Dr. Glenford Howe, a Montserratian thought leader, advocate and author in higher education has been appointed as an Expert Technical Scholar at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy at The UWI Mona campus in Jamaica.
The invitation to join the institute as a scholar was given by former prime minister and international statesman PJ Patterson for which the organisation is named, earlier this month. The P.J. Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, which was officially launched in June 26, 2020, has a mandate to coordinate public policy and advocacy in fostering development relations between the Caribbean and Africa.
According to Dr. Howe’s bio, his “multidisciplinary works span several academic disciplines and have been cited by scholars across the world. He is a product of the Montserrat Secondary school, the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus, and the (ICS/SOAS) University of London.”
He currently works with the UWI Open Campus based in Barbados as Snr. Research/Programme Officer (Professorial level). Has also received formal training in education, especially education policy and strategy. He obtained a BA in History and Political Science with First Class Honours at the UWI, and his doctoral thesis (completed in just over two years) titled “ Race War Nationalism: A social history of West Indians in the First World War” has been turned into a TV documentary by Channel 4 TV in the UK and published as a book. In 2016 that book was used as the primary source for a radio documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation, and used as one of the main sources for a television documentary by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The book has been used by scholars and others in different disciplines including by poets.
Dr. Howe has also produced (along with Prof. Alan Cobley) the first book on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. This book was used as essential training material for persons, schools and other organisations combatting the HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, at a time when most academics avoided the topic because of the stigma,” his bio notes.
Dr Howe has received several grants to support his research from such agencies as the Rockefeller Archive Center in New York, the Central Bank of Barbados and the Welcome Trust in the UK. He has published in various disciplines including, history, politics, education, health and child protection, and has produced many papers, books, technical reports and advised such agencies as the UNESCO- (IBE), the UNESCO- (IESALC), UNICEF, UNDP, the Caribbean Development Bank, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), CARICOM, and the Governments of Barbados and Anguilla.
He has served in leadership and advisory roles across the region, including as Vice President and then President of the West Indies Group of University Teachers at UWI, Cave Hill; as Associate Editor of the Inter-American Journal of Education for Democracy (IJED) and as a member of the Advisory Board for the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices by the Organization of American States (OAS).
Dr Howe prepared the Draft of the CARICOM High level and Ministerial declaration: “The Bridgetown Declaration and Agenda for Action to combat Child Sexual Abuse in the Caribbean”. He also prepared Barbados’ report to the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child; Was the lead (co-author) and presenter of the main discussion/strategy paper “Education in the Commonwealth: Quality Education for Equitable Development: Performance, Paths and Productivity-3PS” at the 19th conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting which was held in the Bahamas in June 2015.
In 2016 he co-authored a major concept paper on the development of an Inter-American Education agenda for the 9th Conference of the Inter-American Ministers of Education. He also drafted the 2030 CARICOM Human Resource Development (HRD) strategy under the supervision of the CARICOM HRD Commission chaired by Dr. Didacus Jules.
He is a founding member of the UWI Regional Zika Task Force which was launched in 2016. In 2019 was the lead writer for the development of A strategy for strengthening the tertiary education ecosystem in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean states 2020-2024. His professional/work awards include 2010 Vice Chancellor’s Personal Award for research/publication on higher education in the Caribbean, and in 2018-received award for being one of the UWI Cave Hill campus’ 70 most outstanding graduates. 2020 was lead writer of concept paper and project proposal on post-Covid19 education regional digital transformation.
He was the leading academic advocate for the establishment of a UWI campus in the OECS, and this dream would become reality almost 20 years after he started his advocacy when the UWI leadership team decided to establish a new campus (Five Islands Campus) in Antigua in 2019. He also co-authored in January 2021 (with the Principal & Pro-Vice Chancellor of the UWI Open Campus, Dr Luz Longsworth) the concept paper for a Global Campus which the University of the West Indies is now in the process of establishing to reposition the UWI for a post- Covid 19 world.
In March 2021 Dr Howe was appointed to the high-level Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART). In 2022 Dr Howe was appointed by the cabinet of Barbados to serve as Deputy Chairman of the Archives Advisory Committee from 2022-2025.
Learn more about the institute at www.inafricara.com.
