BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Chairman of the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS), Dr. Terrance Drew Friday said there is an urgent need for integrated national and regional strategies to confront modern security challenges, emphasizing that “all the dots must connect” and “our safety is intertwined”.
St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister and outgoing chair of the Regional Security System, Dr. Terrance Drew addressing the RSS Council of Ministers meeting on Friday“I will stress again, our shared security is all of our concerns. As we confront evolving threats from cybercrime to youth disenfranchisement, from transnational trafficking to climate-induced insecurity, let us be guided by one unshakable truth: our safety is intertwined,” Drew said as he addressed the RSS Council of Ministers meeting here.
Drew, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts-Nevis, told the gathering of regional ministers, security chiefs and international partners, that the “calm of Castries touches the peace of Kingston.
“The stability of Bridgetown strengthens the resilience of Basseterre. And the security of Basseterre advances the security of the US Virgin Islands and others,” he said, urging a shift in the way regional cooperation is viewed.
“Let us rise, not only as defenders of our states but as doctors for the soul of our region… And let us always remember, as we say here, ‘All a we’ means all of us, and all of us are needed now, and always.’”
He told the audience that the twin island Federation is now in the final stages of signing the San José Treaty, a multilateral agreement designed to combat illicit maritime and aerial trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances across the Caribbean.
“By joining this treaty, we are not only aligning ourselves with global best practices in maritime security, we are signaling to the world our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the waters that feed us, connect us, and define who we are as a people.”
He said the San José Treaty, widely regarded as a cornerstone in regional maritime interdiction cooperation, will strengthen the Federation’s ability to confront organized trafficking networks operating in Caribbean waters. The treaty also enhances legal and operational frameworks for collective enforcement among partner states.
Prime Minister Drew credited the RSS executive director, Rear Admiral Errington Shurland, and his team “for their tireless work in moving this initiative forward, saying “their leadership ensures that member states are informed, engaged and committed to taking meaningful steps toward regional resilience”.
He said that this development comes as part of his country’s broader commitment to a public health and security framework that includes legislative reform, institutional collaboration, and strategic investments in national and regional capacity-building.
Prime Minister Drew told the audience of the success of the St. Kitts-Nevis’ public health approach to crime prevention, a strategy he said that has already yielded encouraging results, including a significant reduction in homicides.
“It is almost six months now, and we have not had one,” he noted, describing the initiative as “the best results we have seen in decades” and crediting the success to a coordinated and holistic approach involving all arms of society.
“If I were to leave one message here …it is that all the dots must connect if we are to get a handle on the security situation in the region. It means at home, they must connect, and they must connect to our regional partners and our international partners for us to be successful.”
He said crime is not merely as a legal matter, but as a public health crisis, and there was need for prevention, education, rehabilitation, and what he termed “community immunity”.
He highlighted the home-grown 90-Day Citizen Security Campaign in his country as a leading example of this approach, saying “this was not just another initiative, it was an all-hands-on-deck effort.
“This model works, not because it is uniquely ours, but because it is rooted in science… because it builds not just fences, but bridges,” he said.
The one-day meeting here is discussing a wide range of issues including the estimates of expenditure for the financial year 2025 – 2026 and the expansion of the RSS as well as an assessment of membership to include the modalities for the British Overseas Territories
The Implementation of The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC): A Global Imperative with Focus on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the response to Hurricane Beryl, the policy changes in the United States government and possible impacts on the Regional Response Mechanism to natural disaster and other hazards
St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre will take over the chairmanship of the RSS.
