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The largest and smallest mammals in the Caribbean have been the most vulnerable to extinction, a new study shows.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, help predict future extinction risk and inform the conservation strategies needed to prevent future biodiversity loss.

Most past studies have found that larger mammals go extinct more often, so the new findings are unusual. The researchers looked at past extinction patterns across the Caribbean mammal fauna to understand the factors that predispose species to extinction. With mammal extinction, what researchers found is that size does indeed matter in life.

The islands of the Caribbean have long been a source of fascination for scientists and conservationists. They were once home to a diverse array of land mammals including sloths, primates, unusual insectivores, and giant rodents, but the arrival of different waves of human colonists from around 6,000 years ago onwards instigated the largest series of human-caused mammal extinctions since the end of the last Ice Age.

Only 11 native Caribbean rodents and two insectivores still survive todayincluding the two solenodons, large shrew-like mammals that have the unique ability to inject venom into their prey using modified grooved teeth.

Both solenodon species are the only representatives of an ancient mammalian lineage that diverged from the ancestors of all other living mammals during the time of the dinosaurs, approximately 76 million years ago.

Liliana M. Dvalos, a professor in the ecology and evolution department at Stony Brook University, designed and completed the statistical analyses that led to the findings. Carrying out the study at the level of mammal populations instead of species, allowed the teams methods to account for the effect of varying environmental conditions across different islands on species chances of survival.

Conducting a huge-scale analysis that included records of extinction patterns for 219 land mammal populations across 118 Caribbean islands, the study went beyond previous research into Caribbean mammal extinctions, which has largely focused on reconstructing last-occurrence dates for extinct species and matching them with specific historical events.

The current study instead sought to identify wider ecological patternssuch as the relationship between body mass and extinction riskthat influence a mammals chance of survival in response to human activities.

They found that medium-sized Caribbean mammalslike the solenodonshave been less sensitive to extinction compared to both their smaller and larger counterparts.

The overall discovery will likely reflect the fact that larger species were more vulnerable to past human hunting, whereas smaller species were more vulnerable to predation or competition from species such as mongooses and rats.

To answer questions such as what traits predispose species to survival? or what island features are associated with extinction? we studied each population on an island as a natural experiment, Dvalos says.

With enough of them, patterns that have often been discussed but couldnt quantify start to emerge. Without the large database of many natural experiments in the Caribbean and powerful computing approaches, there is no way to answer these questions, Dvalos says.

The analyses also showed that Caribbean mammals of all sizes were less likely to survive on the earliest-colonized islands by humans and more likely to survive on tiny, low-elevation offshore islands, meaning that their future survival could be at risk from climate change and rising sea levels unless measures are put in place to protect these vital natural refuges.

Preventing the extinction of highly endangered species requires an awareness of not only the immediate risks to their survival, but also the history of human-caused biodiversity lossand the unique insights that the past can provide about species vulnerability or resilience under differing conditions, says Samuel Turvey of the Zoological Society of London.

The Caribbean islands are home to unique mammalian biodiversity, which has tragically been almost completely wiped out by past human activities. Our study clearly highlights the importance of learning from the past to make the future betterwe must use information from the historical, archaeological and recent fossil records to inform current-day conservation, or else we risk losing these remarkable species forever.

The National Science Foundation funded the work.

Source: Stony Brook University

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Biggest and smallest Caribbean mammals are most at risk of extinction - Futurity: Research News

Sarah Jessica Parker will do a lot of things on screen, but she won't get naked. Ever.

The actress spoke of her no-nudity contract clause as she gets ready to reprise her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the "Sex and the City" reboot titled "And Just Like That."

"Some people have a perks list and they are legendary. They have to have white candles in their room. I don't have a crazy list like that. I've just always had a no-nudity clause," she told The Sun. "I'm a modest person. You couldn't pay me enough to have someone pretend they were me doing a nude scene. No body doubles that's part of my contract."

