According to a new World Bank analysis, populations throughout the world are aging at an unprecedented rate, leaving many nations increasingly reliant on migration to meet their long-term economic potential.This development is seen as a great chance to make migration function better for economies and people in the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies.
 
Wealthy nations, as well as an increasing number of middle-income countries, which have historically been major providers of migrants, are experiencing population declines, heightening global competition for labor and talent. Meanwhile, most low-income nations are anticipated to see significant population expansion, placing pressure on them to produce more jobs for youth.
 
According to the World Bank's senior managing director, migration can be a tremendous engine for wealth and progress when properly managed, and it helps all people - both in origin and destination communities.
 
In many nations, the proportion of working-age individuals will fall dramatically in the future decades. With a population of 47 million, Spain is expected to drop by more than one-third by 2100, with those over the age of 65 growing from 20 to 39 percent of the population.

​Leader of the United Workers Party and financial economist, Dr Thomson Fontaine, elaborates on the differences he sees between Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and himself. He expressed the view that despite their differences, what really separates them is the heart.
 
He said he has observed wealthy individuals who don't even see the poverty around them and don't have the compassion to recognize the struggles other people are going through. Another significant difference between them, according to Dr Fontaine, is that Mr Skerrit has demonstrated a great deal of greed and arrogance, and no heart.

Fontaine emphasized his passion for securing growth, wealth and improvements for Dominicans. He discontinued his position at the IMF in order to return to Dominica to help his country grow and prosper.

The United Workers Party's leader and financial economist Dr. Thomson Fontaine.

Justice Dr Irving Andre observes that the new proposed electoral reform legislation is alleged to be promising to give the Electoral Commission the discretion to decide the amount of money that can be spent in an election campaign reporting period. He wonders whether the Commission as it is currently constituted would increase the recommended campaign finance amount; he wonders who will benefit? Dr Andre notes that any such provision would enable indiscriminate and unchecked spending during elections, as there would be no limits on spending on the campaign reporting period.

He expressed the view that it is the very same electoral commission that has refused to cleanse the voters list during the last three cycles. Dr André wonders why it is so difficult to implement a recommended amendment to current law that would address the problem of electoral spending.

Justice Dr Irving Andre.

According to Lennox Linton, President of the United Workers Party (UWP), a person can only be entitled to be on the Registers of Voters if they can demonstrate residency in a specific constituency for three (3) months, rather than dwelling in Dominica in general. He stated that if a person moves to another country and stays for more than five (5) years, the law requires that individual to be removed from the voters list.

​Linton went on to say that the UWP feels that the consultants, who have access to best practices and understanding of election processes throughout the world, should have provided a clarification of the specific legislative requirement.

​Lennox Linton, President of the United Workers Party (UWP).

​In the last ten years, Latin America and the Caribbean have gone from having one of the highest rates of childhood vaccination in the world to one of the lowest. This is due to the drop in coverage of the third dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) among children under one, from 93% in 2012 to 75% in 2021.
 
This is the region’s lowest routine immunization rate in almost 30 years, placing Latin America and the Caribbean below the global average (81%) and just ahead of Eastern and Southern Africa (74%). According to the latest World Health Organization and UNICEF estimates, Latin America & the Caribbean’s backslide in immunization has left 2.4 million children – one in four children under the age of one – unprotected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Children in the poorest families are almost three times as likely to be zero-dose as children in the wealthiest families.
 
This is one of the most serious childhood immunization crises the region has seen in almost 30 years, as diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio. The decline in childhood immunization in Latin America and the Caribbean is due to multiple factors, including natural disasters, violence, urbanization, instability, and migration.
 
Uneven public spending in health across the region and reduced investment in some countries have left the most marginalized communities cut off from quality primary health care. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges, interrupting childhood vaccination due to intense demands on health systems and stay-at-home measures. UNICEF calls on governments and partners to urgently identify and vaccinate all children, prioritize funding for immunization services and primary health care, build resilient health systems through investment in health workers, innovation and manufacturing of vaccine supplies in the region, & strengthen demand for vaccines, including by building confidence. 

​Dominica State College announces its forth coming Career Fair, which will include 24 local firms on Thursday, April 27, 2023 at the campus. This event will benefit both students and businesses attending the Career Fair. Students will acquire excellent experience networking with professionals in their respective professions while learning about prospective career routes.
 
