The Hummingbird

Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2015 The ECLAC Newsletter It’s !

During the four-day holiday of carnival festivities in , activ- ity on the island nearly comes to a standstill. The parades and parties start on Big Sunday (Dimanche Gras) and finish on Ash Wednesday when the car- nival effigy, the ―Vaval‖ King, is burned. In Puerto Rico, one of the tradi- tions of carnival is the appearance of the "vejigantes", which is a colourful cos- tume traditionally representing the devil or, simply, evil. Vejigantes carry blown cow bladders with which they make sounds and hit people throughout the processions. Masqueraders on the stage at Queen’s Park Undoubtedly the largest in the Savannah, Port of Spain. region, and Tobago carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and ONCE again there is a special vibe in time, expect to participate in dance Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. the air across the Caribbean, as coun- parties around the city, and see colour- The ―mas‖ tradition started in tries gear-up for pre-Lenten carnival ful costumes. the late 18th century with French plan- celebrations. Aruba, , Cuba, Cura- Curacao carnival is one of the tation owners organizing masquerades cao, , Dominican Republic, oldest in the Caribbean (starting since and balls before beginning the Lenten Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, the 19th century in private clubs as fast. Indentured labourers and slaves, Puerto Rico and – chief among them – masquerade parties), and features fan- who could not take part in Carnival, will be looking to tastic parades, floats, costumes and formed their own parallel celebration. put on impressive spectacles of colour, characters. This was called ―‖, dance and music. Carnival is unquestionably from the French ―cannes brulées‖, mean- This year, Carnival falls in mid the most festive season in Dominica, ing burnt cane. This festivity is re- -February, so the season is shorter than even more so than Christmas. enacted up to today, with a traditional previous years – which means that there The whole month of February costume parade through downtown Port will be a lot to pack-in. is dedicated to celebrating carnival in of Spain, and culminating in a popular In Aruba, events began on 1 the Dominican Republic, although stick-fighting competition. January and include a calypso and road some towns celebrate it during March, The Panorama and Dimance march competition, the Tivoli Lighting and even August. The festival usually Gras competitions are also popular dur- Parade, and a few large street parades. climaxes around 27 February, which ing Carnival, which is the most signifi- Although carnival celebrations coincides with the island’s Independ- cant event on the islands' cultural and bear many similarities across the region, ence Day. tourism calendar. each island has its own cultural inter- From the beginning of Janu- Traditionally, the festival was pretation that make each a truly unique ary in Guadeloupe you can see groups associated with ; however, experience. of people rehearsing in the streets, in recent decades has re- In Haiti, ―Kanaval‖ is cele- singing, dancing, and preparing for the placed calypso as the more popular brated with music, bands and parades of main festivities. genre. Costumes, stick-fighting, j’ouvert, large floats throughout the streets of Guyana’s Mashramani, often and competitions are also impor- Port Au Prince. The floats typically have abbreviated to "Mash", is an annual tant components of the festival. sound systems set up on trucks to play festival that celebrates Guyana becom- This world-class festival with music for the crowds. Food stands sell- ing a Republic in 1970. The festival, vibrant music, colourful costumes, and ing barbecued treats and rum are a usually held on 23 February – Guy- general merriment plays out until the popular part of these celebrations. anese Republic Day – includes a pa- stroke of midnight on the morning of If you visit Cuba at carnival rade, music and games. Ash Wednesday. Page 2 The Hummingbird

