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600 young Farmers & Fishers for 21 million JMD gender-sensitive, climate resilience project

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#Jamaica, 15 August 2022 – Jamaica 4-H Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are partnering to strengthen the climate and disaster resilience of 600 young farmers and fishers, in support of national efforts to shore up food security against climate crisis.

Farmers and fishers from select communities in Clarendon, Manchester, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St Thomas are slated to benefit under a 21.3 million JMD pilot project launched Thursday (11 August) at the Jamaica 4-H Training and Production Centre at Denbigh.

Six hundred will receive awareness building resources on climate smart agriculture and value-added income generating opportunities in their sectors; 175 of the 600 will be trained and certified in crop and livestock production, fisheries, and agro processing; and 110 trained and certified beneficiaries will get venture inputs, technical support, and coaching to support a successful start in business.

In a bid to address gender inequities that typically restrain the full potential of the sector, the project will provide male and female participants with equal access to resources, training and coaching.

The project is being piloted over six months under the EnGenDER project (Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate & Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean) with funding from Global Affairs Canada, and the UK Government.

“It is no secret that our women and young people face great challenges in accessing resources to adapt to climate change. If we are to create a future that ensures agricultural security, as we grow smart and eat smart, our youth must be at the forefront of this drive for food security”, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon Franklin Witter stated.

He said youth inclusion is a priority and reiterated government’s policy decision to direct 20% of government owned lands for lease by young farmers. He said the EnGenDER pilot project will strengthen youth resilience to climate change and help to pull vulnerable groups towards maximizing their true potential.

“Gender Equality is the most effective way to reduce poverty and to build a more inclusive, peaceful and prosperous world”, Canadian High Commissioner Excellency Emma Tudakovic stated in her remarks.  She said the EnGenDER project and its climate change adaptation pilot have provided opportunities to strengthen the integration of gender equality into sectoral planning and implementation processes to strengthen climate resilience.  “It is our hope that with this support, more young persons will become included in these important industries and the project will provide a supportive framework for the ongoing development of the fisheries sector., Ms Tudakovic said.  She emphasized the importance of engaging and encouraging youth to develop solutions to the climate induced challenges faced by the agricultural sector and the need for climate smart agriculture.

Oliver Blake, Head of Jamaica Political and Development Team and Senior Governance Adviser (Caribbean), in the British High Commission underscored the importance of translating global and regional commitments into actionable solutions that touch people on the frontlines of climate change. “Some people round the world have the resources to adapt easily or to move their families and business elsewhere but in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that is not so easy. We know that SIDS did not contribute to climate change, and the first to suffer its effects most immediately. Those first to suffer are those in poorer communities,” Mr Blake underlined.

UNDP Resident Representative Denise E Antonio called for greater investments in gender sensitive resilience programming to strengthen Jamaica’s climate resilience. “A gender equal approach integrating youth, women, men, Persons with Disabilities, and other groups at risk of being left behind, will maximize the resilience and productivity of Jamaica’s fisheries and agricultural sectors,” she said. Ms Antonio said more young people and more young women should participate in these sectors on a level playing field that affords equal access to capital and support for resilient livelihoods and recovery in the event of a climate-induced disaster.  She charged the participants to pass on what they learned to others. “… absorb the resources of this project, apply, and add value to what you have learned. Innovate new methods of securing your outputs and energizing your business ideas as overcomers of climate change, then come back and teach us what you have learned”, she advised.

Jamaica 4-H Clubs chairman Colin Virgo called climate change and food security the two single greatest threats to humanity and called for action to address the threats. “Let us not wait for us to have another record-breaking year of category five storms (caused by climate change); let us not wait until the world breaks out into war over food. Let us not wait until we cannot feed the population of the world,” he warned.

 

Jamaica 4-H Foundation Director Ronald Blake called for food diversification using resilient plants to strengthen food security, cut wastage while combatting combat climate change.  He said the earth creates 90% of its food from only 20 of approximately 20 000 plant species. “We believe if we are going to fix food security, we have to eat some of the things we are no longer eating. Some of these foods are resilient to the changes to the climate,” he explained.

