News Releases

UWI’s Diplomatic Academy looks at implications of the Post-Brexit UK-Caribbean Relationship

For Release Upon Receipt - April 6, 2021

St. Augustine


The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union or Brexit, which took full effect on January 1, has introduced new opportunities and challenges for the long-standing UK-Caribbean partnership, just as the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated uncertainty in processes of international cooperation and multilateralism. This was the view of participants at a webinar, titled ‘Brexit: Implications for the Caribbean and the Future of UK-Caribbean Relations’, hosted on March 31 by The University of the West Indies St. Augustine’s Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (The UWI DAOC). 

The webinar brought together over 70 persons, hailing from a diverse practitioner community and academia, to share perspectives and policy recommendations on a new chapter in UK-Caribbean relations, stemming from Brexit.

DAOC Manager, Dr. Nand C. Bardouille, pointed out that “the timing of the webinar could not have been better” and underscored that the event took place a few days after the March 16 release of Global Britain in a competitive age, the major policy document that sets out the UK government’s vision for the country’s role in the world. Further, the 10th United Kingdom-Caribbean Ministerial Forum, which the two sides leverage to make steady progress in their partnership, was held virtually on March 18.

During the webinar, participants focused to a considerable degree on the policy document as well as the outcome documents of the Ministerial Forum.   

Webinar panellists were Ambassador Gail Mathurin, Director General, Office of Trade Negotiations within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat; Dr. Tres-Ann Kremer, Head of Good Offices for Peace & Caribbean Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat; Ambassador Errol Humphrey, International Trade and Development Consultant; Dr. Damie Sinanan, Manager, Competitiveness and Export Promotion, Caribbean Export Development Agency; and Dr. Kusha Haraksingh, Honorary Consultant, Office of the Vice-Chancellery, The UWI.

The webinar received high praise, with participants attributing its success to the panellists’ deep, first-hand knowledge of the subject matter and the highly interactive exchange of views. 

 

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Note to the Editor:

Webinar-related documentation is available for download at: https://sta.uwi.edu/daoc/webinars-offered-202021

 

About the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC)

The DAOC is the Caribbean's premier professional development-oriented diplomatic studies centre. An integral part of The University of the West Indies' (UWI) Institute of International Relations (IIR), it was established in 2014. The DAOC has a primary teaching mandate in the area of diplomatic studies, offering short, highly specialized training modules in the broad field of diplomatic studies. For Caribbean professionals seeking to expand their capabilities to advance an international career, the DAOC is a trusted educational partner. Combining a world-class suite of curricular offerings, which align with topical policy and learning trends, with a programme of advocacy and partnerships regarding the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean, the Diplomatic Academy provides a unique setting for stakeholders to deepen diplomatic skills/knowledge and enhance policy expertise.

The DAOC has yielded substantial and complementary benefit to the IIR, which was established in 1966 by agreement between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Government of Switzerland.

Integral to the DAOC's mission is its commitment to help close human resources capacity gaps in international affairs and diplomacy in the Caribbean, by providing capacity-building and skills development training in diplomacy to up and coming diplomats and to aspiring diplomats from the Caribbean Region. This diplomatic learning and training facility also strengthens the University's capacities for research/analysis, knowledge‐sharing, advocacy, and partnerships and dialogue on the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean broadly conceived, with the goal of helping to facilitate policy-relevant awareness-raising on international affairs issues of import (and that are topical) to the Region.

The Diplomatic Academy derives its character from its global outlook, real-world impact and Caribbean mindedness which, in sum, constitute The DAOC Advantage™. For more information, please visit:  https://sta.uwi.edu/daoc.

 

About The UWI

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.

Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

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