Sarah noted that producers often tried to get her to strip down in her early acting days, but she always took a firm stance. One time she sobbed because of the pressure she felt. Luckily for her, she had people willing to go to bat for her.

"There was so much pressure for me to take my clothes off. They were like, 'Sarah's going to be nude tomorrow', and I was like, 'I'm not going to be nude,'" she said. "My agent sent a car and a plane ticket to the film set and said, 'If anybody makes you do anything that you are not comfortable doing, you don't.'"

"I know how lucky I am that there was someone in this case, a man who stepped in," she added.

Considering her resume and power within the industry, SJP is now in a position to tell producers what she feels comfortable doing. In "And Just Like That," which also stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, SJP answers to almost nobody as an executive producer.

"I'm excited about being back with Cynthia and Kristin and on the streets of New York," she said. "It's very possible that a great actress will join us, and she will have a huge impact and we'll want to be with her more, the audience will want to see her more. I'm just very excited."

While reuniting with her friends is certainly gratifying, Sarah is also looking forward to her wardrobe.

"Some of the happiest memories I have are fittings for the show. I worked 18 to 20-hour days for years," she said. "After filming, I would go into fitting at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. for three to five hours because you'd be doing two episodes back to back. At points, I was wearing 20 to 30 costumes per two episodes. But they were so much fun and I did whatever I was told. I would try on anything. No matter how ridiculous."

"We'd double over laughing sometimes because so much of the stuff was from thrift stores and vintage shops and pulled from the most peculiar and outrageous spots," she continued. "Sometimes Michael Patrick, the director, would be like, 'What are you wearing?' And I would be like, 'Just trust me on this'. Like the bird in the veil or the dress in Paris, from a thrift store. We had no reason to put that dress on, we could not rationalize it but it was beautiful and knew the audience will love it."

With the new mini-series, designers will be clamoring to dress Sarah and her costars, which is far from the way things used to be on "Sex and the City."

"In the beginning we had a very tiny budget," Sarah said. "Nobody would loan us anything. I mean, nothing. We couldn't get a bag, we couldn't get a flip-flop."

And Just Like That everything changed.

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A-Rod flies to Caribbean to be with J.Lo amid 'rough patch' reports - Wonderwall

One in 7 Caribbean-born individuals with either breast or ovarian cancer had hereditary disease with an actionable pathogenic variant, which provides the opportunity for the utilization of targeted therapeutics and precise prevention strategies, according to results from a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.1

Results from the research indicated that of 1018 patients, 98.1% (n = 999) had breast cancer, while 2.1% (n = 21) had ovarian cancer. Moreover, of the 1015 patients for whom data were available, 14.2% (n = 144) were found to have a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant in a gene associated with hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer syndrome. Notably, 64% of patients who had these variants had them in BRCA1, 23% had them in BRCA2, 9% in PALB2, and 4% in RAD51C, CHEK2, ATM, STK11, and NBN.

Patients in the Bahamas were noted to have the highest proportion of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers at 23%; this was followed by Barbados (17.9%), Trinidad (12%), Dominica (8.8%), Haiti (6.7%), Cayman Islands (6.3%), and Jamaica (4.9%).

This genetic association study was a large, unique, and multinational study of breast and ovarian cancer in the Caribbean population. Pathogenic variants in the breast cancer genes of BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 are common causes of breast cancer in Caribbean women, Sophia George, PhD, research assistant professor at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Health System, and colleagues, wrote. People of African descent are understudied and undertested in both the breast and gynecologic cancer settings. Targeted genetic testing of only BRCA1 and BRCA2 is insufficient in Caribbean women, and panel multigene testing should be recommended.

Approximately 40 million individuals reside in the Caribbean and most patients are of African descent with genetic admixture of Indigenous, Asian, Indian, European, and Middle Eastern immigrants. Importantly, breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-associated deaths in these women; in fact, in some countries, young women are disproportionately affected by this.

