October 2014


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Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat, addressed the closing ceremony of a conference commemorating the Bicentenary of the Congress of Vienna put on during the 11th International Association of Latin American and Caribbean Historians meeting in Austria. Here is an excerpt from Professor Sankat’s address at the conference, “The Congress of Vienna and its Global Dimension.”

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen – permit me also to say that the history of the West Indies and that of the leading European countries have been interconnected for centuries because of the experience of colonialism. In fact, many of the countries in the West Indies (commonly referred today as the Caribbean) became involved in the Napoleonic Wars, and so the islands of the Caribbean were the scene of considerable fighting during these wars. As a consequence, even the countries of the Caribbean (most of which were colonies at the time) were affected by the Congress of Vienna! And so, I wish to point out that Europe and the Caribbean share a very long historical relationship! These relations have been strengthened throughout the years, through for example, the partnership between the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) region and Europe and trade agreements such as the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and its precursors the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) and the Lomé Conventions. I must say however, that in recent times, there seem to be diminishing support from Europe to the small island developing states of the Caribbean. We see for example the erosion of preferential treatment for major Caribbean crops such as sugar and bananas. This has created tremendous challenges for rural communities, as well as farmers, agro-entrepreneurs and the economies of several Caribbean states. There is also the perception that many of the Caribbean states have migrated/promoted to developed status and hence many of our Caribbean states may not be eligible for support traditionally received from Europe. In considering this matter, I wish to respectfully suggest that we take into consideration the reality of small states – their smallness and vulnerability including – the constant reality of natural disasters; the effect of climate change; the reality that fragile states of the Caribbean are immediately affected by global shocks such as in the tourism sector and the global financial crisis; in addition, their heavy reliance on imported food which has an impact upon their food security; the challenges of brain drain and migration; communication and commuting challenges between islands which sometimes result from remoteness. These and others characteristics of vulnerability are therefore special considerations which we must take into account when deliberating upon the future of the small states of the Caribbean region. But having said that, let me also say that there is no doubt that the small states of the Caribbean region must endeavor to diversify their economies, and much of this diversification is predicated on building their human resource capacity! A focus on building our human resource capacity to manage our natural resources must be a priority! And it is in this context that building strong relationships and linkages between our higher education institutions, those of Europe and the Caribbean – and more specifically between The University of the West Indies and the University of Vienna are of great significance!