The economic integration of CARICOM is largely conceived through a single economic space; the benefits of which include the sustainable economic development of the Community and improved quality of life for its people. The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is the heart of CARICOM’s economic integration. Better opportunities to produce and sell goods and services competitively and to attract investment; greater economies of scale; increased competitiveness; full employment and improved standards of living for the Community’s people are some of the benefits of the CSME, which ultimate goal is to provide the foundation for growth and development.
An improved and acceptable quality of life for the people of CARICOM and a socially resilient region, capable of taking on the challenges of globalization, underlie the Community’s human and social development pillar of integration.
The Community’s efforts in this context, inter alia –
- promote the improvement of health;
- promote the development of education through the efficient organisation of educational and training facilities in the Community, including elementary and advanced vocational training and technical facilities;
- promote and develop co-ordinated policies and programmes to improve the living and working conditions of workers and take appropriate measures to facilitate the organisation and development of harmonious labour and industrial relations in the Community;
- establish policies and programmes to promote the development of youth and women in the Community with a view to encouraging and enhancing their participation in social, cultural, political and economic activities;
- promote and establish programmes for the development of culture and sports in the Community;
- promote the development of special focus programmes supportive of the establishment and maintenance of a healthy human environment in the Community
Safeguarding and promoting the Community’s interests within the global environment through the coordination of foreign and external relations and deepening the integration movement and building its resilience to facilitate a socially cohesive Community, underlie the Community’s foreign and community relations pillar of integration;
CARICOM’s efforts in this context, inter alia :
- position the Community in the international environment;
- facilitate collaboration, cooperation and strategic alliances with Third States;
- advocate for the special needs of small open states, sensitive to external shocks of all sorts
- mediate in conflict situations and electoral observation
A safe and secure Community for its people and an economically and socially resilient region is the aim of CARICOM’s Security pillar of integration.
The Community’s efforts in this context include measures to:
- combat and eliminate threats to national and regional security;
- ensure expeditious and efficient mobilisation and deployment of regional resources to manage national and regional security crises and to combat serious crimes;
- preserve the territorial integrity of the Member States;
- gather, share and manage intelligence
- increase cooperation in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters among Members of the Community
- promote national justice systems
- establish strategic partnerships with third States and regional and international agencies in the furtherance of regional security and the Community as a zone of peace with stable democracies; and
- promote complementarity between the regional security strategy and national security strategies of Members of the Community;
