribbean-led scholarship, establish research networks that connect academics, practitioners, and policymakers, and enhance institutional and governmental responsiveness to contemporary security challenges.
The primary goals are to enhance the efficacy of the current governance structures in the Caribbean region to confront current and future security challenges. The event will synthesize the policy experience of the past years by the RSS, the empirical scholarship findings, and the views of practitioners and experts brought together in one space. The event will facilitate the identification of proposed solutions to strategic gaps in regional security, as well as the promotion of evidence-based recommendations for institutional strengthening and effective coordination. In addition, it will provide an opportunity to enhance the capacity of Caribbean security professionals, encourage policy-relevant Caribbean-led scholarship, establish research networks that connect academics, practitioners, and policymakers, and enhance institutional and governmental responsiveness to contemporary security challenges.
Outputs
The symposium is explicitly intended to produce tangible results that can be directly incorporated into the agenda-setting processes, institutional reform, and national and regional policymaking. The following outputs will be produced for each theme discussed during the Symposium:
The symposium is explicitly intended to produce tangible results that can be directly incorporated into the agenda-setting processes, institutional reform, and national and regional policymaking. The following outputs will be produced for each theme discussed during the Symposium:
- Symposium proceedings and policy briefs,
- Proposals for a refined Caribbean security architecture,
- Alignment of national policies with regional priorities,
- Legislative reform proposals,
- Identification of future regional and empirical research projects,
- Launch of Security Futures podcast,
- Roadmap for integrated data collation systems to support refinement of priority national and regional security policies
- Establish a clearinghouse for a compendium of best practices (legislative, operational/procedural) for the Caribbean.
- Establish Strategic Advisory Groups for priority security themes
- Proposal of the UWI-RSS degree programme in international and regional security.
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Keynote Speakers
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Panel Discussions
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Workshops
Ms. Sandrea Maynard, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Global Affairs, The University of the West Indies, Regional Headquarters
Mrs Rhea Reid-Bowen, Director Strategic Services and International Affairs, Regional Security System
Dr. Shakira Maxwell. Senior Programme Officer, Office of Global Affairs, The University of the West Indies, Regional Headquarters
Dr. Michał Pawiński, Institute of the International Relations, International School for Development Justice, The University of the West Indies. Fellow, Caribbean Policy Consortium.
Ms. Sandrea Maynard, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Global Affairs, The University of the West Indies, Regional Headquarters
Mrs Rhea Reid-Bowen, Director Strategic Services and International Affairs, Regional Security System
Dr. Shakira Maxwell. Senior Programme Officer, Office of Global Affairs, The University of the West Indies, Regional Headquarters
Dr. Michał Pawiński, Institute of the International Relations, International School for Development Justice, The University of the West Indies. Fellow, Caribbean Policy Consortium.
The Team of great people supporting the Symposium (random sequence of mention):
- Ms. Linda King, Executive Secretary to the Executive Director Regional Security System Headquarters
- Ms. Melanie Callender-Forde, Research Manager, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) and Centre for Criminal Justice and Security (CCJS), The UWI
- Mr. Ronn Mattis
- Ms. Elizabeth Bynoe, Programme Officer, Regional Security System
- Prof. Corin Bailey, Director, The Centre for Criminal Justice and Security
- Ms. Rachelle Agard, Public Relations and Communications Coordinator, Regional Security System
- Sgt. Shenelle Harford, Administrative Assistant, Regional Security System
- Ms. Thenesha Morris, Secretary, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) and Centre for Criminal Justice and Security (CCJS), The UWI