Dear Friends,
Thank you all for welcoming my family to your wonderful tri-island state in what has been an eventful 2023. I’ve worked hard to visit all parts and meet as many Grenadians as possible this first year. I’ve been incredibly privileged to lead my team in Grenada throughout 2023, and I thank them all for the incredible support they have given me.
After 20 years in the diplomatic service, this is my first post to a Commonwealth country. I’ve been struck by the stronger mix of cultural and social ties. The legacies of British history are not forgotten, nor should they ever be. Britain has influenced the world for centuries, and as a consequence, modern Britain has been shaped by the world. A diverse and inclusive society, that demands equality, fairness and respect for democracy, human rights and rule of law. A country where descendants of Grenadians have become sporting icons, civil rights campaigners, celebrated artists and sat in both chambers of British Parliament. Britain learned its modern values through lived world experience (including many mistakes).
As the son of an immigrant mother, with a foreign-born wife, I’m also proud to play a small part of the modern multicultural British reality, and in turn, I hope to use that to be a force for good in the world and in these beautiful islands of Grenada.
Some highlights of the UK-Grenada relationship and ongoing programmes of cooperation during 2023 are below, strong foundations that I aim to build on during 2024, in particular working together to build sustainable infrastructure and drive clean energy transition. From all of us at the British High Commission, we wish all of you a happy Christmas and festive season of goodwill, and we look forward to celebrating Grenada’s 50th anniversary of independence and a 2024 full of partnership, friendship and progress.
Victor Clark, Resident British Commissioner, St George’s
Development partnership
- Confirmation of UK–Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF) grant funding (through CDB) of £12.2 million for the Grenada water supply expansion and sewerage improvement project which will upgrade water distribution and wastewater networks, while improving sewerage infrastructure across St George’s, and enhance the quality and quantity of water resources available to residential and economic sectors
- Continued UK grant funding for Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) supports technical capacity building for Grenada in areas such as tax administration, macroeconomic and public financial management and supervision. Since 2017, Grenada will have benefitted by over US$1.2 million in capacity development
- UK grant funding support to ongoing regional COMPETE Caribbean work to improve the economic development of the region, Grenada has benefited by approximately US$1 million
- UK grant funding support to the development of Grenada’s Floriculture industry benefitted approximately US$230,000 spent on improving performance, addressing bottlenecks in production and improving climate change impact, delivered through COMPETE Caribbean
- Ongoing UK support to strengthen disaster recovery and resilience across the Caribbean, since 2017 Grenada has benefitted with around £500,000 benefit. At COP, UK announced a further £5 million for the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative to enable Small Island Developing States such as Grenada, to better prepare for climate shocks and extreme weather
- Broad UK support to a number of civil society actors who work hard to protect the rights of all Grenadians thus making Grenada a stronger, fairer and more resilient country
- UK publishes International Development White Paper which envisages future development support for Caribbean
Blue Economy
- UK grant funding of approximately US$200,000 for Grenada through COMPETE Caribbean for the development of the blue economy including supporting GNExTT work with Gouyave Fishing Cooperative to expand its potential and modernise, improve efficiencies and expand to new international markets
- Opened access to Grenada for bids to UK’s £36 million Sustainable Blue Economies programme for SIDS, under the broader £500 million allocation to the Blue Planet Fund
Environment
- UK announced it will contribute £1.62 billion (US$2 billion) to the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), covering the period 2024 to 2027, with a particular focus on supporting Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Grenada
- Grenada supported UK candidate Prof. Jim Skea on his successful nomination as Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- UK supported Grenadian calls for establishment of a Loss and Damage fund, and committed up to £60 million for the fund
- UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for £2.7 million with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) for work under the Small Island Developing States Capacity and Resilience (SIDAR) programme. Within this we expect Grenada to receive a project development specialist, training workshops, specialist training, capacity building and roughly £150,000 for specialist studies to enable project proposals
