1 July 2016 - Climate change, indebtedness,
protecting migrant remittances and banking systems, and the
consequences of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on
small and vulnerable economies are priority concerns for the
Commonwealth Secretary-General as she heads to Guyana for the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) Conference of Heads of Government.
Secretary-General
Patricia Scotland said: “Twelve of the member countries sitting around
the table at this meeting are Commonwealth members. This is where
policies
that affect the lives of people in the Caribbean are shaped, so this
conference is an opportunity to work towards solutions in support of
national development.”
During
her exchanges with governments and regional organisations such as the
Caribbean Development Bank, she will make available a Commonwealth
policy paper
which addresses the unintended consequences on the Caribbean’s banking
sector and migrant remittances of regulatory measures to prevent money
laundering and the financing of terrorism.
She
said: “We have a situation where financial institutions are reacting to
these regulations by terminating or restricting business relationships
with clients,
or categories of clients, in order to avoid risk,” she said. “It is a
big concern for the finance ministers in the region I have spoken to,
because it is making it increasingly difficult for local banks to
operate effectively with international financial services.
This form of ‘de-risking’ is also having a knock-on effect on the many
people in the Caribbean who depend on remittances – money from their
families and friends abroad.”
“Commonwealth
experts have come up with key solutions to these issues, which we hope
Caribbean leaders will seriously consider. These include
capacity-building
for financial regulators in developing countries, setting high
standards for money transfer businesses to help increase their
legitimacy and reputation, and better guidance and standards for banks.”
In
addition, the Secretary-General will discuss the piloting of a
Commonwealth Multilateral Debt Swap for Climate Action Initiative which
will write off countries’
debt in exchange for climate action. She will also highlight progress
made on the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, which was announced
at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year to help
countries access funds to deal with climate change.
“We
have already selected a pool of experts for the Climate Finance Access
Hub and have requests from a number of Caribbean countries for support
to benefit
from the substantial funds already pledged for climate action, but
which are challenging to access. This is part of a package of measures,
following our effective advocacy at the climate change summit in Paris
last year, to ensure that countries can urgently
respond to this existential threat and honour commitments made at
COP21,” she said.
From Guyana, the Secretary-General will fly to Jamaica, where she will launch a new
Commonwealth collaboration on youth leadership with
Common Purpose, a development charity, and the
University of the West Indies.
She added: “I have set these young people the immense challenge of
finding solutions to the challenges and barriers that the world is
grappling with in achieving its sustainable development
goals.
“This
initiative will really give young people, who represent 60 percent of
the Commonwealth’s more than two billion population, a voice on key
national, regional
and global issues, equip them with leadership skills and provide them
with the networks and opportunities to really make a difference in their
communities and across the globe.”