Jamaica Hosts 5th Assistance and Protection Training for States Parties in the Caribbean Sub-Region

In partnership with the United Kingdom, the OPCW organized the 5th Assistance and Protection Training for States Parties in the Caribbean Sub-region from 14 – 18 October 2013 in Runaway Bay, St Ann Parish, Jamaica. The United Kingdom has backed this project since 2008 with financial support and the provision of experts.

The 2007 Cricket World Cup, which was held in the West Indies, prompted the first such OPCW training for the Caribbean sub-region – a group that currently comprises Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, along with representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). The participation of representatives of these two regional organizations has strengthened the development of a regional capability to respond to a chemical attack in the Caribbean sub-region. 

Statements during the training’s opening ceremony by the Mayor of St. Ann, Desmond Gilmore, and the UK Defence Attaché, Col Patrick Brown, as well as by the CARICOM and CDEMA representatives, highlighted the OPCW’s role in supporting the development of regional capability.