In light of the high rates of breast and ovarian cancer that have been observed in the Caribbean, and the relatively young age of patients at the time of presentation, investigators set out to identify the rate of inherited breast and ovarian cancers in select countries within the Caribbean as a way to derive a better understanding of different disease variants region wide.

To do this, investigators planned to consider the odds of harboring a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant when individuals are diagnosed with these diseases at an early age. They also performed multigene testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer genes in individuals who resided in 7 Caribbean countries: the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The cross-sectional Caribbean Womens Cancer Study was conducted between June 2010 and June 2018 in 1018 patients with invasive breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer who resided in the Caribbean. Individuals were identified by the following: treating physicians, local cancer societies, hospital and pathology records, and outpatient oncology clinical records of the individual islands. Investigators also recruited participants through the use of different media outlets.

To be eligible for enrollment, patients had to have a pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer, at least 1 grandparent born in 1 of the 7 selected countries, and they had to be able to provide consent, as well as a saliva sample.

All samples collected from patients underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification to allow for the identification of all classes of variants. All individuals were initially screened for BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51 variants in the phase 1 portion of the research.

In phase 2, those residing in the Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, and Haiti received full NGS of 30 genes. Those residing in Jamaica and Trinidad who had a family history of either cancer, were less than 40 years of age, and tested negative for the variants examined in phase 1, were re-examined using a multipaneled test.

Following these test results, participants were identified to be have pathogenic variants, or those that directly contribute to disease development; to have likely pathogenic variants, or those with greater than 90% certainty that the variant will cause disease; or to have a variant of unknown significance (VUS).

Of the 1018 participants enrolled to the study, the majority (n = 996) were women, 21 female individuals had ovarian cancer and 3 men had breast cancer. Notably, 86% of patients with breast cancer had a self-detected mass and sought medical attention, underscoring the fact that disease detection via mammogram was uncommon.

More than half of the women who were diagnosed with breast cancer (63%) were premenopausal, and the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 46.6 years. The mean age in those diagnosed with ovarian cancer was 47.6 years. Discrepancies of age and population-based cancer registries in Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbados were noted.

Of 607 patients with a documented disease stage at diagnosis, 33.4% had stage III disease and 5.9% had stage IV disease. Those residing in Haiti had the highest percentage of advanced-stage disease, at 64.7%, while the lowest percentage was noted in Cayman Island residents, at 11%.

A total of 144 variant carriers was identified in the study cohort. Among the carriers for breast cancer, the mean age was 40.7 years; these individuals were significantly younger than those who did not have germline variants, according to the study investigators (P = .03). Approximately 44% (n = 29/66) of carriers were diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) vs 21.1% of noncarriers (P <.001).

Moreover, 50.5% of participants were found to have a family history of either a first- or second-degree relative with breast cancer, while 11.3% had relatives with ovarian cancer. Approximately half of those with VUS had a family history of breast cancer, while 8.5% had a history of ovarian cancer. Any family history of breast cancer was linked with a BRCA1 variant (odds ratio [OR], 4.87; 95% CI, 2.82-8.42; P <.001) or a BRCA2 variant (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.40-6.71; P = .005).

Specifically, of the individuals born in the Caribbean who had breast cancer, having a first- or second-degree family member with the disease was linked with having any BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline variant (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.24-2.01; P <.001). Having a BRCA1 variant was found to be more strongly associated with TNBC vs a BRCA2 variant (OR, 6.33; 95% CI, 2.05-19.54; P = .001).

These data may be useful in screening, increasing awareness of cancer risk, and encouraging risk reduction strategies in people of Caribbean origin and their unaffected family members, the study authors concluded. Awareness of the heightened risks among these patients may help minimize morbidity and maximize care in a group already overburdened with well-described cancer health disparities.

