Published 11 May 2017
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis can be empowered through learning about their cultural heritage, and therefore teaching it must be prioritized.
That’s according to Minister of Education and Culture Shawn Richards.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony for Leonard Stapleton’s new book Places of Memory, which focuses on the history of the island.
Published 19 April 2017
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) will host a meeting of youth leaders from 19 Caribbean countries on April 21 and 22, 2017 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The focus of the forum will be a discussion on the role of youth in the national and regional response to HIV and AIDS; participants will also be involved in formulating and agreeing on a framework for regional youth advocacy.
Senator Robert Browne, minister of health, wellness and the environment, St Vincent and the Grenadines and chair of the executive board of PANCAP, will deliver the keynote address at the opening ceremony on Friday, April 21.
Published 19 April 2017
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 19, 2017 (SKNIS): The Department of Environment recognizes climate variability and climate change to be two of the most significant threats to sustainable development in St. Kitts and Nevis. Against this backdrop, a number of persons from various fields throughout the federation are currently attending an eight day National Training Workshop in the Use of Climate Models for Decision Making.
The workshop, which runs from April 19-28, is held under the auspices of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
June Hughes, Senior Environment Officer at the Department of Environment, said that the training is timely, as climate change continues to be a clear and present danger. She noted that the department is working closely with regional and international partners to ensure that persons are aware of the dangers that exist.
“We in the Department of Environment have been working to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change, while taking advantage of every capacity building opportunity to improve our adaptive response have strengthened our mitigation measures,” she said. “Each training, workshop and meeting strengthens our country to address and reduce the impacts of climate change.”
Dr. Ulric Trotz, Deputy Executive Director at CCCCC, explained that the workshop would first be rolled out nationally in all 10 countries under the USAID banner, after which regional workshops will be held. He made mention of specific training tools that were developed with the aim of assisting in the generation of scientific information and analysis to help in making informed decisions. These include the Weather Generator (WG), the Tropical Storm Model/ Simple Model for the Advection of Storms and Hurricanes (SMASH), and the Caribbean Drought Assessment Tool (CARiDRO).
“The CARIWIG [Caribbean Weather Impacts Group] tool is a critical tool in that it more or less localizes the projection so that for instance, you can actually look at climate projections for the future in a watershed in St. Kitts and Nevis. It localizes that information and it makes it much more relevant to the local circumstance,” said Dr. Trotz.
The deputy executive director encouraged participants to acquire all the knowledge necessary, as it is the presenters hope that at the end of the training “a cadre of technical skills” would be developed in St. Kitts and Nevis and the region on whole that would help to deal successfully with the challenges faced from climate change.
Training and application of the tools will allow decision-makers to better understand the potential impacts of drought, tropical storms, and rainfall and temperature changes. When combined with other data and information, they can help to build a picture of potential impacts to key economic sectors in the country. The training will target key personnel whose focus are in areas of agriculture, water resources, coastal zone management, health, physical planning or disaster risk reduction.
Published 19 April 2017
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 19, 2017 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has positioned itself to address some environmental challenges, in particular, global warming, in an effort to improve informed decisions on issues like climate change, said Alistair Edwards, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Environment.
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the National Training Workshop in the Use of Climate Models for Decision Making on Wednesday, April 19, the permanent secretary said that climate change affects everyone, therefore, the Department of Environment “will continue to undertake various adaptation and mitigation actions to ensure that St. Kitts and Nevis builds its resilience to reduce the impacts on climate change.”
Mr. Edwards said that St. Kitts and Nevis is very vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change, as it can be seen in a number of sectors across the federation.
“Sectors such as tourism, agriculture, water, and health and by extension the entire nation, have already been impacted in one way or another by these adverse factors. In response to the current projects it impacts, it is important that St. Kitts and Nevis undertake various initiatives that will reduce risk and the risk of our natural assets from climate change,” said the permanent secretary, while adding that St. Kitts and Nevis recognizes that climate change impacts the sustainability of not only the federation, but also the region.
“For a country like St. Kitts and Nevis, our critical infrastructure lies on coastal zones. Therefore, it is immensely important that measures and actions are put in place to protect our beaches and coastlines. We must implement measures that ensure food security, public health, the availability of fresh and potable water are not impacted,” he said.
PS Edwards made specific mention of the national training workshop, noting that the Department of Environment sees it as an ideal opportunity to build work that has already started. He explained that adaptation is critically important to St. Kitts and Nevis, and as such, it should be made a priority.
“We need to identify and implement adaptation measures in a collaborative manner. We need to ensure that the decision makers have access to the most effective tools and methods that can help them integrate climate change into planning and investment processes,” said Mr. Edwards. “The approach of tackling adverse impacts of climate change requires the support of all us. Our planet is dependent on it and our very existence is depending on it.”
Published 17 April 2017
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, April 16th 2017 – Government corruption, discrimination and violence against women and girls, poor prison conditions, child abuse and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) community were among the most serious human rights problems in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2016, according to the United States Department of State Human Rights Report for 2017.
The Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016 sent to the United States Congress, by Secretary of State, Rex W. Tillerson refers to police shootings that occurred during 2015.
“On June 23, a police officer shot another police officer while involved in a scuffle with a suspect. The wounded police officer later died of sepsis. The commissioner of police stated that an inquest into the shooting was being conducted. On June 27, an off-duty police officer involved in an altercation shot two bystanders outside a bar, both of whom survived. As of September the commissioner reported the case was with the Director of Public Prosecution’s Office,” said the report.
It also noted that following a police inquest, authorities exonerated the off-duty officer involved in the October 2015 shooting of a 17-year-old at a bar in Nevis. The police charged a second police officer for an unrelated September 2015 non-fatal shooting incident also in Nevis. That case was due before the high court in November.
The U.S. State Department said there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
It said the St. Kitts prison remained overcrowded and facilities austere, although the number of inmates decreased from previous years.
“The prison in St. Kitts had an intended capacity of 160 prisoners but held 186 as of September. The majority of prisoners had beds, although some slept on blankets on the floor. In St. Kitts, authorities occasionally held pre-trial detainees together with convicted prisoners. There were two female inmates in prison in St. Kitts. Authorities held female inmates in separate quarters. There were no female prisoners in Nevis,” said the Report.
On the issue of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, the Report said that opposition parties and the media, reported incidents in which the exercise of these rights was restricted and that the “media climate was sensitive, due in part to the country’s small size.”
The United States noted while the law provides for the granting of asylum and refugee status, the government has not established a system for providing protection to refugees and one request for asylum during the year, which the government considered, was denied.
It noted too that Parliament passed Integrity in Public Life legislation in 2013, but it had been not implemented as of November 2015.
“The media and many private citizens reported that government corruption was a problem,” said the Report, which also noted that the Financial Intelligence Unit investigates reports on suspicious financial transactions, along with the police white-collar crime unit, but these reports were not available to the public.
According to the Human Rights Report anecdotal evidence suggested that rape – including spousal rape – was a serious and pervasive problem in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Despite the re-establishment of a Special Victims Unit in the police force, rape often was underreported due to survivors’ fear of stigma, retribution, further violence, or lack of confidence in the authorities. Violence against women continued to be a serious and pervasive problem,” said the Report.
“The Department of Gender Affairs reported many victims were hesitant to take action against their abuser, such as obtaining a restraining order, because of their economic dependence upon the abuser. Local NGOs also reported that most victims of domestic violence did not report the abuse or charge the offender. Victims reported either to the Department of Gender Affairs or the police, but there was no crisis hotline,” said the Report.
