By Sharonmae Smith Walker
As we embrace 2025, we thank God for the opportunity to reset, using past experiences to bolster our future outlook. We thank you, our valued partners – Member States, the CARICOM Secretariat, International and Regional Collaborators, and the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards (CROSQ) Team for journeying with us through 2024, amidst our successes, constraints, and inevitable change.
We reflect on the lyrics in the CARICOM Song – “We vow to join hands and to focus on building one Caribbean,” as we purposefully step into the new year. We build on past successes and commit to actively support the mission and vision of CARICOM creating innovative paths to a robust and resilient Regional Quality Infrastructure, even as we prioritize the transformation of National Quality Infrastructures. No member state must be left behind!
‘Joining hands’ requires changed paradigms and greater collaboration that promote unity and eliminate self-interest in how we work, play, and do business. We solicit your support to build quality consciousness through accreditation, standardisation, and metrology that undergirds competence, consistency, and quality. Providing the upswell to catalyse growth in industry and commerce, and mobilise workforce engagement in traditional and entrepreneurial careers, while safeguarding the health and well-being of Caribbean citizens.
We celebrate the successful completion of the 11th European Development Fund, Economic Partnership Agreement Programme – Technical Barriers to Trade Component (EDF EPA TBT Programme). Notable achievements under this programme included the training of over 1,000 professionals in five Quality Infrastructure (QI) courses and Quality Management Systems (QMS) Training for over 100 businesses. CROSQ also facilitated the accreditation of three Caribbean Reference Laboratories (CaRLs) in the areas of pressure, humidity, and electrical measurements and two Calibration Laboratories in the areas of mass and pressure. The growth in the recognised scope of services offered by the JANAAC Global Accreditation is also an indirect benefit of the project.
We announced on December 1, 2024, and officially commenced the “Technical Barriers to Trade – Phase III Project” under the European Union´s Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) Programme supported by the Delegation of the European Union and in partnership with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and INDOCAL.
Another pivotal project, the Caribbean Component of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) QI Programme implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) funded by the European Union will advance significantly in 2025. Several member states will benefit directly as well as collectively through the implementation of strategic QI interventions.
As a result of the advances in digital technologies and the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, in 2025 CROSQ will implement initiatives that should aid member states to align their NQIs and cohesively navigate uncertainties as well as enjoy the associated benefits.
Food and nutrition security, climate change, energy efficiency, and sustainable development remain pressing concerns that require coordinated engagement. Our support of climate resilience strategies in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) Physical and Environmental Planning Sector Subcommittee (PEPSSC) through the development of construction standards and sensitization continues to be a priority. We must safeguard our homes and reinforce the message that climate change is crucial for the Caribbean.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported that on average Caribbean countries lose 17 percent of their income to storm damages every year. hurricane Beryl is a prime reminder of the devastating impacts experienced in 2024.
CROSQ has worked to advance the CARICOM Energy Policy, Sustainable Development Goal 7, and global targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through The Quality for Sustainable Energy in the Caribbean (QSEC) project in five countries benefiting more than 150 participants. In 2025, we will collaborate with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CREEE) on similar projects.
Even as security concerns increase in some member states, CROSQ will use available technologies to ensure all member states keep pace with planned interventions. We welcome the signing of the Caribbean Development Bank Project “Capacity Building for Strengthening Quality Infrastructure in Haiti” to be implemented in 2025.
Today as people united, determined and steadfast we stand, we look to a brand-new horizon, the future now firmly in our hands. We wish you a blessed and prosperous 2025, with God, our future is indeed secure. Happy New Year!