Meanwhile, companies will have the opportunity to interact with potential recruits and boost brand recognition.  Monelle Alexis-Edwards, Public Relations and Recruitment Officer at the institution, stated that this activity will allow students to contact businesses and learn about job openings, internships, and apprenticeships.

​Monelle Alexis-Edwards, Public Relations and Recruitment Officer at the Dominica State College.

As part of its capacity building efforts, staff of the Bureau participated in two (2) three-week training programs hosted by the National Institute of Training for Standardization (NITS) of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in India. The 13th International Training Programme (ITP) on the Competencies of Laboratories and their Management Systems from February 06 to 24, 2023. The Bureau was represented by Ms. Colita Nation and Ms. Indira Constant. The program was designed to provide laboratory managers, technicians, and other professionals with the skills and knowledge required to manage laboratories effectively.
 
The program covered a range of topics, including laboratory quality management, technical competency, legal metrology, measurement uncertainty, and laboratory accreditation. The training was delivered through a combination of theoretical and practical sessions. Theoretical sessions included lectures, discussions, and interactive learning activities while practical sessions involved mock audits, and workshops as well as field visits to laboratory facilities.
 
The 18th ITP on Management Systems was held from March 06 to 24, 2023 and the Bureau was represented by Mr. Kyle James and Ms. Caren Casimir. The program was designed to provide participants with the skills and knowledge required for the effective and sustainable implementation of management systems. The program covered a range of management systems which included ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems, ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems, ISO 14001 Environment Management Systems, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System and ISO 50001 Energy Management systems. The training was delivered through a combination of lectures and workshops from highly experienced faculty as well as industrial visits. One major element was the insight into understanding and implementing an Integrated Management system. An introductory session was also conducted on the BIS Care App which provides information on all things relating to the BIS, including access to their standards and certification schemes. The Bureau intends to utilize the knowledge gained from this training for the development of additional certification schemes by the National Certification Unit and for continuous improvement of its QMS. 

Dr. Thomson Fontaine, the leader of the United Workers Party and a financial economist, says public servants in Dominica are being paid the same as he received some thirty years ago. He also believes that if the funds from the sale of passports had been managed effectively, there would have been salary increments, increased employment in several sectors, as well as the development of several new industries to the point where young people would be prospering.

He pointed out that the ordinary public officer would have to work for five years to earn the $64,000 per month that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit receives per month to live in a mansion. Dr. Fontaine emphasizes that this behavior is extremely problematic since it speaks poorly of the Dominican people who have long tolerated it. He has sympathy for Dominica's youth, and most especially the public servants who are having a difficult time making ends meet.

United Workers Party's leader and financial economist, Dr. Thomson Fontaine.

​Following a successful visit by a project team from Martinique and Guadeloupe working with local partners, CultureMedia Service Inc. of Dominica, Dominica has welcomed the formal launch of the Interreg CINUCA (Caribbean Digital Film Library Project).
 
The week-long tour, which lasted from February 28th to March 3rd, comprised presentations to many cultural and media organizations, a debate with local film makers, a formal launch ceremony, and a film screening session of Mahakari's film "Jocelyne, mi tchè mwen."
 
The visit was also an occasion to emphasize the importance of regional collaboration for such an important regional effort, as well as to deliver an update to the Dominica public, particularly significant cultural institutions and practitioners in the creative industries sector's cinema sub-sector.
 
According to CINUCA team member Steve Zebina of Martinique, the Dominica visit was highly successful, owing to the strength of local cultural organizations and their enthusiasm in protecting the region's cultural assets and tradition.
 
The Martinique film festival director and cultural administrator stated that Dominica provided them with much encouragement and assistance, and emphasized the profound dedication of cultural activists and practitioners on the island to engage with other partners to ensure the project's success.

National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore says a minimum of $75 for payment in court towards child maintenance, under the Maintenance of Children's Act, means that $75 is the lowest an individual can pay per week according to a court assigned order. Blackmoore says over the years, and more so now, we are seeing the rise in inflation and the consequential impact on the cost of living.

​National Security Minister, Rayburn Blackmoore.