ECLAC in the Caribbean The Regional Roundup

Knowledge networks OAS to observe elections in Saint Kitts and REPRESENTATIVES from Caribbean governments are set to review how e- THE Organization of American we will have a mission up to the re- government systems operate in the re- States will be observing the general quirements of your country and of gion at an Expert Group Meeting to be elections in your democracy,‖ Insulza told Henry- hosted on 24 February by ECLAC, Port later this month. Martin. of Spain. OAS Secretary General Jose Saint Kitts and Nevis will be Entitled "Regional approaches Miguel Insulza and St Kitts and Ne- choosing its next government on Feb- to e-government application develop- vis’ Permanent Representative to the ruary 16. ment in the Caribbean", the meeting OAS, Jacintha Lorna Henry-Martin, ―I believe that this will constitute an- will focus on an ECLAC study of e- have signed an electoral observation other rung on the ladder of successes government systems implemented in mission agreement. we´ve had in the execution of elections five Caribbean countries, namely Anti- The chief of mission will be that prove that we want to remain gua and Barbuda, , , Ambassador Frank Almaguer. among the ranks of those that honour Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and ―Electoral observations for and respect what democracy repre- Trinidad and Tobago. The meeting is expected to us are very important and I can as- sents, not only for our nation, but for recommend ways in which the govern- sure you, Madame Ambassador that our peoples,‖ Henry-Martin said. ments of the region can harmonise their efforts to acquire and implement e- government systems. E-government systems can government aims to lower cost of living improve the efficiency of governments and help citizens to more easily perform THE high cost of living in Antigua Authorising Office (NAO) to secure activities, such as applying for permits and Barbuda is a growing concern for the services of an expert from the UN or filing taxes. Though implementing all residents and now the government Economic Commission for Latin these systems can be difficult and ex- is moving to do something about it. America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). pensive, the meeting will seek to deter- It was recently reported that Head of the NAO, Ambassa- mine how countries can benefit from the government has commissioned a dor Dr. Clarence Henry, indicated working together on these projects. study to look into all the factors that that the study would include consul- It is believed that mutual coop- affect prices in the country and to tation with key stakeholders as well eration in these efforts could reduce examine how to make the cost of liv- as policy makers. At the end of the costs, improve application quality, elimi- ing more affordable. exercise, a report will be presented to nate redundancy, and enable the stan- The Ministry of Trade is Cabinet with recommendations for dardisation of systems across the region. working through the National considerations. There are obvious political and technical obstacles to this approach. Experts at this meeting will discuss how these may be overcome, so that the peo- The newest member of the OECS ple of the Caribbean may benefit. THE French Caribbean just got a with the OECS health authority on whole lot closer to the rest of the Ebola and Chikugunya, in compliance region. with international health regulations, In a recent ceremony in and has also been offering access to Fort-de-France, the French Carib- the most advanced medical technology bean island of Martinique officially for cancer detection, the cytotron. joined the Organization of Eastern Martinique was the host ter- Caribbean States (OECS) as an as- ritory for the 60th meeting of the sociate member, the first-ever OECS Authority earlier this month. French territory to do so. Jules stated he was optimistic OECS Director General Dr. that the ascension will further the Didacus Jule noted that in October interests of Martinique as well as that 2014, there was unanimous and of the other OECS states, and that the historic approval by the Regional the deepening of collaboration will also Council for Martinique’s associate find expression in the broadening of membership. business and special interests. Since then, Martinique has The OECS membership now Fort de France, Martinique been actively involved in meetings stands at 10 countries. Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2015 The ECLAC Port of Spain Newsletter Page 3

ECLAC in the Caribbean Launch of Social Panorama 2014 report

DESPITE the progress made over the distribution and social spending in Latin addition, they were among the main past decade, structural poverty is still a America and the Caribbean. victims of murder, with seven of the feature of and Caribbean The Social Panorama examined world’s 14 most violent countries being societies. three main areas, which were youth and in the Latin American region. This is one of the findings re- development, gender inequality in the While most of the countries in ported in the Social Panorama of Latin labour market, and urban residential Latin America have seen participation America 2014, a flagship publication of segregation. gaps between women and men narrow ECLAC, which was launched at head- With the region’s economy slow- over the past decade, there was still quarters in Santiago, Chile on 26 Janu- ing since 2010, the data for 2013 showed need for improvement in women’s par- ary. that the income poverty rate did not ticipation in the paid labour market. This annual study took a look at change since 2011, and there were no In the English-speaking coun- the multidimensional measurement of significant differences in the poverty and tries of the Caribbean the gaps were poverty in five main areas, including, indigence rates compared to 2012 figures. smaller, but there is still a long way to housing, basic services, education, em- With regards to income distribu- go to achieve greater equality. A similar ployment and social protection, and stan- tion, the results showed a decrease in pattern is evident with respect to the dard of living (identified as monetary polarization with an increase of the mid- number of hours worked, occupational income and the possession of durable dle income group. The study shows that segregation and the higher proportion of goods). the middle class had more confidence in women in the low-productivity sector. The results indicate that during their children’s future economic well- And with respect to socio- the period 2005 to 2012, there was a de- being, than those who considered them- economic residential segregation in the crease in multidimensional poverty, selves to be a lower class. larger Latin American cities, the report which was similar to the rate of poverty The study also reflected signifi- confirmed that there was a downward measured by income alone. cant progress in the educational coverage trend in the last 15 years, although it Other areas focussed on in the of the region’s youth. However, they still continued to be greater among the report include the recent evolution of suffered higher unemployment rates and wealthiest groups than among the most poverty and extreme poverty, income had less social protection than adults. In disadvantaged.

