TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands – The waiting period for a non-national to be granted Belongership status on this British Overseas territory, will be cut in half.

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) Saturday said it is deeply concerned by worsening violence in and around the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and rising abuse at the hands of heavily armed gangs, against vulnerable local communities.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The government of Guyana has announced plans to lend assistance to its CARICOM sister country Belize, in best practices for Amerindian development.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua –Nicaragua has rejected a suggestion by St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves that the United States “reach out in friendship” to the Central American nation.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett says there is urgent need to close the emissions gap to maintain global warming to well below 1.5⁰C, and to enhance global advocacy for greater access to climate financing to help Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS).

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says it is supporting Haiti in implementing its National Policy for Social Protection and Promotion.

NEW YORK, New York –Jamaica’s Opposition Leader, Mark Golding, wants Caribbean nationals to do more to leverage the “vast potential that resides in the experience, qualifications and other capacities of Caribbean Diaspora members.

GENEVA, Switzerland– Recent reductions in fertility have led to a “demographic dividend” in Latin America and the Caribbean as the latest United Nations projections suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, before reaching a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname – CARICOM leaders have agreed on a new modern Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA)  that will allow for a new framework within which air transportation will operate in the region, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has said.

ROSEAU, Dominica – The Dominica National Commission for UNESCO has launched the “Strengthening capacities at the national and local levels for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Dominica’ project here.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – Surging and deadly gang violence in the Haitian capital, Port au Prince, has contributed to runaway food insecurity for well over one million people there, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said on Tuesday.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname – United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, Sunday sad that the annual CARICOM summit is taking place at “a moment of maximum peril” making reference to the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems and tourism, as well as on economic growth and foreign investment, now exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.