CARICOM convenes 17th Meeting of the CARICOM Council for National Security and Law Enforcement

The Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM’s) Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) meets for its 17^th meeting on 21 November 2016, at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown. Under the chairmanship of Barbados’ Attorney-General and Minister of  Home Affairs, Hon. Adriel Brathwaite, QC, MP,  CARICOM  Ministers with responsibility for  National Security are   expected to consider for approval,  the CARICOM Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Action Plan (CCSCAP). This plan provides a framework through which all initiatives of cyber security and cyber crime in the Region will be developed, implemented and managed to eliminate duplication and to realise optimal benefit of  the Region’s  response.

As advances in technology continue to reshape the way business is done globally, economic cyber crime continues to rise, and according to an OAS 2014 Report, the region of  Latin America and the Caribbean has one of the fastest-growing Internet populations in the world, giving rise to a number of significant cybersecurity challenges.

CARICOM’s Strategic Plan for 2015-2019 identifies cyber crime as an obstacle and threat to social and sustained economic development in the Community. Strengthening Cyber Security is seen as a strategy to achieve both technological and social resilience,  two strategic priorities of the Plan with implications for its citizen security.

Heads of Government at their 24^th Intersessional Meeting in Haiti adopted the CARICOM Crime and Security Strategy to guide the Community’s approach to crime and security.

Issues related to Member States’ Citizenship by Investment Programmes (CIPS) will also be discussed, including measures to ensure that national and regional security is not compromised by such programmes. CARICOM’s relationship with Third States and financing the regional security agenda, among other issues, will also engage the attention of the Region’s Ministers of National Security.

The Meeting commences at 09:00 hrs with a brief ceremony chaired by CARICOM Secretariat Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development, Dr. Douglas Slater. Remarks will be given by the Hon. Adriel Brathwaite and CARICOM’s Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. 

“The Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) is responsible for the coordination of the Region’s multi-dimensional security agenda , to ensure a safe and stable Community”.

Tags: CARICOM, Council for Security and Law Enforcement, CPNSLE, cyber crime, cyber security, crime and security, IMPACS, Citizenship by Investment Programmes  CIPS