Digital currencies Addressing the rights of older persons in the Caribbean THE human rights of older persons have recently been receiving increased attention from Latin American and Caribbean countries. FOR the second time in recent months, ECLAC will host a meet- Although there is not yet a unifying convention on the rights of older ing on digital currencies in the Caribbean. This second EGM is persons, they are addressed to varying degrees in a wide range of scheduled for 12 March, and will again include representatives treaties, laws and agreements of differing legal status and scope. from regional Central Banks and other government agencies, as ECLAC is planning to raise the awareness of policy mak- well as representatives from the digital currency industry. ers and experts from across the Caribbean to address common issues Digital currencies are a new range of electronic pay- and challenges related to the human rights of older persons, with a ment technologies that have the potential to greatly impact sec- view to improving on this situation. tors such as banking, e-commerce, and remittances. These tech- The meeting will analyse recent advances and gaps, and nologies include cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, as well as provide a forum for sharing best practice in respect of policies aimed "mobile money" solutions that enable electronic transactions to at this age group. It will also seek to identify concrete recommenda- be facilitated using cellular phones. tions to help member states to advance the rights of older persons. At an earlier meeting on this topic, ECLAC discovered Population ageing, which will have a huge impact on Car- that there is significant value in facilitating the discussion of ibbean countries and territories during the coming decades, makes concerns between the fledgling digital currency industry and the action on behalf of older persons even more imperative. Too many agencies that have a responsibility to ensure that adequate regu- older people do not have an adequate income or are in a highly pre- lations are in place to protect the public interest, especially with carious situation, where a single event such a health problem or a regard to concerns including consumer protection and the pre- change in family circumstances can push them to near destitution. vention of money laundering. There is an urgent need to strengthen systems of social The meeting, to be held in March, will review a draft protection and increase investment in public health and social care report on digital currencies in the Caribbean, which builds on services. the recommendations that came out of the previous meeting in There is also growing recognition of the need to address December. elder abuse: physical abuse, violence, neglect or abandonment of It is hoped that the final report will serve as a valuable older persons either by family members or care workers. aid to governments and central banks of the region as they seek The meeting will address these and other issues through a to develop effective policy responses to this emerging new tech- nology. human rights-based approach. Page 4 The Hummingbird The Regional Roundup

Focus on the ECLAC Family Hardcore training What’s Up … upcoming events in the Caribbean

WHEN WHERE WHAT

5-7 February Jamaica Nexus Caribbean Youth Sum-

7 February Taste of Cayman Food and

13-15 February Antigua and Barbuda Jolly Harbour Yacht Club Re-

13-15 February The Bahamas Invitational Wahoo Fishing

15–22 February Barbados Holetown Festival: This is an annual festival which includes a variety of entertainment such as ECLAC staff at their kayaking session. gospel, classical, and calypso music, as well as folk dancing, presented in free open- A FEW members of ECLAC subregional headquarters staff have recently taken up the Hardcore Caribbean challenge in a bid 17-21 February Saint Kitts and Nevis Admiral’s Cup Pro-Am Golf to tap into their ultimate fitness potential, as part of a group formed by Research As- sistant Nyasha Skerrette. 18 February Cayman Islands Agriculture Show and Fair Hardcore Caribbean is one of the 19-22 February Curacao International Swim Fashion main obstacle course challenge series in the Caribbean. It comprises 20 water and land- based military-style obstacles over a 5 mile 21 February Antigua and Barbuda Health and Wellness Street course. Obstacles are designed to level the playing field regardless of physical size: it doesn’t matter if you’re 250lbs of solid mus- 21-22 February Jamaica Blue Mountain Music Festival: cle or a petite 5 footer, hardcore Caribbean This premier music festival is will test your physical and mental stamina held annually in the Blue Moun- to the maximum. tains of Jamaica. The two-day The preparation needed for such a event offers patrons an experience challenge requires significant commitment. where music meets food, art, craft By working towards this goal with office- and nature. mates and friends, ECLAC staff have found a ready-made support system to encourage 22 February Independence Day them along the way. 27 February—3 Fashion Expo The current participation require- ments for the ECLAC group formed by Nya- sha include exercising at least three times, 27 February The Bahamas Rum Cay Day Festival: This all- and running at least two miles, per week. day festival features a church Activities are tracked and the top service, cultural entertainment, performers announced regularly. Each ―rake and scrape‖ bands, local month, participants are also required to craft, food and drink. participate in a boot camp conducted by Spartan Fitness, in addition to one group 26 February—7 Curacao Plein Air Art Festival: Local and activity such as hiking, kayaking, and bik- March international artists will paint on ing, among other activities. land as well as underwater. A Hardcore Caribbean climaxes in variety of media will be used with August 2015 approaches, so we shall closely emphasis on oils, watercolours monitor how their fitness activity and stam- and pastels. ina increases.

A Publication of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 1 Chancery Lane, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Tel: (868) 224-8000 Web: http://www.cepal.org/portofspain/