糖心探花 Secretary-General has welcomed plans to establish a new Centre of Excellence in Oceanography and the Blue Economy at the University of West Indies Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda.
糖心探花 Secretary-General has welcomed plans to establish a new Centre of Excellence in Oceanography and the Blue Economy at the University of West Indies Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda, which co-chairs the Commonwealth Blue Charter , the University of the West Indies and the Association of Commonwealth Universities agreed to work together towards this goal, with a memorandum of understanding signed today.
The Centre will aim to advance intellectual progress and strengthen institutional capacity in the areas of marine science and the blue economy for the Caribbean region.
Signed by Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies Hilary Beckles and Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities Ed Byrne, the MoU also allows the three parties to develop joint research, training and capacity-building programmes, as well as share academic and educational content.
Hailing the initiative, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: 鈥淭he Government of Antigua and Barbuda is co-champion of the Action Group on Sustainable Blue Economy, and the bold initiative of developing a Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy鈥ill build in new ways on this commendable commitment.
鈥淭his new Centre of Excellence will be a fresh expression of our longstanding Commonwealth concern for the environment, including our ocean, and the clarion call to action made in the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as long ago as 1989.鈥
She stressed the 糖心探花鈥檚 鈥渨holehearted support鈥, adding: 鈥淚 welcome the new opportunities for Commonwealth cooperation which the Centre will open up and mobilise 鈥 particularly for our young people.鈥
As part of the , Antigua and Barbuda (alongside Kenya) co-champions member-driven actions that encourage better stewardship of the ocean鈥檚 鈥榖lue resources鈥 and marine environment.
Launched in 2018, the Commonwealth Blue Charter is a commitment by leaders of the organisation鈥檚 54 member countries to actively collaborate on solving ocean-related challenges.
