Montserrat will be part of the Joint Ministerial Council meetings which officially begin Wednesday, May 10 in London.
Premier Joseph Farrell is accompanied by Deputy Premier Dr. Samuel Joseph and Financial Secretary Lindorna Lambert.
The premier told Discover Montserrat that the overseas territories have agreed on the JMC agenda. Key discussions will be “healthcare with emphasis on strengthening the partnership between UK and OT health services and the implementation of the agreed NHS heath quota, economic resilience and a push for the UK to support a Vulnerability Index as a measurement to determine hazard prone countries accessibility to grant funding or concessional finance.”
There is a dinner with heads of the delegations with Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith, Minister for the Overseas Territories on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Lord Goldsmith and Teslyn Barkman, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the Falkland Islands and President of the Political Council of UK Overseas Territories Association will give opening remarks.
The Thursday afternoon session will look at how the UK and the OTs can strengthen law enforcement in the Overseas Territories and responding to the challenges of irregular migration and asylum claims in the Territories.
The closing session will discuss:
- strategies for investment and fiscal sustainability in the context of higher interest rates
- climate vulnerability and a more volatile global environment,
- vulnerability index and sustainable development financing
- UK – Overseas Territories collaboration on countering illicit finance, sanctions enforcement, and joint UK/OT ministerial dialogue on illicit finance
- Implementation of publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership
Friday’s meetings will begin with discussions from relevant UK ministers on tackling environment and climate change challenges in the OTs. The OTs commitment to climate change action plans including priorities, challenges and lessons learned and their Biodiversity Strategy, Darwin funding and Paris Agreement will be highlighted.
Strengthening the partnership between UK and Territory health services, a review of the current NHS quota and International Health Regulations are to be discussed.
The Department for Transport will present on a long-term strategy for ensuring appropriate infrastructure is implemented and maintained in the Overseas Territories, including sustainable funding and decarbonization will close out the Friday meetings.
The 2022 JMC meeting was postponed until 2023 as no minister for the Overseas Territories had been assigned in the reshuffled UK Government.