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1 in 7 Caribbean Adults With Breast or Ovarian Cancers Have Actionable Pathogenic Variants - OncLive

Executive summary

Children migrate with their families and independently. According to the most recent global estimates, the total number of child migrants is approximately 31 million. Thirteen million children are refugees and 936,000 are asylum-seekers. Meanwhile, 17 million children have been forcibly displaced inside their own countries and are considered internally displaced persons (IDPs). Access to inclusive and equitable education is a major challenge for these children.

Currently, the Latin America and Caribbean region is experiencing the largest external displacement crisis in its recent history the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis. By the end of 2019, at least 4.8 million refugees and migrants had left Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). At least 25 per cent of the Venezuelan refugees and migrants are children and adolescents many of whom are experiencing school disruptions. It is estimated that the crisis has caused over 1 million children to drop out of school in 2018. Moreover, 3.9 million Venezuelans were living in other Latin American and Caribbean countries by the end of 2019, generating significant resource and capacity challenges to educational systems across the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses additional challenges. By November 2020, 137 million boys and girls across the region were missing out on their education, due to the prolonged closure of schools. While in other parts of the world, schools have gradually reopened, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority of classrooms remain closed with no immediate prospect of reopening. The implications are troubling, especially for migrant and refugee children.

Through a systematic review of the empirical literature, this study collates evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean and across the world to facilitate a better understanding of the multifaceted linkages between education and migration. The study leverages global and regional evidence to: (i) estimate gaps in educational outcomes between migrant/refugee children and children from local communities; (ii) identify structural barriers to education for migrant/refugee children at the macro-level (educational system), the meso-level (school organization and local communities), and the micro-level (individual and interpersonal characteristics of children and parents with a migration background); (iii) detect promising practices in migrant/refugee education, and (iv) inform relevant policies and practices in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

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Lifting Barriers to Education During and After COVID-19 - Improving education outcomes for migrant and refugee children in Latin America and the...

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

(The writer is Antigua and Barbudas Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)

SEVERAL editorials in respected newspapers as well as blogs by influential people in the region are, once again, expressing deep concern about CARICOM, particularly over its lack of unity in international affairs and the failure of its leaders to implement their own decisions regarding the single market.

This has led a Minister of the St Vincent and the Grenadines government to reproduce on his blog, a strong view that CARICOM is dead, depicted by a headstone in a burial ground.

Against the background of these recent pronouncements, my commentary this week draws on an article I wrote in 2013.

Ian McDonalds, A Cloud of Witnesses, published by The Caribbean Press, is a collection of thoughtful reflections on the Caribbean condition; visionary and inspirational addresses to diplomats and graduating University students; and moving accounts of experiences that are shaping the Caribbean in which we live.

The topics in the book are varied reflecting a long life in the Caribbean; the interests of a man who is poet and writer; lover of cricket; executive in the sugar industry and a consummate West Indian born in Trinidad of Antigua and St Kitts ancestry, grew up in Trinidad and Antigua, earned a degree from Cambridge University, Captained the West Indies Davis Cup tennis team, and worked most of his adult life in Guyana. He is also among a rare breed a white and proud West Indian as comfortable in the company of other West Indians of all races as he is content in his own skin.

After he retired as an executive of the Sugar Industry in Guyana, and by then an accomplished and well-recognised writer and poet, McDonald worked with the West Indian Commission that body of distinguished West Indian men and women who produced in 1992 the seminal study, Time for Action, that laid out a blueprint for the Caribbeans future. McDonald recalls the testimony of experts who pointed to the models that were being developed elsewhere the Asian Tigers, the Singapore model, the new Europe. He also remembers with satisfaction the Commission felt that, while these models were useful reference points, the West Indian model had its own intrinsic value. West Indians, the report said, offer a rare creation a people of many nationalities, many races, many faiths, and different cultural heritages who have stayed together in a single community.

McDonald asserts his own belief in the value of the West Indian model. Nonetheless, he is practical enough to pray because I think we will need some heavenly blessing in a hard task but in the end I profoundly believe because I think we already hold enough in common to secure an undivided future together.

