GOVERNMENT?WILL?hold the second diaspora conference in August to provide opportunities for the interaction between Barbadian generations abroad and at home while celebrating and building on the contributions from those living overseas.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, said the August 2 to 10 biennial consultations, scheduled to be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, including social and community related events, was focused on recognizing longstanding contributions of Barbadians in their adopted homes and as a mechanism to building long-standing networks and partnerships.
“I would want to assure Barbadians abroad that the financial remittances that you have been accustomed to providing, while of critical importance, is not our only interest,” McClean said. “We are very much interested in what you can call social remittances, those contributions to building social capital.
“We in Barbados this year celebrate our 50th anniversary of free secondary universal education that is for all Barbadians in all schools and we see as we look around the diaspora and we monitor the contributions of our people outside of Barbados that that investment in Barbados is a significant investment . . .”
Barbadians and Barbadian descendants in Canada and the United States as well as Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil are expected to attend the consultation. (AH)
