Failures in reconstruction of San Andrés and Providencia (April 5, 2022)

Transparencia por Colombia presented an investigation regarding the transparency and risks of corruption in the process of the reconstruction of the Caribbean islands of San Andrés and Providencia following hurricane devastation in 2020. (El Isleño)

Professor Ana Isabel Márquez, from the National University of Colombia (UNAL) Caribbean Campus explained that the Colombian government failed to take into account local dynamics when planning reconstruction, which remains very delayed. The government's efforts have focused on infrastructure, neglecting other facets of what reconstruction means, economic reactivation, protection of cultural identity. 

"Although some believe that these are not important, they are fundamental because they are the ones that guarantee the survival of the Raizal people in their territory and 'seaitory' (as an image of the 'territory' but from and in the sea)" she said.

Professor Santiago Moreno, also from the UNAL Caribbean Headquarters, pointed out that the government's initial proposal for reconstructing affected homes was based on the lack of knowledge of the environmental and cultural conditions of the islands, which are located 700 km from Cartagena. (Infobae)

Climate Justice and Energy

• The newly released IPCC working group 3 report emphasizes that past and present greenhouse gas emissions are extremely unevenly distributed between global regions and countries. The cumulative emissions of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) between 1850 and 2019 account for less than 0.4% and 0.5% respectively of total global emissions across this period. (Latitude)
  
  
• For both Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, per capita emissions associated with land use and land use change were of approximately the same magnitude as emissions from fossil fuels and industry in 2019. By contrast, in both Europe and North America, where per capita emissions from fossil fuels and industry are much higher, land use and land use change represent a relatively small but important net sink. (Latitude)
  
  
• "The rising price of oil comes at an important moment for Guyana. The government could get its hands on the oil money for the first time in the coming weeks: it can withdraw a total of $600m from the sovereign-wealth fund this year. But it is unclear how the bonanza will affect the country. Will a sudden injection of petrodollars boost much-needed infrastructure and pull thousands out of poverty? Or will it be squandered or stolen?" asks The Economist.
  
  
• Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico much of the damage remains part of daily life. The storm ripped up 28,000 roofs, 80 percent of which have not been durably repaired yet, reports the Providence Journal.
  
  
• Greenpeace expressed major concerns over deep seabed mining before the International Seabed Authority, headquartered in Jamaica. (Petchary's Blog)
  
  
• The Belize blue bond scooped two Environmental Finance awards this year, in the categories of sustainability bond structure and sovereign sustainability bond. The $364 million bond could serve as a blueprint to finance other emerging market countries' climate objectives without adding to their indebtedness, according to Swiss bank Credit Suisse, its underwriter. (See JCU for Sept. 21, 2021.)
  
  
• Experts and activists from Belize, Guyana, Suriname, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Colombia presented and discussed the situation across the region with regard to hydrocarbons and the energy transition on 31 March. See the recording.
  
  
• The CARICOM Secretariat and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) join with the Government of Barbados, the CARICOM negotiators and the broader Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) grouping in expressing its shock and sadness at the sudden passing of Dr. Hugh Sealy. Dr. Sealy was a champion of CARICOM and SIDS issues.
  

Gender and LGBTQ rights

• Cuba’s government is seeking to rally support for a new family code that would open the door to gay marriage and boost women’s rights. But support among the population is tepid, and an upcoming referendum vote may not favor the government's reform plans, reports Reuters.
• Cuba was a regional precursor for reproductive rights: abortion was decriminalized in 1961 and the proceedure became part of the national health system in 1965, recognized as a human right and a tool to diminish maternal mortality. But in recent years voluntary interruption of pregnancy has become harder to access in rural parts of the country, where anti-rights activists have sought to limit abortions, reports Periodismo de Barrio.

