The Ward Post Bi-Monthly Brief
Vol. 2. No. 6. (November – December 2017)
The Ward Post Bi-Monthly Brief brings together in one convenient location a synopsis of, and links to the TWP blogs posted during the previous two months period.
Hopes Fears , and Challenges for 2018 – Global Landscape – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(12/29/2017)—In 2018 the international community – not an abstract term, but humanity – will face serious challenges to international peace and security, human development, and human security. There will be new challenges, but most are being carried over and are a result of, or exacerbated by lack of responsible leadership and timely action to ameliorate or prevent increasing threats to regional and global security. This will include challenges which stem from natural disasters which, in some cases, have become more acute due to lack of responsible action to ameliorate their threat to human security. …Read More
Defying Trump’s Blackmail on UN Vote – Caribbean Countries Divided – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(12/21/2017) —The recent decision by President Donald Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was in complete defiance of United Nations resolutions and international norms. Trump’s decision was in contravention of UN resolutions which have stood for decades. The Palestinians and countries around the world who support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue denounced Trump’s decision. Condemnation was almost universal, and most governments are now of the view that the U.S. has forfeited any semblance of neutrality thus removing itself from any major future role in brokering a Middle East peace. …Read More
Slavery: A Human Tragedy and Crime against Humanity – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(12/07/2017) —The perpetrators of crimes against humanity – human trafficking and slave trade – taking place in Libya must not go unpunished. Many countries had been aware of these egregious acts for some time and had remained silent. The United Nations community, and thus all UN Member States, was warned by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on April 11, 2017 when Leonard Doyle, chief IOM spokesman in Geneva sounded the alarm. Doyle said then that “Migrants who go to Libya while trying to get to Europe, have no idea of the torture archipelago that awaits them just over the border.”
Doyle said that trafficked victims from several African countries “…become commodities to be bought, sold and discarded when they have no more value.” He pointed out that hundreds of migrants along North African migrant routes are being bought and sold openly in modern day slave markets. …Read More
Security Risks Posed by Terrorist Threats Should be Discussed at Tourism Conference – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(11/24/2017) —Attracting the “Global Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism” to Montego Bay, Jamaica is a major milestone for the country and the Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and the Jamaican Government deserve a great deal of credit. … The agenda was developed to mark the importance of 2017 as the “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.”
Understandably, there is concentration on various areas of tourism development. Having a chance to peruse the agenda, I would be remiss if I failed to point out a major omission that relates to threats to tourism security and resilience. The agenda fails to adequately recognize the commonly accepted principle that development takes place in an environment that is safe and secure – where uncertainty is reduced by putting in place an appropriate security platform to reduce risks and create a safe environment for development. …Read More
Rep. Yvette Clarke Leads Efforts to Protect Haitians and other TPS Beneficiaries – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(11/21/2017) —Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) is leading a bi-partisan effort in the U.S. Congress to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians, Central Americans and other TPS eligible nationals of Asia, Africa and the Middle East and to provide them with a path to permanent residency. Following on the expectation that TPS to Haitians would end January 2018 when the six month extension given to Haitian TPS beneficiaries in July 2017 would expire, Rep. Clarke, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress, Bill H.R.4384, on November 14, 2017 to protect TPS beneficiaries from Haiti, a number of Central American countries and other regions. The Bill also has the support of a number of her Democratic colleagues and Mia Love (R-UT) who signed on as co-sponsors. The Bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on which Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), also a co-sponsor of H.R.4384, is the Ranking Member. …Read More
State Department Budget Cuts Deeply into Caribbean Programs – Ambassador Curtis A. Ward
(11/08/2017) —Over the past few months I have been raising alarm concerning the possible impact president Donald Trump’s budget cuts on the U.S. State Department is expected to have on USAID assistance programs and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). Now that the FY 2018 Budget is advancing in the U.S. Congress, Caribbean diplomatic efforts and Caribbean Diaspora political action must be intensified if there is any hope of maintaining FY 2017 spending levels or restoring any of the cuts already proposed by the U.S. State Department in its proposal to the Congress (Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Fiscal Year 2018). What is most important is that the Caribbean diplomatic corps in Washington and the Caribbean Diaspora across the United States must work in tandem on seeking a better deal for the Caribbean. …Read More
Conversations with America: U.S.-Jamaica Relations during President Obama’s Administration
(11/06/2017) —Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater, U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, and Ambassador Curtis Ward, former ambassador of Jamaica to the United Nations and currently President of the Caribbean Research and Policy Center have a conversation on U.S.-Jamaica Relations, moderated by Deputy Assistant Secretary Cheryl Benton, from the Department of State in Washington, D.C. on March 16, 2012.
In light of the future effect of President Trump’s budget cuts on USAID and other U.S.-Jamaica programs, it is worth revisiting these issues. The issues discussed include: security programs under President Obama’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative; curbing illicit trafficking in firearms from the U.S. to Jamaica; U.S. assistance in putting in place a safety net for the vulnerable population in light of expected conditions under then impending IMF agreement; all USAID programs in Jamaica; developing alternative energy resources in Jamaica; and increased access to student visas to attend tertiary institutions in the U.S. …Read More
Jamaica Diaspora a Nation Builder – Voices from the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference
(11/01/2017)—CaribNation TV attended the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference and in this videoprovides a series of interviews with a number of the Jamaican Diaspora conference participants and representatives of the market place. Narration written by Ambassador Ward. …Read More – Video
© 2018 Curtis A. Ward/The Ward Post
Leave a Comment