National conference underway to draft gender policy
Newly accredited OAS Director visits GECOM Chairman
Key matters associated with the management of elections were discussed when Dr. Steve Surujbally, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), met with Jean Ricot Dormeus, Director of the Office of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Guyana.
Surujbally and Dormeus also held talks on areas the OAS could provide support for capacity building/institutional strengthening and technology transfer.
Guyana moves to tackle Cyber Crime
OAS Resident Representative in Guyana, Jean Ricot Dormeus in his brief remarks to yesterday’s gathering, which included Chancellor Carl Singh and Minister of State Joseph Harmon, reiterated his organisation’s commitment to helping countries develop strategies to combat cyber crimes.
He said that the OAS has been working with Caribbean states over the past 10 years in this regard.
According to Ambassador Dormeus, combating cyber crime is costing $445M annually and there is a definite need for countries such as Guyana to get on board, since given the nature of the internet, hackers can operate from almost anywhere.
President calls for comprehensive approach to gender equality
Secondary school students upgrade agriculture skills at OAS-funded workshop
Participation of women in politics
REMARKS BYJEAN RICOT DORMEUSOAS REPRESENTATIVE AT THENATIONAL CONSULTATION: “TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: PROMOTING THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN POLITICS FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE” JUNE 16, 2011 Honorable Jacqui Quinn Leandro, Minister of Gender Affairs,Ms. Sheila Roseau, Executive Director of Gender Affairs,Distinguished stakeholders,Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to promote with you the participation of women in politics for transformational leadership and good governance. This pursuit stands for a noble cause; it is about extending fairness and inclusiveness to all sectors of the population; it is about giving unconditional access to passion for public service, capacity, knowledge and wisdom; it is about reflecting social texture and diversity into politics and decision making. You female political hopefuls have cometogether today to show Antigua and Barbuda and the region your readiness to contribute more to the transformation of our communities and to help optimize the impact of the Antiguan collective mind for well-being and continuing economic progress.
Climate Change Dogma has more in Common with Fundamentalist Religion than Science
Politicians and government bureaucrats trying to boost their green credentials often proclaim that “climate change is real”. OAS representative for Antigua & Barbuda Jean Ricot Dormeus did it last week. Joan Whalley, Chairwoman of the U.K.’s Environmental Audit Committee did it this week. A Google search for the phrase “climate change is real” yields over a million hits, many of them from the United Nations, national leaders and even scientists who should know better.
But the statement is meaningless. Worse, it is used by activists to promote a program that has less to do with science than it does with supporting an anti-capitalist agenda that has much in common with the more extreme fundamentalist religions. There are the unquestioned tenants of faith. There are the high priests such as Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to be believed and followed without question. There are the taboos one dare not look at, or even think about, such as the record high levels of sea ice now occurring in the Antarctic region. Skeptics or “deniers” are to be attacked without mercy as evil or misguided “shills” for vested interests. And, of course, there are the mantras such as “climate change is real”, “97% of scientists agree”, etc. that true believers chant to subdue anyone who has the audacity to question any aspect of the global warming religion.
Of course, change is what climates do all the time on planets with atmospheres so, yes, it is “real”. Just like sunrise, gravity and supernovas in distant galaxies are real. But only a moron would think humans control all these phenomena. Most people understand that we do contribute to regional climate change to some extent—witness the change in temperature when driving from the countryside to the city. But control global climate? That is ridiculous.
One of the problems is that the only question that matters in the debate is never asked. The question we need properly polled internationally is, “Do most scientists who study the causes of climate change support the hypothesis that our emissions of carbon dioxide are causing dangerous global warming and other climate problems?”
It must be “dangerous” climate change that is being asked about. Anything less than dangerous, while interesting to scientists, is of no concern to politicians who continue to divert billions of dollars to the climate file while important social programs remain underfunded. Regardless, no one knows the answer to this question since there has never been reputable worldwide polling of the issue. Until such a survey is conducted, no claims of consensus about the most important issue in the whole global warming debate can be supported.
So, the “97% of scientists agree” mantra is also unfounded. That number comes from a 2009 online survey of 10,257 earth scientists, conducted by two researchers at the University of Illinois. Strangely, the researchers chose to eliminate almost all the scientists from the survey and so ended up with only 77 people, 75 of whom thought humans contributed to climate change, hence the 97%, sometimes 98%, figure cited by Gore and his followers.
Besides the fact that, with tens of thousands of climate scientists in the world, 77 is a trivial sample size, the survey coordinators did not ask respondents how much humans had contributed to climate change. The poll is therefore useless.
