The Hummingbird Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2015 The ECLAC Port of Spain Newsletter It’s Carnival! During the four-day holiday of carnival festivities in Martinique, 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, Trinidad 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, Haiti, Cuba, Cura- Curacao carnival is one of the tation owners organizing masquerades cao, Dominica, 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, Trinidad and Tobago will be looking to tastic parades, floats, costumes and formed their own parallel celebration. put on impressive spectacles of colour, characters. This was called ―Canboulay‖, 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 calypso music; however, experience. of people rehearsing in the streets, in recent decades Soca music 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 limbo 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 Nevis 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 Saint Kitts and Nevis 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, Barbados, Jamaica, 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 Antigua and Barbuda 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 Latin America 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.