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April 2009
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EDITORIAL As you read this, the events surrounding the various versions of the Summit of the Americas would have ended. Hopefully, the ideas raised will resonate more powerfully for having been bounced around in such a refreshingly diverse series of chambers, and will move past being conceptual creatures and take the shape of real projects and programmes that yield benefits to the general citizenry. At The University of the West Indies, we understand the importance of providing that interstice for differing views. The UWI hosted the “Forum of the Workers of the Americas” which was organised by the National Trade Union Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (NATUC), headed by Michael Annisette. The Coalition of Civil Society organisations for the Summit of the Americas planned its Civil Society Forum, at our Daaga Hall Auditorium. And although The UWI did not organise or structure the events, its St Augustine campus was the location for what came to be known as The IV People’s Summit of the Americas, held by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non Governmental Organisations (FITUN), led by David Abdulah in partnership with the Hemispheric Social Alliance and the Assembly of Caribbean People Indeed, several members of the academic staff and students were participants at the various events: our Students Guild Council President Hillan Morean and others attended the Youth Forum. As a citizen actively committed to serving our stakeholders, The UWI was happy to accommodate these discussions and will work towards seeing those ideas recorded, considered, and where appropriate, put into action. As participants and observers of the process, we remain vigilant to ensure that even in a society whose equilibrium has been shaken, ideas and discourse continue to be treated as valuable foundations and must always be nurtured. |