Unlike religion, science does not accept authority. It must base its conclusions on empirical data from the real world. Climate researchers understand that climate science is in its infancy. We cannot forecast climate in 50 years any better than we can forecast weather two weeks ahead. The system is too complex and our understanding of the basic science too primitive. Professors Chris Essex (University of Western Ontario, Canada) and Ross McKitrick (University of Guelph, Canada) write in their book Taken by Storm, “Climate is one of the most challenging open problems in modern science. Some knowledgeable scientists believe that the climate problem can never be solved.”
That may not be a comforting thought for Dormeus, Whalley, Gore and others who believe that we understand the science well enough to know how to control global climate. But science is often like that. While it is our best tool for trying to understand the natural world, it is not magic—it can only give us what is possible.
Trying to unravel the causes and consequences of climate change is arguably the most complex science ever tackled. The Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change demonstrates that much of what we thought we knew about climate is wrong or highly debatable. As I showed the 1,500 students I taught for the past three years at Carleton University in Ottawa, the science is becoming more unsettled as the field advances.
While it makes sense to prepare for natural climate change—warming and cooling, drought and flood, rising and falling sea levels—as our societies expand, the idea that we know, or even can know, the future of our planet’s climate is simply a modern day myth.
________________
Tom Harris is Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition and an advisor to the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Six OAS Member States convene in Antigua for Travel Document Security Workshop
[ICAO] Antigua Hosts Sub-Regional Workshop Thursday, 06 September 2012
[ICAO] Antigua Hosts Sub-Regional Workshop
Unread post by bimjim » Thu Sep 06, 2012
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[ICAO] Antigua Hosts Sub-Regional Workshop
Thursday, 06 September 2012 02:30
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Mr Slavenas from ICAO during a presentation
Antigua St. John’s
Minister of National Security and Labour, Sen. the Hon. Dr. L. Errol Cort today welcomed delegates from five regional territories to Antigua at a brief Opening Ceremony for the three-day Sub-Regional Workshop and Consultations on Capacity-Building in Travel Document Security and Identification Management, being held at Jolly Beach Resort and Spa.
Antigua and Barbuda through the Ministry of National Security & Labour is hosting the workshop. The Inter-American Commission on Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organisation of American States (OAS) has partnered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL and the government of Canada to deliver the sub-regional workshop and consultation, which runs until Friday.
In his feature address, Dr. Cort underscored the importance of capacity building as it relates to local officials being equipped with the skills to readily recognize and detect fraudulent travel documents.
He expressed the view that it was necessary for countries to continuously update anti-fraud procedures and improve on existing fraud detection technologies if they are to stay one step ahead of the criminals.
Minister Cort added that Antigua and Barbuda is currently seeking to upgrade its border management system, in an effort to keep abreast and stay ahead of criminal elements that continually seek to beat the system.
OAS representative Mr. Jean Ricot Dormeus in his remarks said thanks to efforts such as this workshop, fraudulent multiple IDs, easy forgery of documents and ID tampering will turn into relics of the past. He added that the OAS has been working with governments in the region to modernize the civil registries and document issuance processes.
The objective of the workshop is to promote the exchange of information and experiences regarding international standards on travel documents, new technology, issuance and control of travel documents along with the improvement and modernization of civil registries and the strengthening of border controls.
Mr. Erik Slavenas, Programme Officer at ICAO also gave brief remarks and started off the sessions with a presentation on ICAO’s role in setting global MRTD Standards and Specifications.
Participants of the workshop have been drawn from a cross section of agencies including Immigration and Passport and Citizenship Departments.
Specialised drug court launched; offenders can now choose prison or treatment
A specialised drug offences court, the first of its kind in Guyana, was commissioned with the backing of multiple stakeholders on Monday, with Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonnette Cummings-Edwards explaining that drug offenders will now be given a choice to fix their lives.
Education Ministry signs US$83,000 agreement to boost TVET
Students who are inclined to the technical and vocational aspect of education will now have a chance to improve their skills following an agreement that was signed between the Education Ministry and the Organisation of American States (OAS) on Thursday.
Household Drug Survey reveals… Guyanese believe drug use has increased
Drug and Alcohol Treatment agencies attend two-day seminar on standardised data collection
Activities in Antigua and Barbuda
Current Events – Activities in Antigua and Barbuda
- Antigua and Barbuda hosts Sub-Regional Workshop
St. John’s, Antigua, Wednesday September 5, 2012
Remarks by OAS Representative Jean Ricot Dormeus Workshop on Travel Document Security and Identity ManagementMinister of National Security and Labour, Sen. the Hon. Dr. L. Errol Cort today welcomed delegates from five regional territories to Antigua at a brief Opening Ceremony for the three-day Sub-Regional Workshop and Consultations on Capacity-Building in Travel Document Security and Identification Management, being held at Jolly Beach Resort and Spa.
