Zika, Climate Change High on CARICOM Leaders’ Agenda

The impact of the mosquito-borne Zika Virus on tourism-dependent countries of the Caribbean Community, or Caricom bloc, is expected to be one of the main issues that will be on the table among the 15 heads of state of the regional organization when they meet in Placencia, Belize next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The meeting comes as the World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a "public health emergency of international concern."

The Caricom leaders will hear from health experts of the Caribbean Regional Public Health Agency, or CARPHA, which has been providing the bloc's countries with testing services, as well as advice on prevention and control.

The leaders of the bloc are also expected to sign agreements to jointly tackle the Zika Virus.

During the two-day summit, the regional leaders will also engage in dialogue on climate change with special emphasis on positioning the region to benefit from access to financing, a key component of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

A press release from the Guyana-based Caricom organization stated that the meeting will provide leaders the opportunity to build on the favorable outcome from COP21 for Small Island Developing States, or SIDS, which include Caricom nations.

“Caricom negotiators pushed the special circumstances for scaled up financing for the implementation activities in SIDS, and the agreement includes a baseline contribution of US$100 billion annually for both adaptation and mitigation,” the bloc added in the statement.

The meeting will be chaired by incoming Caricom Chairman Dean Barrow, who is the prime minister of Belize.

Caricom includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.