In Jamaica, only 20% of farmers are young people 18 to 35 years of age, and only 31% of youth farmers are female.  In the fisheries sector, this is further reduced to 5.9% females.

 

Release: UNDP

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U.S. Virgin Islands Sets New Tourism Record in 2024, Welcoming Unprecedented Visitor Numbers

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January 12, 2025

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St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism proudly announces new record-breaking passenger arrival numbers, which highlight the continued growth of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John as a leading tourism destination.

Closing out the year on a high, December 28 recorded 4,606 passenger arrivals, surpassing the single-day arrival record set earlier in March 2024. This achievement also led to a new weekly passenger arrival record, with over 24,000 arrivals, marking a 5.92% increase over the previous record.

“As a destination, we continue to explore, elevate, and improve, which further supports the ongoing goal to build upon our commitment to be a premier Caribbean destination,” shares Commissioner Joseph Boschulte of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism.

In 2024, combined airline arrivals at Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas and Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix totaled 932,265 passengers. This figure surpassed the previous record set during the COVID-19 pandemic by over 100,000 passengers and represented a 16.5% increase compared to 2023.

The newly released numbers culminate a year of exponential tourism growth for the U.S. Virgin Islands, including a record-breaking month of arrivals in March with 106,026, and the introduction or return of airline routes from American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta Air Lines, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country, and United Airlines.

The Territory also experienced a significant boost in cruise passengers, welcoming 1,770,922, resulting in a 9.8% increase compared to 2023. This growth was driven by the maiden voyages of several ships, including Scarlet Lady, Icon of the Seas, Disney Treasure, Explora I, Sun Princess, Explora II, Emerald Azzurra, Celebrity Apex, and Rhapsody of the Seas. The increase in cruise arrivals highlights the ongoing efforts of the Department of Tourism and local partners to strengthen and foster relationships across the industry.

In addition to welcoming more visitors, the territory also received several prestigious industry honors, including:

“As we look to 2025, we will continue to push the creativity of our marketing strategies, which includes advertising, social media, public relations, and partnerships to connect with and keep the U.S. Virgin Islands top of mind for new and returning travelers,” adds Commissioner Boschulte.

Commissioner Boschulte and the Department of Tourism team continue to set their sights on an ambitious future, positioning the U.S. Virgin Islands as the premier destination for travelers seeking natural beauty, cultural richness, and warm hospitality.

For more information about the U.S. Virgin Islands, please visit https://www.visitusvi.com/.

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CARPHA and TEPHINET Sign MoU to Increase Technical Skills of Public Health Professionals in the Caribbean  

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January 11, 2025

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Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) renewing their commitment to increase the skills of public health professionals in applied epidemiological interventions, including outbreak detection, emergency response and surveillance analyses.   

Field epidemiology is often described as “applied” or “intervention” epidemiology. It seeks to rapidly address priority public health issues in the community by using the appropriate resources and epidemiologic methods to investigate a problem and make recommendations for public health action, for immediate and longerterm control and prevention.

Dr Lisa Indar, Ad Interim Executive Director, CARPHA reiterated the importance of Field Epidemiology Training Programmes (FETPs) to the Region, ”CARPHA’s novel FETP has the laboratory component added to it and is regarded as a ‘boots on the ground’ programme. It has built much needed human resources capacity for health (HRH) in the small island developing states of the Caribbean.  Participants’ work contributes to the strengthening of the national public health system as a whole, by providing evidence-based information for public health action”.

Dr Carl Reddy, Programme Director, TEPHINET expressed his satisfaction with the outcomes of the regional programme, “TEPHINET is proud to have the Caribbean Regional FELTP as a member of its global network, given the sterling job that it has done in building field epidemiology capacity in an underserved region susceptible to climate change and prone to public health emergencies such as natural disasters”.