Antigua and Barbuda through the Ministry of National Security & Labour is hosting the workshop. The Inter-American Commission on Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organisation of American States (OAS) has partnered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), INTERPOL and the government of Canada to deliver the sub-regional workshop and consultation, which runs until Friday.
In his feature address, Dr. Cort underscored the importance of capacity building as it relates to local officials being equipped with the skills to readily recognize and detect fraudulent travel documents. He expressed the view that it was necessary for countries to continuously update anti-fraud procedures and improve on existing fraud detection technologies if they are to stay one step ahead of the criminals. Minister Cort added that Antigua and Barbuda is currently seeking to upgrade its border management system, in an effort to keep abreast and stay ahead of criminal elements that continually seek to beat the system.
OAS representative Mr. Jean Ricot Dormeus in his remarks said thanks to efforts such as this workshop, fraudulent multiple IDs, easy forgery of documents and ID tampering will turn into relics of the past. He added that the OAS has been working with governments in the region to modernize the civil registries and document issuance processes.
The objective of the workshop is to promote the exchange of information and experiences regarding international standards on travel documents, new technology, issuance and control of travel documents along with the improvement and modernization of civil registries and the strengthening of border controls. Mr. Erik Slavenas, Programme Officer at ICAO also gave brief remarks and started off the sessions with a presentation on ICAO’s role in setting global MRTD Standards and Specifications.
Participants of the workshop have been drawn from a cross section of agencies including Immigration and Passport and Citizenship Departments.
- Workshop on Climate Change and Human Health supported by the OAS, PAHO and IICA
Antigua and Barbuda, Tuesday August 21, 2012Remarks by OAS Representative Jean Ricot Dormeus Workshop on Climate Change and Human Health supported by the OAS, PAHO and IICA
Mr Acting PS in the Ministry of Health,
Mr. Lionel Michael, Chief Public Health Inspector,
Ms. Rhonda Sealy Thomas, Chief Medical Officer,
Ms. Sally Edwards, Advisor at the Pan American Health Organization,
Ms. Una Mae Gordon, IICA Representative,
Colleague Ruben Contreras and other facilitators,
Ladies and Gentlemen,I am delighted to be associated with this workshop, a historic event in many ways. It is the first time the OAS joins hands with PAHO and IICA in supporting a program in Antigua, and it is the first workshop dedicated to the impact of climate change on human health, although several other activities have been taking place on this hot topic. Therefore, it is an occasion to celebrate the unity of the Inter-American family, as we raise awareness on the health implications of climate and build capacity in order to address it successfully.
Let me thank the Government of Antigua, in particular the Ministry of Health, for giving priority to this important topic. Let me also recognize the determining role of Chief Health Officer Lionel Michael who conducted an excellent preparatory and oversight process. I wish to salute as well the contributions made by Mr. Edwards of PAHO and Ms. Gordon of IICA. I want to mention that the OAS has selected a seasoned expert in the field, my colleague Ruben Contreras, to provide technical contributions. I have no doubt you will be enlightened by Mr. Contreras presentation. This workshop is the result of togetherness, team spirit, and a long term vision for a healthier and better future.
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- Project Officer Ermithe Emily Charlemont of the Trust of the Americas Visits Antigua and Barbuda and Meets OAS Representative Jean R. Dormeus, Roberta Williams and Ms. Angela Ephraim of the GARDC
Antigua and Barbuda, Thursday September 15, 2011The OAS Office in Antigua and Barbuda supports the Trust of the Americas in collaborating with the Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center (GARDC) for the implementation of the “Partnership for Opportunities in Employment through Technology in the Americas” (POETA) program. On Thursday, September 15, 2011, Project Officer Ermithe Emily Charlemont of the Trust paid a visit to Antigua to assess and advance the program. A meeting took place at the OAS Office with Ms. Roberta Williams and Ms. Angela Ephraim of the GARDC, before a field visit.
POETA is a hemispheric initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean that provides marginalized populations with job-ready information and communication technologies (ICT) skills to facilitate their social and economic inclusion. POETA Centers provide training in job-ready computer skills, advanced software applications such as Cisco tools and serve as after-hours community computer centers. Participants are trained in the skills needed to enter the job market.
- The OAS joined the Antigua Energy Desk within the Office of the Prime Minister to sponsor the Energy Week in Antigua and Barbuda from November 7-11, 2011
Antigua and Barbuda, Monday November 7, 2011The OAS joined the Antigua Energy Desk within the Office of the Prime Minister to sponsor the Energy Week in Antigua and Barbuda from November 7-11, 2011 under the theme “Clean Technology for a Sustainable Economy”.
The Energy Week was mandated as an annual event resulted from a decision taken at the Thirty-Fifth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Energy held in Georgetown, Guyana on March 22 – 24, 2011.
