THE VALLEY, Anguilla, Oct 30 – Anguilla has been chosen to represent the Overseas Branches (OSBs) of the British Red Cross – through the Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation, at the next conference of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA, formerly known as CDERA next month.

The fourth Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) , under the theme ” Strengthening CDM through Youth and Community Empowerment” will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica from December 7-11.

According to British Red Cross Director for the OSBs, Clive Evans, Anguilla was chosen following consideration of a number of applicants. “We had a number of people interested in representing the Overseas Branches at this conference and I am pleased to say the lead representative is…Anguilla,” he said.

Evans noted that the representative would take steps to represent the branches fairly and openly, including writing a comprehensive report on the conference to send to each OSB by the end of January 2010.

Other benefits of the OSB attendance could include information packages for each of the OSBs based on their specific area of interest, identifying and obtaining OSB needs and information requirements and ensuring that related questions are addressed.

The Disaster Management Network Representative as well as Evans from the British Red Cross will join Anguilla’s OSB delegation leader.

Objectives for attendance at this conference are to build up the presence of the Overseas Branches (and territories) within CDEMA and to promote the current proposal of work around DRR and Disaster Preparedness with key stakeholders (CDEMA/DfID). Other objectives are to evaluate how best to move forward with any future participation of the Overseas Branches and to feedback the evaluation, lessons learnt and shared networking opportunities with all the other branches.

THE VALLEY, Anguilla, Oct 29 – The Caribbean Island of Dominica will be celebrating its 31st Anniversary of Political Independence on  November  3, 2009. The Dominica-Anguilla Association is making plans to commemorate this milestone in the nation’s history.

All Dominicans residing on Anguilla  have been invited to a special meeting at the Public Works Conference Room on October 29  at 7:30pm. Other activities planned include:

A Market day with a difference on Saturday 31 October. The general public is invited to get fresh produce at good prices, Dominican style, at the Peoples’ Market on that day.

On Sunday 1 November members will worship at the Christain Assembly Church, Long Bay Road.

Following the service a visit will be made to the Tender Loving Care Senior Citizens Home. The residence has been the home of Dominican born, Victoria Charles since 2006. Miss   Charles, who is 104 years old, is the oldest known person living on Anguilla.

Later in the afternoon, at 2.00, members will gather for a fun-filled and relaxing beachnic at Sandy Ground.
“Let us celebrate our 31st Anniversary of Independence as we seek to continue to be good ambassadors for our country, ” states a media release from the Dominica-Anguilla Association.

Kiesha Gumbs, Social Development Planner in the Ministry of Social Development was Anguilla’s lone representative at a stakeholders workshop focusing on a National Policy on Ageing for the period 2009-2019  held in St Kitts.

According to Gumbs the three-day workshop sponsored by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) brought  together officials from Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, Montserrat, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Anguilla.

They officials focused on among other issues the current draft National Ageing policy for St Kitts and Nevis, a continuum of care begin discussions on standards of institutional care facilities, the importance of the human rights approach to policy formulation and programme implementation and the main barriers and challenges to providing primary health care to older persons.

Gumbs said that there were several presentations centred around Human Rights and Protection of Older Persons; The Convention on the Rights of Older Persons; Health Policy; The Continuum of Care; and Standards for Institutional Care Facilities.

The resounding sentiment at the workshop was the promotion of a higher quality of life for older persons through “care within the home or community” as opposed to hospitalization and clinical care which is often times not necessary and a misuse of resources.

Older persons tend to have a higher quality of life when they remain independent for as long as possible.  When their independence is supported by caregivers, family, and the community the impact of illness is minimized, and they are able to maintain social networks.  Therefore as a region we need to build up our capacity to offer formal home care and to give assistance to informal caregivers.

In addition, a reformation in standards for institutional care for older persons would also be beneficial. An independent living model should be a major focus in the reformation of institutional standards and settings.

According to the Anguilla representative,  the overarching message from the workshop is that -as s a region moving forward in terms of national development, let us be mindful that our nations should strive to protect the rights of older persons; to ensure that they are included; that their concerns and issues are mainstreamed into national development plans and overall, that our societies are indeed “societies for all ages”.

The event  which  takes place at the Teachers’ Resource Center from 4 to 6 pm,  will provide all employers and their employees with an opportunity to voice their concerns and share views on the new Labour Bill.