• Data from five Caribbean countries shows 46% of women have experienced at least one form of violence from their intimate partner. "The design of urban services and infrastructure impact on the time, cost, safety, comfort and psychological burdens of the users ... With urban planning processes taking better into account the needs and experiences of women and girls, this can change. When given the opportunity, women and girls have proven to design spaces and systems that work better for everyone," write Tonni Ann Brodber and Elkin Velázquez of the UN in a Loop News op-ed.
  
  
• Thirty-six women were killed in femicides in Cuba last year, according to the Observatorio de Género de Alas Tensas.
  
  
• The National Youth Parliament Association of Antigua and Barbuda called on the government to address "period poverty" by providing feminine sanitary products to school students for free and starting an educational campaign within schools. (Caribbean News Roundup)
  
  
• Barbados' government removed VAT on essential and critical care items, including sanitary napkins, tampons, baby and adult diapers and vitamins. (Loop News, Barbados Today)

Decolonization and Racial Justice

• The recent visit by UK royals to Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas throws into sharp relief Caribbean demands for slavary reparations. (See JCU for March 24.) "Though republican camps in the Caribbean have long cited the impact of colonialism and slavery on the contemporary fortunes of their countries, a new reckoning is afoot, against the backdrop of the global Black Lives Matter movement and renewed conversations about the legacy of empire," reports the Guardian.
  
  
• The UK and other European governments are likely to have to respond to a Caribbean request to establish a formal mechanism to discuss restorative justice for slavery, writes David Jessop in the Jamaica Gleaner. Speaking about this recently in her role as chair of CARICOM’s prime ministerial subcommittee on reparations, Mia Mottley, Barbados’ prime minister, said that following a consultation with the African Union, a draft letter is now before Caribbean Heads. This will be sent soon, she said, to European nations responsible for colonisation and enslavement.

Governance and Transparency

• The World Bank has requested details on how its funding for food assistance during the pandemic was used to help Bahamians. Bahamas officials said the government has not been able to provide the information because it does not have it. (Caribbean Chronicle)
  

Regional

• ECLAC executive secretary Alicia Bárcena says the hallmark of equality and its key impact on the development process of countries in the region and on human progress distinguish the legacy of over the last decade. (CMC)
  
  
• St Lucia signalled its intention to become the fifth Caricom country to have full membership of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region's final court. (CMC)
  

Public Security

• Haiti registered 225 kidnappings during the first quarter of 2022, representing a 58% jump from the same period a year ago, reports Bloomberg.
  
  
• Thousands of Haitians took to the streets last week to denounce crime, inflation, and political paralysis in the largest episode of unrest since President Jovenel Moïse's assasination last year. Demonstrators protested against rising insecurity and called for an end to kidnappings. The Port-au-Prince demonstration was largely peaceful, but one person died after being shot by police in Les Cayes, reports EFE.

Culture

• Two members of the Mighty Diamonds, a Jamaican trio that helped lead the wave of roots reggae arising from the streets of Kingston to international acclaim in the 1970s, have died within days of each other. Tabby Diamond, whose birth name was Donald Shaw, was shot and killed outside his home in Kingston on Tuesday. He was 66. Bunny Diamond, born Fitzroy Simpson, died on Friday at a hospital in the same city. He was 70. (New York Times)

Opportunities

• Fellowship for the Human Rights in the Caribbean --  young professional lawyers from the States of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago with an interest in human rights invited to apply -- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
  
  
• Internship in Environment Affairs and Climate Change at UNEP. More information here.
  
  
• Mini Survey for Strengthening EVAWG Movement Building in the Caribbean -- UN Women Caribbean
  
  
• BCAF Readiness Support Call for Proposals, aiming to increasing the global supply of investment-ready blue carbon restoration projects -- The Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund

Events

• 6 and 13 April --  Training on Building Climate Campaigns -- 350.org-Caribbean -- Register here
  
  
• 22 April -- "Good Hair" Entanglements of Race, Gender and Law in a Post-Colonial Caribbean -- University of the West Indies.

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