The overall aim of the Energy Week falls under the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Program (CSEP), which aims to educate and sensitize nationals and residents in Antigua and Barbuda and other six Caribbean islands on issues relating the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy conservation. CSEP is a joint project funded by the European Union (EU) in partnership with the CARICOM Secretariat, Caribbean Electric Utilities Association (CARILEC) and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
The week of activities in Antigua and Barbuda comprised a National Energy Symposium and Exhibition, Prime Minister’s National Public Speaking and Debate Competition, Student Field Trip/Student Energy Awareness Day, among other activities.”
- Youth Rural Tourism Workshop
Antigua and Barbuda, Friday August 26, 2011Youth Rural Tourism Workshop is an action oriented workshop to help youth set up their business in the area of rural tourism, implementing the powerful tools they received to create their business, grow wealth, give employment, and transform their community.
- Tourism Training and Certification Project
Antigua and Barbuda, Thursday July 28, 2011
Tourism Training and Certification Project, is a resource that implements strategies to promote and deliver training for growth and competitiveness in the tourism industry in Antigua and Barbuda.News clip – The Daily Observer
Remarks by OAS Representative in Antigua and Barbuda, Jean Ricot Dormeus
OAS Donates Firearms Marking Equipment to Antigua and Barbuda
The equipment was delivered during a ceremony held at the Police Training School, in Longford, Antigua and Barbuda, and was attended by the Minister of National Security, Errol Cort, and the OAS Representative in Antigua and Barbuda, Jean Ricot Dormeus.
The donation—funded by the Government of the United States—is part of the program “Promoting Firearms Marking in Latin America and the Caribbean,” following the Inter-American Convention against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and seeks to strengthen national capabilities on matters of firearms marking.
Through this and other initiatives, the OAS seeks to promote efforts to strengthen the capacities of Member States to respond quickly and efficiently to rising levels of crime and violence generated by trafficking in firearms.
The donated equipment is used to develop a process that marks the weapons permanently with identifiable information such as serial number, caliber, model and manufacturing site. This is an essential step to help authorities identify the guns recovered at crime scenes, determine their origins and identify trafficking routes and traffickers.
To date, the following countries have signed a cooperation agreement with the OAS to participate in this program: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
The OAS is assisting the Caribbean region to accelerate the deployment of commercially available renewable energy and energy efficient technologies. This demonstration project was initiated by the ECPA Caribbean Initiative financed by the U.S. Department of State and the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Project (CSEP) program financed by the European Union.
Given the success of the pilot project in showcasing the applicability of solar PV systems and the reduction of electricity consumption within the public sector, the formal inauguration of this project will spotlight the efforts of the OAS through the ECPA Caribbean Initiative and CSEP and A&B Energy Desk in this endeavor.
Antigua and Barbuda:
The main goal is to create a sustainable energy sector that fosters national economic and social development that exploits indigenous energy sources and increase the awareness in Antigua and Barbuda by promoting and demonstrating the use of solar energy technologies in popular sites of the nations’ eco-tourism sector to educate the local citizens and travelers on how the nation is playing its part to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and contributes to mitigating climate change in line with the principles of the National Energy Policy of Antigua and Barbuda approved in June 2011 (facilitated through the CSEP funded by the European Union).
Solar PV system at Shirley Heights National Park lookout in Antigua
Renewed Collaboration between Partnership in Opportunities for Employment through Technology in the Americas, & the GARD Center
The Partnership in Opportunities for Employment through Technology in the Americas (POETA), via the Trust for the
Americas, affiliated with the
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States
(OAS), collaborated with the
GARD Center in 2008 in order to
train 105 disadvantaged/ at risk
youth between 16 – 24 years,
in ICT, job readiness, life skills
and enterprise development in
one year. This job readiness
training added a new component to the Center’s objectives.
The major objective was
“To establish a Community Technology Unit at GARD
Center,” in the eastern-central
section of Antigua and Barbuda
for disadvantaged, at risk youth.
POETA equipped the computer lab with facilities for sixteen
persons using the NComputing
system. The Center was also in
the position to offer the Microsoft self-learning program which
proved very successful and was
highly valued by the trainees.
Recently, Ms. Ermithe Emily
Charlemont, Project Officer –
POETA Youth, for The Trust for
the Americas, contacted the
Center about a POETA Youth
Training Phase II. This subsequently led to the signing of a new
Memorandum of Understand
(MOU) between the two partners and a visit from Ms. Charlemont on 15 September 2011.
As a POETA Youth Center, discussions were held with the
GARD Center regarding providing technological training and
employment opportunities to 100
youth at risk, to include: business
skills, support in job searches
as well as entrepreneurship
training. Software and training
applications to enhance the technological training will be provided
from the Microsoft Corporation.
We look forward to a continued
relationship with POETA and
the training of this target group