His profound belief does not prevent him from being disillusioned with the pettifogging gradualism that the word CARICOM is rapidly coming to stand for. All of our small countries, he says, simply have to make ourselves bigger very soon enlarge our domestic market, broaden our technological base, combine our financial resources, increase the scale of opportunity for our ambitious young people, bring together behind one frontier the marvellous common cultural strains that exist in the West Indies side by side but apart apart and therefore more vulnerable to outside cultural impact.

As for the grand communiques, speeches and often touted plans of CARICOM meetings, he despairs every country in the region is littered with the burnt-out corpses of plans not implemented and reports unread. Of the high-sounding declarations, he laments they are Declarations of futility.

The book conjoins cricket with poetry not only in capturing the superlative stroke play of Rohan Kanhai and Vivian Richards; the genius of Frank Worrell; and the artistry of Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara, but the essence of what cricket means to every West Indian truly cricket is supremely an imaginative possession which binds our Caribbean Community together If it is no longer to be so we have lost something of infinite value.

McDonalds book celebrates the nobility and importance of West Indian-ness and the necessity to consolidate its value. However, it does not ignore the warts so obvious on our Caribbean face, nor does it avoid confronting our obsession with our sovereignty that is constantly invoked to pursue narrow political interests. Clinging to sovereignty, which in any event we only exercise against ourselves, is an obstacle to the unity we all need to survive in a world that cares little about small states. As the rest of the world sees the English-Speaking Caribbean, our entire populations are collectively no more than a small city in the US, Europe or Asia. What is more, many of our countries frequently yield their sovereignty to larger countries when they are either lured or pressured to do so even at the expense of the CARICOM Treaty obligations.

In truth, as was evidenced in their testimony to the 1992 West Indian Commission, Caribbean people would prefer a Caribbean with one currency, one passport, free to travel between them, to invest in them, to benefit from its abundant collective wealth, to hail their joint heroes in sport, in literature and in other areas of achievement. And, more than anything else, to command respect in the world.

McDonalds book describes the things that give pleasure and cause the soul to soar and want to accomplish what looks impossible like painting the wind or creating a West Indian nation the former only God can accomplish; the latter is within the capacity of Caribbean people inspired by their leaders, when we all get to it.

Responses and previous commentaries: http://www.sirronaldsanders.com

(The writer is Antigua and Barbudas Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)

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WORLD VIEW: Will regional unity be forever lost to the Caribbean? - Bahamas Tribune

Royal Caribbean Group announced Tuesday that it is again extending its suspension of sailing, this time through May, for most of its scheduled voyages amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The company, which had previously suspended its cruising through April, said it is suspending Royal Caribbean International sailings through May 31, excluding Quantum of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas, and excluding China Spectrum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas sailings from April 30 through May and beyond.

Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises sailings are also suspended through May 31, while Azamara sailings are suspended through June 30.

"Royal Caribbean Group continues to focus on the healthy and safe return to cruising for guests, crew and the communities we visit," the company said in a statement. "Royal Caribbean Group continues to work with our Healthy Sail Panel of globally recognized scientific and medical experts to come back stronger, and we look forward to welcoming our guests back on board."

The company said they are reaching out to customers to share further details.

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Royal Caribbean Group Extends Suspension of Most Cruises Through May - NBC 6 South Florida

Several editorials in respected newspapers as well as blogs by influential persons in the region are, once again, expressing deep concern about CARICOM, particularly over its lack of unity in international affairs and the failure of its leaders to implement their own decisions regarding the single market.

This has led a minister of the St Vincent and the Grenadines government to reproduce on his blog, a strong view that CARICOM is dead, depicted by a headstone in a burial ground.

Against the background of these recent pronouncements, my commentary this week draws on an article I wrote in 2013.

Ian McDonalds, A Cloud of Witnesses, published by The Caribbean Press, is a collection of thoughtful reflections on the Caribbean condition; visionary and inspirational addresses to diplomats and graduating university students; and moving accounts of experiences that are shaping the Caribbean in which we live.

