BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) crystallizing these three major threads of collaboration in education, trade policy and in youth development.
University of the West Indies Cave Hill CampusOECS Director General, Dr. Didacus Jules, said that the general purpose of the MOU is to facilitate diverse forms of cooperation between the nine-member sub regional grouping and the UWI by creating an enabling framework.
“It would allow us to move beyond the remit of the current initiatives to wider possibilities of synergy in areas of critical importance to our regional integration mandate,” he said.
Jules said that either of the two institutions may propose new initiatives which could include, but not be limited to technical support, collaborative research, joint teaching, workshops, seminars, and summer institutes as well as combined public outreach, exchange of Interns and Visiting Fellows.
In addition, it will also provide for collaborative initiatives for student development, sharing of knowledge, expertise and ‘best’ practices, mutual use of services and joint pursuit of mutually beneficial initiatives, mutual access to libraries and resource centers and collective strategies to promote Caribbean regionalism.
“It is our hope and expectation that this MOU will not remain a signed document but become a vibrant engagement in many spheres that will develop the intellectual capital of the OECS using cost effective modalities, disruptive methodologies, and focused interventions.”
UWI Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor V. Eudine Barriteau said that as a proud citizen of the OECS member state of Grenada and principal of the Cave Hill campus, she is particularly thrilled to be a signatory of this MOU.
“It is no secret that the OECS has provided the template to the rest of the region on matters of integration and regionalism,” she said, recalling that the late Barbados prime minister Owen Arthur speaking on the OECS-Barbados Political Union Talks, 23 years ago, noted that the countries of the OECS have led the rest of the region in enacting the most effective schemes of regional cooperation at all levels.
She said Arthur had also indicated that they have proven that a group of very small countries can successfully institute, support and sustain a common currency, and defend the rate of that currency.
“Indeed, the OECS is a model of what can be achieved if there is a commitment to partnership and cooperation. The Cave Hill campus has always had a close relationship to the sub-region group of states, whether through proximity or in established programs which support our core mission of meeting Caribbean human resource needs.”
She said throughout the years, both The UWI Cave Hill Campus and the OECS have derived a mutual exchange of value from their relationship.
“Undoubtedly, the Cave Hill campus has benefited significantly from the financial input of OECS generosity. In return, the OECS has similarly benefitted as recipients of a highly educated, well-trained labor force, equipped to run its public service, private sector and legal workforce.
“We recognize and celebrate the OECS as a true champion of education by being a significant contributor to tertiary education in general and a direct and generous benefactor to the people of the region in particular.
“Today we are here to deepen this relationship. The strength of this enduring partnership is reinforced by the fact that the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding, which we highly value, speaks to The OECS’ commitment to the campus as whole, as well as its individual departments. “
