CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will launch a new high-level Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change on Wednesday.
The Declaration will be launched at the Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week (LACC) in Panama.
The OECS Commission said OECS member states signed off on a ministerial declaration presented at the OECS second Immigration Council of Ministers Meeting held on April 13, 2023, in Dominica.
It said Eastern Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are recurrently exposed to climate-related hazards, the impact of which is increasing, resulting in both internal and cross-border displacement.
These impacts threaten the human security of at-risk populations in the region, limiting efforts to enable vulnerable people to live free from fear, free from want, and the opportunity to live in dignity.
The Commission said that the Ministerial Declaration demonstrates OECS member states and Associate Members’ commitment to mitigate climate change impact and address human mobility relating to environmental degradation.
“This is a true reflection of the collective commitment among the leaders of the OECS to take action against the climate change phenomenon that threatens the very survival of our region,” said OECS Commission Director General Dr Didacus Jules in support of the Declaration.
Project coordinator Viola Pascal noted, “Leveraging the multistakeholder, comprehensive and people-centered principles central to the human security approach in realizing this high-level Ministerial Declaration is very timely to strengthen advocacy by OECS SIDS towards political and socioeconomic support to protect the at-risk population.”
The Ministerial Declaration is a significant achievement under a joint human security program implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the OECS Commission, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) under the guidance of the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
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