The topics in the book are varied reflecting a long life in the Caribbean; the interests of a man who is poet and writer; lover of cricket; executive in the sugar industry and a consummate West Indian born in Trinidad of Antigua and St Kitts ancestry, grew up in Trinidad and Antigua, earned a degree from Cambridge University, captained the West Indies Davis Cup tennis team, and worked most of his adult life in Guyana. He is also among a rare breed a white and proud West Indian as comfortable in the company of other West Indians of all races as he is content in his own skin.

After he retired as an executive of the Sugar Industry in Guyana, and by then an accomplished and well-recognised writer and poet, McDonald worked with the West Indian Commission that body of distinguished West Indian men and women who produced in 1992 the seminal study, Time for Action, that laid out a blueprint for the Caribbeans future. McDonald recalls the testimony of experts who pointed to the models that were being developed elsewhere the Asian Tigers, the Singapore model, the new Europe. He also remembers with satisfaction that the commission felt that, while these models were useful reference points, the West Indian model had its own intrinsic value. West Indians, the report said, offer a rare creation a people of many nationalities, many races, many faiths, and different cultural heritages, who have stayed together in a single community.

McDonald asserts his own belief in the value of the West Indian model. Nonetheless, he is practical enough to pray because I think we will need some heavenly blessing in a hard task but in the end I profoundly believe because I think we already hold enough in common to secure an undivided future together.

His profound belief does not prevent him from being disillusioned with the pettifogging gradualism that the word CARICOM is rapidly coming to stand for. All of our small countries, he says, simply have to make ourselves bigger very soon enlarge our domestic market, broaden our technological base, combine our financial resources, increase the scale of opportunity for our ambitious young people, bring together behind one frontier the marvellous common cultural strains that exist in the West Indies side by side but apart apart and therefore more vulnerable to outside cultural impact.

As for the grand communiques, speeches and often-touted plans of CARICOM meetings, he despairs every country in the region is littered with the burnt-out corpses of plans not implemented and reports unread. Of the high-sounding declarations, he laments that they are Declarations of futility.

The book conjoins cricket with poetry not only in capturing the superlative stroke play of Rohan Kanhai and Vivian Richards; the genius of Frank Worrell; and the artistry of Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara, but the essence of what cricket means to every West Indian truly cricket is supremely an imaginative possession which binds our Caribbean Community together If it is no longer to be so we have lost something of infinite value.

McDonalds book celebrates the nobility and importance of West Indian-ness and the necessity to consolidate its value. However, it does not ignore the warts so obvious on our Caribbean face, nor does it avoid confronting our obsession with our sovereignty that is constantly invoked to pursue narrow political interests.

Clinging to sovereignty, which in any event we only exercise against ourselves is an obstacle to the unity we all need to survive in a world that cares little about small states, as the rest of the world sees the English-speaking Caribbean. Our entire populations are collectively no more than a small city in the US, Europe or Asia. What is more, many of our countries frequently yield their sovereignty to larger countries when they are either lured or pressured to do so even at the expense of the CARICOM Treaty obligations.

In truth, as was evidenced in their testimony to the 1992 West Indian Commission, Caribbean people would prefer a Caribbean with one currency, one passport, free to travel between them, to invest in them, to benefit from its abundant collective wealth, to hail their joint heroes in sport, in literature and in other areas of achievement. And, more than anything else, to command respect in the world.

McDonalds book describes the things that give pleasure and cause the soul to soar and want to accomplish what looks impossible like painting the wind or creating a West Indian nation the former only God can accomplish; the latter is within the capacity of Caribbean people inspired by their leaders, when we all get to it.