- UK announced US$25 million investment to establish an affordable insurance scheme, the Caribbean Water Utility Insurance Collective (CWUIC) under the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), that will protect essential water and sanitation services across the Caribbean by providing rapid payouts to repair services damaged by disasters such as hurricanes and floods
- UK funding research proposals across the Caribbean for up to £300,000 on Sargassum seaweed, following a request from Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell
Health
- Discussions between NHS England and Grenadian Health Ministry over future partnership
- Official handover of refurbished SMART Princess Royal Hospital and Hillsborough Clinic in Carriacou — the last 2 of 5 hospitals/clinics SMART refurbishments funded by UK grants totalling US$5.5 million for Grenada
Education
- Welcoming home 2 UK funded Grenadian Chevening scholars (2022-23), while sending another 4 to the UK (2023-24) for one-year post-graduate studies studying: Innovation, Creativity & Leadership; Employment, Work and Equality; International Litigation and Dispute Resolution; and Development Economics
- Final certification event for a 5-year UK grant-funded SkYE (Skills for Youth Employment) programme. A total of £3 million grant funding supported 1,402 Grenadian certificated graduates, 40 assessors and instructors trained, and accreditation for several new providers to deliver CVQs in Grenada. The focus on disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities, and greater inclusiveness of the labour market successfully matched many with follow-on employment
- Continued UK grant funding for Commonwealth scholarships open to Grenadians, administered through the Commonwealth Secretariat and Government of Grenada
Security & Law/Order
- Ongoing technical and logistical support to RGPF
- Within multilateral forums, Grenada and UK stood together in calling out Russian military aggression and breaching of international law in Ukraine
- UK immigration experts visited in February 2023 to deliver anti-forgery training to over 20 Grenadian immigration, customs and police officers
- UK criminal justice adviser provides ongoing training and case-file support for Grenada’s Director of Public Prosecutions and broader legal system in Grenada throughout 2023, including through several regional conferences and training opportunities
- Officials from Grenada joined a UK-funded workshop delivered for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which aimed to strengthen risk assessments and response capabilities against the threat of attacks using chemical weapons, in particular through OPCW’s online self-assessment tool
Business
- Ongoing multi-million British private business investments and partnerships across the tourism, hotel, infrastructure, manufacturing and retail sectors in Grenada
- Ongoing implementation and operationalisation of the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement, which has been provisionally applied since January 2021
- UK–Caribbean Trade & Investment Forum held in London in November 2023
Senior visits/events
- Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell visited the UK twice; in May 2023 for the coronation of King Charles, and in November 2023 for diaspora engagement and bilateral calls
- Three UK MPs visited Grenada for a week in March from the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to exchange views and join workshops with Grenada’s parliament and senate, covering parliamentary best practice and reforms
- New High Commissioner for Grenada H E Rachér Croney took up office in London and had an audience with King Charles
- In May, UK Foreign Secretary met Caribbean Foreign Ministers at UK–Caribbean Forum in Jamaica, and made further commitments to invest in partnerships across the Caribbean
- Several visits to Grenada and Carriacou by British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, H E Scott Furssedonn-Wood
Sport/Culture
- England cricket team visited Grenada for 2 fantastic T20 matches against the West Indies (victory honours shared)
- UK-based World Cruising Club had a record 95 yachts begin the annual ARC+ trip across the Atlantic Ocean to Grenada, docking at Port Louis Marina
- Several UK-based creatives supported Grenada’s first creative industry conference “Unleash” while UK film-makers joined others at the annual Grenadian Film Festival
- High Commission donation of seeds for Grenada Christian Academy vegetable garden in collaboration with Rotary Club East Grenada
- Thanks to stellar work by the Grenada Tourism Authority, Virgin Atlantic added an extra weekly flight that helps tourism and people-to-people links between UK and Grenada
- UK television production company undertakes filming in some of Grenada’s most iconic locations
- Grenada wins gold (again) at 2023 Chelsea Flower Show in UK
- 15th annual Grenadian Heritage Day held in London
- Several cultural events in UK to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush generation and their contribution to UK, including community murals and art exhibition “Windrush: Portraits of a Pioneering Generation” commissioned and hosted by King Charles
I mean a Republic
So we the UK is Grenada best friends so please don’t leave the commonwealth to be independence