A Commission charged with creating a Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be launched this Thursday, May 12, at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Wildey, St. Michael, beginning at 5:00 p.m.
CARICOM Heads of Government took the decision to establish the Commission at their Twenty-fifth Intersessional Meeting in 2014.
It comprises 17 specialists and other stakeholders in Education and Human Resource Development.
Its work is supported by the CARICOM Secretariat, as coordinator, and the CDB, which is financing the establishment of a gender-responsive and socially-inclusive CARICOM strategy for harmonised education reform.
The Regional Education and Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy and Action Plan (the Regional HRD Strategy), which the Commission will shape, is intended to form the basis for converged action by Member States.
It is expected that the Commission will also develop policy recommendations for education reform in CARICOM Member States. The Commission will also engage short-term expertise to collect and analyse data to inform the development of the strategy.
It will also host two four-day Regional Education Sector Monitoring and Evaluation Meetings to promote ownership for, and build capacity in, monitoring and evaluation at the national level.
Following the development of the strategy and action plan, the Commission will be expected to operationalise the structure for coordinating, monitoring and reporting.
Speakers at Thursday’s launch will include Assistant Secretary-General at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Douglas Slater; a representative from the Caribbean Development Bank; a member of the HRD Commission; and one of the two CARICOM Youth Ambassadors from Barbados.
There will also be a Question-and-Answer session for the media to engage the Commission on various aspects of its mandate.