Sir Ronald Sanders is Antigua and Barbudas ambassador to the US and the OAS. He is also a senior fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. For responses and previous commentaries log on to http://www.sirronaldsanders.com

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Ronald Sanders | Will regional unity be forever lost to the Caribbean? - Jamaica Gleaner

For Americans among minority and immigrant communities, equal representation in American governance remains an urgent goal. So much still needs to be done, but many Caribbean-American women in politics are proudly leading the way, providing hope for the future. In honor of March as Womens History Month, weve highlighting a few inspiring Caribbean-American women leading in way in United States politics. From the recent iconic election of Vice President Kamala Harris, to Karine Jean Pierres efforts in the Biden administration, and Jennifer Carrolls success as former Lieutenant Governor of Florida, all of these women are a part of the political leadership dedicated to changing our world for the better.

After years of public service and political achievements, Kamala Harris was elected Vice President of the United States in 2020 under the Biden Administration. Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her father Donald Harris, a former professor at Stanford University, is Jamaican. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan was a research biologist originally from India. After studying political science and economics at Howard University, she then went onto earning her law degree from Hastings College.

Harris is currently the highest ranking female elected official in U.S. history. She is also the first woman, African-American, and Asian American to become Vice President as the 49th Vice President of the United States. Before becoming VP, she previously served as a Senator in the U.S. Senate, the first Indian-American and the second Black woman to do so. She also previously held the position as the first female and African-American attorney general of California.

Karine Jean Pierre, a Caribbean national, was born August 13, 1977 in Martinique to Haitian immigrant parents. She was raised in Queens, New York and graduated from the New York Institute of Technology. She would regularly watch Haitian documentaries to further explore her roots and ancestry. Under the Biden Administration, Pierre was selected to be the Chief of Staff to Senator Kamala Harris, becoming the first Black person in history to serve for a U.S. Vice President in that role.

Her years of experience with presidential campaigns, politics, and activism made her a perfect candidate for this role, such as her position as Deputy Battleground States Director for former U.S. president Barack Obamas re-election campaign. In addition, she is also a Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org, a progressive public policy group, and as a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC. In 2018, the Haitian Times named her one of six Haitian Newsmakers Of The Year. She also wrote an autobiography book called Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard work, and the Promise of America, that was published in 2019.

Jennifer Carroll is a republican politician who was the first black female and Trinidadian-American elected to statewide office in Florida. She is also regarded as the first Black person ever to be elected to statewide office in Florida after the American Civil War. Carroll was born August 27, 1959 in Trinidad and Tobago, moving to the U.S. at the young age of 8. Jennifer Carroll served as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Florida from 2011 to 2013 under Governor Rick Scott. Before this role, Carroll served as a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives. Later in her career, after working on the 2016 presidential campaign for Donald Trump, she was appointed as a commissioner on the American Battle Monuments Commission and has served there since 2018.

Susan Rice is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. She has recently taken on the role of director of the United States Domestic Policy Council in 2021 under the Biden Administration. She was born on November 17, 1964, in Washington DC. Her maternal grandparents were Jamaican immigrants. She attended Stanford and Oxford, where she earned her PhD and was a Rhodes Scholar. Rice also served as the 27th US Ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013. and as the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.

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Meet the Amazing Caribbean-American women in politics - Island Origins

IOM Vision

IOM in the Caribbean region is recognised as a robust actor in preparedness, disaster risk reduction and emergency response and works in close coordination with government entities, international and national organizations, civil society organizations and communities at regional, national and local levels. The vision and the activities of IOM in the Caribbean link to the 3 pillars of the IOM Strategic Vision: Resilience, Mobility and Governance. This Caribbean Crisis Response Plan is mainly geared towards increasing the resilience of individuals, families, communities, institutions and populations to withstand shocks and stresses linked to environmental and biohazards. The preparedness and disaster risk reduction (DRR) work will tie in with longer-term initiatives in the region to make the region safer for all.