Dr Laura Lee Boodram, Head, Caribbean Regional Field Epidemiology and Lab Training Programmes (CRFELTP), CARPHA said, “The tiered training programme is based on a model of building practical competencies, which enables trainees to apply classroom-based learning to solve real world situations”. CR-FELTP training content and learning projects address priority public health issues in the Caribbean, such as communicable and non-communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS; emerging health threats including Chikungunya and Ebola viruses; and laboratory surveillance.

Key objectives of the MOU are:

  • Developing public health human resource capacity through Field Epidemiology Training (FETP)
  • Implementing, following up and supporting epidemiological surveillance activities in communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, injuries and emergency preparedness and response
  • Promoting networking opportunities to support further programme development and sustainability
  • Collaborating holistically by coordinating efficiently on activities, identifying synergies, optimising resources and opportunities, and mitigating contradictory or duplicative efforts.

In January 2017 a technical partnership was formed between Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC)/TEPHINET and CARPHA in order to implement Frontline training as a pilot initiative, against the framework of the CR-FELTP.  To date, 18 CARPHA Member States have benefitted from the Programme.

 

Background:

CARPHA is the sole regional public health agency for the Caribbean, legally established in 2011 by an Intergovernmental Agreement signed by the Caribbean Community member states. CARPHA is responsible for providing strategic direction and analysing, defining and responding to the public health priorities of the Caribbean in order to prevent diseases, promote and protect health and to respond to public health emergencies.

TEPHINET, formed in 1997, is a professional network of 83-member field epidemiology training programs (FETPs) working in more than 100 countries. With a mission to empower and mobilise a competent field epidemiology workforce to serve all people through standardised training, experiential learning, training program quality improvement, mentoring, and knowledge exchanges in order to connect epidemiologists better, faster, and with quality across the globe.

 

Photo Captions

Header: Dr Lisa Indar, CARPHA Ad Interim Executive Director signs the MOU between CARPHA and TEPHINET to strengthen public health and disease surveillance systems management in the Caribbean, while Dr Mark Sami, CARPHA Director Corporate Services looks on

Insert: Dr Carl Reddy, TEPHINET Programme Director, at his office in Atlanta, GA, after signing the MoU between TEPHINET and CARPHA

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Turks and Caicos Featured as Top Beach Destination on the Today Show

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4 days ago

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January 8, 2025

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Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands — Visit Turks and Caicos Islands (VisitTCI.com) played a pivotal role in showcasing the natural beauty of the Turks and Caicos Islands during a feature on NBC’s TODAY show on Monday morning (January 6th). The segment, which aired to millions of viewers across the United States, highlighted iconic destinations like Grace Bay Beach, Water Cay, and West Harbour Bluff, using exclusive content from VisitTCI.com.

During the segment, host Al Roker praised the islands as “one of [his] favorite spots beach-wise” and reaffirmed their inclusion in Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2025.

This feature continues Visit Turks and Caicos Islands’ ongoing commitment to promoting the country globally. The website has recently undergone significant enhancements to deliver an even richer experience for travelers, including redesigned homepages, new interactive features such as video overviews of featured hotels and resorts, and an 8% expansion in original content. VisitTCI is the largest source of authoritative Turks and Caicos content, with more than 1,100 in-depth articles and 6,000 high-quality original photos.

“VisitTCI.com has always been about providing the most accurate and engaging travel information for the Turks and Caicos Islands,” said Daniel J. LeVin, Executive Editor of VisitTCI.com. “Our partnership with NBC TODAY and the recognition from Travel + Leisure reflects the hard work we’ve invested in elevating TCI to one of the world’s top vacation destinations.”

The platform’s dedication to excellence has also earned partnerships with top international publications, including National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveler. Visit Turks and Caicos Islands is TCI’s largest and most-visited website.

You can watch a recording of the segment at NBC.com: https://www.today.com/video/top-travel-destinations-hidden-gems-to-visit-in-2025-228564037644

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