News Releases

UWI IIR commemorates 10th anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IDC)

For Release Upon Receipt - June 15, 2011

St. Augustine


The Institute of International Relations (IIR) collaborates with the Organization of American States (OAS) Office in Trinidad and Tobago, to host a one-day Seminar on the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IDC), on Friday 17th June, 2011, from 9 am-5 pm, at the IIR, The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus.

This seminar is a part of hemisphere-wide activities commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Charter – unanimously adopted by OAS member states in Lima, Peru, on September 11th, 2001. The OAS Permanent Council views this as an opportunity to highlight the relevance of the IDC as the principal regional instrument for democratic governance and to inform citizens of the Americas of its content and scope.

The Seminar will feature two panels, “The IDC and the Caribbean” and “Comparative Perspectives on the IDC,” and a Diplomatic Roundtable comprising Ambassadors of OAS Member States resident in Port of Spain.

It is coordinated by Prof. Timothy Shaw, IIR Director; and Dr. Riyad Insanally, the OAS Representative in Trinidad and Tobago. The seminar will be opened by Ambassador Víctor Rico, Secretary for Political Affairs, OAS. Amongst the distinguished panellists are Prof. Emeritus Anthony Bryan, former Director of the IIR and Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC; Dr. Jessica Byron, Senior Lecturer, International Relations, Department of Government, UWI, Mona; Mr. Reginald Dumas, former Head of the Public Service of Trinidad and Tobago and former Ambassador to the USA and Permanent Representative to the OAS; Mr. Daniel Erikson, Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere Affairs, US Department of State; Mr. Wesley Gibbings, President, Association of Caribbean Media Workers; Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary General, Foreign and Community Relations, CARICOM Secretariat; Dr. Thomas Legler, Professor of International Relations, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City; and UWI Prof. Emeritus Vaughan Lewis, former Prime Minister of St. Lucia. 

The Seminar is a public event, open to Government officials, the diplomatic community, civil society, the media and university and secondary school students. It will also be available as a live webcast on the IIR website (www.sta.uwi.edu/iir).

Click here to view the agenda for the day. 

Access to the Charter itself may be had online at http://www.oas.org/en/democratic-charter/pdf/demcharter_en.pdf. 

For further information, please contact Ms. Zahra Alleyne at (868) 662-2002 ext 3237, or via e-mail at Zahra.Alleyne@sta.uwi.edu, or contact the IIR Secretariat at (868) 662-2002 ext 3235, 2011, or iirt@sta.uwi.edu.

 

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

 

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