CONTEXT ANALYSIS

The Caribbean has been historically recognised as one of the regions of the world most prone to a wide range of natural hazards, including hurricanes, floods, landslides, occasional earthquakes and volcanic eruptions[1]. The island states are particularly susceptible to these events, due to common factors such as the small and tourism-dependent economies, the topography, the geographic location, as well as the relative lack of comprehensive land-use and environmental protection regulations. Over the last 20 years, disasters have directly affected 12 million people in the Caribbean on average, and not a single year has passed in which disasters in the Caribbean have not claimed lives. Hurricane Maria and Irma in 2017 and Dorian in 2019 have caused significant loss of lives, displacement and billions of dollars in damages to the economy, infrastructure and houses which have to be repaired after each event.

The countries and islands targeted under this Crisis Response Plan (Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Commonwealth of Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago) for the Caribbean are home to approximately 33 million people. Apart from Guyana, which is located on the continent, all the countries and territories covered by this Plan are small island developing states (SIDS) or small island overseas territories. The Caribbean islands are very diverse in culture, state of development, size and demographics. Fifteen states are organized in The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) which has the primary objectives to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy.

The Caribbean has witnessed numerous waves of migration throughout history, the effects of which have shaped current day society in each respective country in unique manners. The current migration trend is from countries with a lower GDP per capita like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba toward high-income countries like The Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the United States of America. The region is beset by high unemployment, ageing demographics, high levels of non-communicable diseases, persistent gender inequalities, xenophobia and crime. The life expectancy in the Caribbean is 75 years for women and 70 years for men[2] which is lower than the wider Latin America and Caribbean ( LAC) average.

Link:

Emergency Preparedness and Risk Reduction Plan in the Caribbean 2021 - Bahamas - ReliefWeb

Royal Caribbean International's global deployment means the company uses homeports in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia

Here's a look at the company's planned homeports for 2021 and what ships are expected to sail from each turnaround port:

Miami

Ships:

- Freedom of the Seas (October to December);

- Independence of the Seas (May to October);

- Jewel of the Seas (November and December);

- Navigator of the Seas (May to October);

- Oasis of the Seas (November and December);

- Radiance of the Seas (October to December);

- Symphony of the Seas (May to December).

Port Everglades

Ships:

- Allure of the Seas (November and December);

- Navigator of the Seas (October to December);

- Oasis of the Seas (May);

- Odyssey of the Seas (November and December);

- Vision of the Seas (November and December).

Port Canaveral

Ships:

- Allure of the Seas (May to October);

- Harmony of the Seas (November and December);

- Independence of the Seas (November and December);

- Mariner of the Seas (May to December).

Cape Liberty (New York)

Ships:

- Anthem of the Seas (November and December);

- Freedom of the Seas (May to October);

- Oasis of the Seas (May to October).

Galveston

Ships:

- Adventure of the Seas (October to December);

- Explorer of the Seas (May to October);

- Liberty of the Seas (May to December).

Tampa

Ships:

- Brilliance of the Seas (May to December);

- Rhapsody of the Seas (December).

San Juan

Ships:

- Explorer of the Seas (October to December);

- Vision of the Seas (May to October).

Baltimore

Ships:

- Enchantment of the Seas (May to December).

Barbados

Ships:

- Grandeur of the Seas (December).

Europe

Ships:

- Adventure of the Seas: Barcelona (May to September);

- Anthem of the Seas: Southampton (May to October);

- Harmony of the Seas: Barcelona and Civitavecchia (May to October);

- Jewel of the Seas: Stockholm and Copenhagen (May to August);

- Odyssey of the Seas: Civitavecchia (May to October);

- Rhapsody of the Seas: Ravenna (May to October).

Asia, Australia and Pacific

Ships:

- Ovation of the Seas: Sydney (October to December);

- Quantum of the Seas: Singapore (February to June) and Brisbane (October to December);

- Serenade of the Seas: Sydney (October to December);

- Spectrum of the Seas: Shanghai (March to November), Shenzhen and Hong Kong (December);

- Voyager of the Seas: Tianjin (May to October) and Singapore (November and December).

Excerpt from:

Here Are All Of Royal Caribbean's Homeports For 2021 - Cruise Industry News