BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Tuesday 12th June, 2018 – Social Security delegates from across the Region met in St. Kitts and Nevis, June 06th – 09th for the 29th CARICOM Heads of Social Security Meeting, held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort.
The Heads of Social Security held discussions on Strenghtening Implementation of the CARICOM Agreement on Social Security; Submission of Data on the CARICOM Agreement; Proposed Social Security Intervention Under the Eleventh Euporean Development Fund; Advancing Social Security in the Caribbean Community; Social Security Training Programmes and International Social Security Matters.
During the opening ceremony, featured speaker Mr. Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank focused on three (3) key messages for the sustainability of Social Security systems:
1. The adoption of fiscal resilence framework by Governments is critical to help safeguard the sustainability of Social Security schemes
2. Governments and Social Security Boards ought to adopt a sense of urgency about implementation of key reform and
3. Collective action, as a region, is essential to manage risks and seize opportunities that confront Social Security schemes.
One of the critical recommendations suggested by the Govenor is the pursuance of a more functional cooperation among Social Security schemes in areas such as corporate governance, research and development and investment.
Remarks were presented by Ms. Rosa-Mae Whittier, Free Movement and Labour Officer at the CARICOM CSME Unit; Mr. Reginald Thomas, Director of Centro Interamericano de Estudios de Seguridad Social (CIESS); Dr. Omar de la Torre de la Mora, General Secretary of Conferencia Interamericana de Seguridad Social (CISS), and the Hon. Vance Amory, Senior Minister & Minister of Labour, Social Security and Ecclesiastical Affairs.
Chairman of the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board, Mr. Oscar Walters welcomed the participants to the islands and implored them to remain steadfast in the mission of social security to guarantee benefits to the insured. The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. Elvin Bailey, Director Acting while the Vote of Thanks was deliverd by the Deputy Director Acting, Ms. Marilyn Johnson.
The meeting culminated with the 40th Anniversary Awards Gala Ceremony for the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board.
