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| Jun 29, 2022

Four to receive Order of Caribbean Community at 43rd Caricom Heads of Government Meeting

/ Our Today

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The insignia of the Order of the Caribbean Community, designed by Guyana’s Stanhope Williams. The design represents the sun, bursting forth in all its golden splendour. The sun also represents the distinguished persons who receive the honour. At the centre of the design are the interlocking Cs, the logo of the Caribbean Community. The rainbow above the upper interlocking C represents the mixture of races in the Community and the natural beauty and colourful nature of th region. Below the interlocking Cs are two wavy bands which represent the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, one or both of which wash the shores of member states.

On Sunday (July 3), four CARICOM nationals will be conferred with the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), at the opening ceremony of the 43rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, in Paramaribo, Suriname.

They are former CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Calypsonian David Rudder, cricketer extraordinaire Sir Vivian Richards, and Dame Billie Miller, former deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Barbados.

Irwin Larocque, CARICOM secretary general. (Photo: CARICOM.org)

They will join a cadre of distinguished persons who are honoured for making outstanding contributions to the development of the Community. The award is given to “Caribbean nationals whose legacy in the economic, political, social and cultural metamorphoses of Caribbean society is phenomenal”.

DEREK WALCOTT AMONG PREVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENTS

The OCC was first conferred in 1992.

The first awardees were Dr William Demas, former CARICOM secretary-general; Sir Shridath Ramphal, former chief negotiator of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), and former Commonwealth secretary-general, chairman of the West Indian Commission, and former chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI); and Derek Walcott, distinguished and internationally acclaimed poet and playwright, and 1992 Nobel Prize recipient for literature.

Sir Shridath Ramphal

Over the years, the list has expanded to encompass a range of other persons including former heads of government, sports personalities, regional creatives, representatives of the legal fraternity, members of academia, economists, members of the medical profession.

On Sunday, the awardees will receive an 18-carat gold medallion with a specially designed ribbon to be worn around the neck. The recipients will also receive a smaller version of the insignia in the form of a lapel pin, and a scroll detailing their outstanding achievements. OCC recipients are bestowed the title ‘Honourable’, along with the suffix OCC following their names. In addition, they can work and acquire property in any member state.

OCC recipients, their spouses and children under the age of 18, also receive special travel documents designed to facilitate travel in the region.

Tags
Caribbean Community CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government Dame Billie Miller David Rudder Irwin Larocque Order of the Caribbean Community Sir Vivian Richards Suriname

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