The forum panel will include the Labor Commissioner Russel Reid, Foster Rogers, Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, Keri Horsford from the Attorney General’s Chambers and Cora Richardson-Hodge representing the Anguilla Bar Association.

Richardson-Hodge is one of the candidates chosen by the governing Anguilla United Front to contest the next general elections here constitutionally due by March 2010.

The new Labor bill has come in for some discussion following the changing dynamics in the labor market on the island, especially as it relates to legislation for a minimum wage.

THE VALLEY, Anguilla, Oct 27 – The government of Anguilla is taking steps to improve the unemployment situation on the island following a long period of inactivity in the labor market.

Chief Minister, who is also responsible for Labor,  in a short radio broadcast here said his government is aware that a number of project have stalled.

Fleming says he anticipates a positive turnaround following news that Viceroy, one of Anguilla’s major hospitality projects is getting ready to open fully for business on the island’s west coast.

Viceroy management officials have told the government that in order for them to have the project up and running by December 2009 there urgent needs must be addressed immediately – a reference to job opportunities.

“The government of Anguilla is anxious to have the Viceroy project opened. These jobs are ready to be filled and Anguillians who are qualified will have the opportunity to apply for these jobs first,” Fleming said.

He said the company is looking for framing and finish carpenters, electricians, plumbers, steel metal workers, air condition technicians, stonesetters, masons, tilesetters, painters, landscapers, laborers and swimming pool technicians.

“I am calling on Anguillians who are qualified on these areas to visit Viceroy and register your interest. I believe this is an opportunity whereby a number of our people can be gainfully employed,” Fleming said.

Viceroy is partially opened with just a handful of guests.  But when the resort is fully opened management is seeking to employ 350 persons. When completed Viceroy will have a total of 360 rooms.

Island Harbour resident Enoch Hughes is the winner of the First Cartibbean International Bank’s (Anguilla) Branch US$6,000 prize as its 2009 Unsung Hero.

Hughes won the coveted award for his work with young men on the island.  He has helped to finance, train and employ some of the young males in Anguilla  who left school without any qualifications.

Hughes has used his own money to buy tools for some the young men to enter the workforce.

He said he was delighted to have been chosen for the award and would use the money to continue his programme of empowering young men in the community.

Marie Rey, local branch manager of First Caribbean International Bank says the Unsung Heroes programme represents one of the most exceptional and positive community activities in the Caribbean today.

Rey says the bank is committed to enhancing the lives of people of Anguilla and the region.

Community activist Owen Mussington won the award in 2008.

Anguilla recently participated in a sub-regional conference as part of a program aimed at identifying and reducing the risk of communities during disasters.

Ash Hodge and Susan Hodge, two representatives of the Anguilla Red Cross Committee, participated in the Overseas Branches (OSBs) Disaster Risk Reduction meeting with the British Red Cross (BRC) which also involved participation from Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands and  a representative from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The meeting was held in Miami from October 15 to 16.

The aims of the meeting were to share and refine local Disaster Risk Reduction Program plans, to further develop the planning, monitoring and evaluation framework, to develop plans for working together, to further develop skills and techniques in community engagement and to draw consensus or conclusion on any outstanding elements of a previous scoping exercise.

Activities of the conference included an introduction of a regional framework, country presentations of draft program plans and identification of what is specific to individual country Disaster Risk Reduction. Participants also explored OSB current capacity in disaster management and risk reduction as well as considered any intended change to OSB capacity and community resilience in five years.

Other activities comprised discussions on the BRC program of cooperation with OSBs and other priorities, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent regional Disaster Risk Reduction strategy and OSB involvement, Human Resource issues, regional cooperation, research and advocacy.

The OSB Disaster Risk Reduction Program began with scoping visits by British Red Cross to the branches prior to the Miami meeting. In Anguilla, a BRC representative met with His Excellency the Governor, a number of Government Officials, NGOs and key persons in the community to establish the groundwork for the program plans. Members of the Anguilla Red Cross Committee with responsibility for Disaster Preparedness drafted the plan in preparation for the meeting.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Program is a five-year plan that will assist the most vulnerable in the community to mitigate against risks during natural and man-made disasters. The British Government’s Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the British Red Cross is sponsoring it.