Vice-Chancellor’s Report
SAVING THE CARIBBEAN
The following was authored by Vice-Chancellor Beckles
curve. This early call-to-action accounts for why the region has recorded below par infection and death rates. We shall hear more of this achievement in the future as it will be the core narrative that guides the successful reopening of the tourism lifeline. Then there was the image of our university—The University of the West Indies—rising in its role as a dependable partner on multiple anti-COVID fronts, but particularly in the areas of reliable medicine and relevant science. It is satisfying to see on display the research results of UWI science in the field. Our COVID-19 Task Force, led by Professor Clive Landis, provided our political leaders with the much-needed modelling and surveillance products in respect of the speed of the pandemic’s spread and its expected trajectories. Such data serving to inform evidence-based decision- making and assist in phase two of public policy pronouncements. Holding steady, as a given, the priority of public health, while thinking through how best to manage the reopening of the regional economy, will require the mobilization of the collective wisdom that resides within CARICOM. The ideal is to achieve both objectives simultaneously rather than sequentially. The time is fast approaching to propose regional timelines for the summer.
The opportunity to participate in the Special Emergency Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, on April 15, served to focus my mind around the existential threat to the Caribbean posed by the COVID-19 virus. Caribbean imagination can be forgiven if it is beginning to head in this direction of thought—that the cascading combination of global warming, annual hurricanes, economic downgrades, and coronavirus constitutes a cocktail of apocalyptic proportions. The daily destruction of life, and the diminishing of our way of life, have opened up the inner strengths and weaknesses of Caribbean society and sovereignty. For me, the meeting settled two important matters. Paramount is the issue of where we are in respect of the regional migration and management of the coronavirus. With glowing pride, I congratulate our prime ministers, whose bold strategic actions certainly created the context for all of us to save the Caribbean. Having acted with swiftness and seriousness, they provided the people of the region with the opportunity to get ahead of the COVID
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The UWI
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