ON 4TH JULY, the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) celebrated the signing of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas which established the Caribbean Community and Common Market. CARICOM was created to give greater focus to economic cooperation,trade, foreign policy coordination and functional cooperation amongst its participating Members. Importantly, in the context of what was then a volatile geopolitical landscape, the formation of CARICOM was also expected to provide a strategic buffer for the region to navigate the world stage.

Forty nine years later, notwithstanding the many criticisms, some justifiable, CARICOM remains relevant and is perhaps even more relevant today. The global geopolitical landscape is once again volatile; after decades of economic globalization, there is evidence of decoupling on the part of some countries; the risk of a major global recession is looming; food insecurity is increasing; climate change poses an existential threat; and many other challenges abound.

As a collection of sovereigns, with the exception of its Members or Associate Members which have yet to attain independence, every CARICOM Member State has the right to make its own way in the world. However, the chances of success are much improved when the collective takes on the world together.

However, the often repeated criticisms of CARICOM merit introspection and action on the part of leaders and decision-makers. Ordinary citizens sometimes experience a disconnect between the letter and intent of decisions taken at the highest levels and their actual implementation. For example, what should be hassle free travel can sometimes be the opposite. Similarly, the promise of a single market sometimes proves elusive for the business people trying to get their goods into regional markets.

There is still room to dismantle barriers, including negative attitudes towards the regional integration project. Ideally, people travelling across CARICOM should encounter no more difficulty than someone traversing between Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica.

Someone trying to move goods across the region should be able to do so with the seamless manner in which one can transport a box from Kingstown to Union Island in St.Vincent & the Grenadines. Being able to do so may help to garner greater public buy-in for regional integration.

There is also a tendency to over emphasise the economic and political elements of CARICOM. When these fall short of expectations, CARICOM on a whole takes a bashing.

However, often removed from the public consciousness is the fact that regional integration transcends the economic and political. For example, through the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, CARICOM has spent the past 21 years responding effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For instance, the prevalence of HIV in the region has decreased to 1 per cent.The number of AIDS-related deaths have halved and there has been a 940 per cent increase in antiretroviral coverage for the treatment of HIV.

Another success story not often linked to CARICOM is the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).That 16 countries participate in such an enterprise allows for them to achieve a level of global competitiveness in education that would have been near impossible on an individual basis.

CARICOM is far from being a failure as some may suggest. There might be disagreements sometimes; lack of implementation of decisions remains a concern; actions which run counter to the spirit and letter of the CARICOM Treaty do arise; and bureaucracy is sometimes an impediment to progress.

However, on the 49th anniversary of its founding, CARICOM has much to be proud of and it still remains the best hope for its Member States to navigate an often hostile external environment, whilst meeting the needs of their peoples for economic and social advancement.

As the demise of LIAT has demonstrated, the value of something is not always recognised until its demise. It should not take the demise of CARICOM for us to see its worth.

l Joel K Richards is a Vincentian national living and working in Europe in the field of international trade and development.

Email: joelkmrichards@ gmail.com