This is my last column for 2023, sadly the last that SEARCHLIGHT’s long-standing Editor, the indefatigable Sister Clare Keizer, will edit in that role. I will pay tribute to her outstanding contribution in a subsequent column.

For now, I can only wish her all the best in her endeavours, including her expected contributions as to how to keep the paper alive and constantly improving in these most challenging times.

Each year, in our assessments of the passing year, we end up saying how “challenging” it has been. What more can we say about 2023? Even as we began just emerging out of the Covid pandemic, Covid-related issues continued to plague countries great and small, especially in the economic and social fields. But for humankind as a whole, a far bigger threat continued to loom ever nearer, that of the devastating effects of climate change. In our own ways, in different conditions, it became clearer that if an “end” awaits us, we are doing our best to hasten it. Not a single region avoided the worrying manifestations.

The usual end of year climate conference was held this year in Dubai. The annual conference has long been marked by cynicism and unfulfilled commitments. This year though, on paper at least, international recognition of the absolute need to move away from fossil fuels was forced and the need to do so endorsed by the Conference (COP 28). Though one expects this to be undermined for some time to come, it was a major milestone as was the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund.

There are of course cynics who pour scorn on such agreements for not going far enough but in the process, we learn a lot of lessons in building coalitions for international good and even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances, being able to build coalitions for international good. Thus, in the face of Israeli genocide, Hamas had to find ways to negotiate partial agreements to allow the Palestinian people to gain access to life-saving supplies. Some medicines are difficult to swallow but necessary in the wider context.

We as Vincentians can feel proud that our country has been rapidly learning the lessons internationally. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister our stock has grown exponentially in the world today. We experienced it with our election to the United Nations Security Council, which boosted our standing not only in the UN bodies but globally as well. In 2023 we saw some of the results of this, our tiny country being entrusted as a go-between for prisoner exchange between the mighty USA and Venezuela. There were also our ground-breaking peace efforts in the Guyana/Venezuela conflict. Many of our people in politics and in the media still do not seem to appreciate the importance of the Argyle Declaration, still continuing to try and fan flames rather than building peace tracks.

At the national level, I have already repeatedly insisted that we need to pay attention to solid painstaking consciousness-building. The grand announcements have their places but the mere establishment of high-falutin mechanisms will not by themselves achieve the necessary levels of consciousness. In spite of all that has happened in the world, our people to a large extent consider ourselves as more part of “the west” than in any affinity with the rest of Latin America, Africa and Asia or indeed the indigenous people of Australia. The commitment to the struggle of our people for just reparations has not yet sunken into the psyche of our people. Many of those chosen to lead the institutions for a new world, themselves need to be imbued with a new consciousness. It is a challenge we must meet head-on, pushing egos aside.

The role of education and consciousness becomes more critical each hour, day and year. In this, without being presumptuous, I wish to suggest that the role of the state media in all this is very critical. Clearly the long-promised amalgamation and streamlining needs to be implemented. Wise and experienced, but humble and listening leadership is needed for that exercise. We cannot afford laziness and personal convenience. Objectivity and a clear understanding of national interests and priorities are vital in this exercise.

Let me end for now by giving an example. SVG is an integral member of the CARICOM family but is even closer to our immediate neighbours in the OECS. We ought to know more about Antigua, St Kitts or Dominica than any other regions outside our grouping. Is this so? Do our reports on regional and international news reflect this? If there is not a conscious effort, we will continue along the old path. What are the issues in our sister OECS islands besides crime?

Even in sport the same warped focus exists. What do we know about the major sporting competitions or athletes in our neighbouring states? We cannot continue parroting the international media but must make efforts to build our own networks of knowledge. Can we not give it a determined try in 2024?

• Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.