AN Installation Ceremony for the new Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Carla Barnett, was held on Monday 16 August 2021, from 10:00 a.m. ECT.
The Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Hon Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, welcomed the new Secretary-General and brought greetings from the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government.
Dr Barnett outlined her vision and indicated some matters that will occupy her immediate attention.
Belizean Dr Barnett has served in the past as the first woman and the youngest person appointed as Deputy-Secretary of CARICOM (1997 -2002). She is an economist who has also broken other barriers while working across the English-speaking Caribbean, including becoming the first woman appointed as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and as Financial Secretary, in Belize. She also worked at the Caribbean Development Bank as Country Economist and Vice President, Operations.
She is a long-time advocate for gender-equality, “not only because it is the right thing to do to create a more stable and equitable society, but also because gender equality is good economic policy”.
Dr Barnett takes over from Dominican Economist Ambassador Irwin LaRocque who served from 2011-2021. She becomes the 8th Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its predecessor the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), following these other distinguished servants of the Caribbean Community:
Irwin LaRocque of Dominica 2011-2021
Edwin Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago 1992-2010
Roderick Rainford of Jamaica 1983-1992
Kurleigh King of Barbados 1978-1983
Alister McIntyre of Grenada 1974-1977
William Demas of Trinidad and Tobago 1973-1974, and 1969-1973 (CARIFTA)
Frederick Cozier of Barbados 1968-1969 (CARIFTA)