Caribbean News
The CPHA Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the CHTA and the CTO for Healthier Safer Tourism
Nassau, The Bahamas. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization renewed their collaboration through the signing of a third Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The MoU will enhance the synergies between the three organisations, for collectively addressing health safety and environmental sanitation threats to the tourism sector to promote healthier safer tourism in the Caribbean.
Within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding, CARPHA, CTO and CHTA will focus on
- Information Monitoring and Response Systems to provide timely alerts of public health events to support health surveillance and response efforts within the tourism sector;
- Hospitality, Health, Safety and Environmental Standards and a Recognition System to establish a credible and
affordable regional and recognition system for improving health, safety and environmental quality in the tourism establishments; - Health and Wellness Programmes in the Tourism Workplace to encourage and promote a healthy tourism workforce;
- Multi-sectoral tourism and health partnerships to address the critical link between health and tourism
The collaboration also reflects the parties’ commitment to the recognition of the respective roles of the CTO and CARPHA as the leading public-sector agencies in the Region with a focus on matters related to regional tourism policy, planning and development and regional public health; and the CHTA as the region’s foremost private sector tourism organisation with a focus on the regional hospitality industry.
CARPHA has maintained consistent partnerships with CHTA and CTO, having previously signed Memoranda of Understanding in 2014 and 2017. The Agency, in collaboration with the CHTA and CTO conducted 23 COVID-19 Prevention and Control Training Sessions in which 5257 persons received training from June 2020 to April 2023.
This five-year MoU further focuses on the relationship between the three organisations, towards establishing resilience and sustainability of the region’s tourism product through the collaborated execution of the Regional Tourism and Health Program.
The signing took place on 24 April 2023, as part of the Regional Tourism and Health Steering Committee and Stakeholders Meeting which was conducted ahead of CARPHA’s 67th Annual Health Research Conference at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, The Bahamas.
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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