Link to the homepage of the website of intangible cultural heritage, announcing the capacity building project covering the three Caribbean countries of Belize, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago through the generous contribution of the Government of Japan to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund:
Coordinated jointly by the UNESCO Office in Kingston and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, this project is part of UNESCO's overall strategy to strengthen national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The Intergovernmental Committee considers capacity building as a priority to ensure effective and sustainable safeguarding of
Hon. Lisa Hanna, new Minister with responsibility for UNESCO |
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Hon. Minister Lisa Hanna and Secretary General Everton Hannam during his courtesy call. |
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Minister meets with staff from JNC-UNESCO and UNESCO Caribbean Office |
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BIOETHICS - ETHICS
SECOND TRAINING AND PUBLIC FORUM
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JAMAICANS ON UNESCO BODIES
2011-2013: Dr. Derrick Aarons, JP, MD PhD,Immediate Past President of the Bioethics Society of the English-speaking Caribbean, was elected to the Executive Council of RedBioetica UNESCO
RedBioetica UNESCO is a bioethics network of all countries in Central & South America and the Caribbean, and has specific objectives to promote regional cooperation in bioethics to help resolve bioethical issues at the national, sub-regional, and regional levels.
Working in the field of bioethics for the past 15 years, Dr. Aarons was the first trained Bioethicist working in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean, and is currently a member of the Medical Council of Jamaica and the recently launched National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica (NBCJ).
2007-2011: Ms. Cheryl Brown, Director, Office of Sponsored Research, University of the West Indies has been named to The International Bioethics Committee. Created in 1993 the IBC is “a body of 36 independent experts that follows progress in the life sciences and its applications in order to ensure respect for human dignity and freedom”.
Prior to her appointment to the IBC and since 2007, served as Jamaica’s representative to the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) of UNESCO. At the IGBC she was elected as one of the Vice Chairs of the Bureau for the current session. When elected to the IGBC, Jamaica became the first English speaking Caribbean territory to have representation on the IGBC and Ms Brown was therefore the first representative of Jamaica and the English speaking Caribbean. As a member of the IBC, Ms Brown will be the second Jamaican to serve on this prestigious world body after Judge Patrick Robinson who served two terms from 1996 to 2005
2010-2011: Dr. Andrew Wheatley, Lecturer in Basic Medicine and a Research Scientist at the University of the West Indies, is now Jamaica’s representative to the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC). He has replaced Ms. Cheryl Brown.
IGBC is comprised of 36 Member States whose representatives meet at least once every two years to examine the advice and recommendations of the IBC.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL BIOETHICS COMMITTEE
The IGBC was created in 1998, under Article 11 of the Statutes of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC). It is comprised of 36 Member States whose representatives meet at least once every two years to examine the advice and recommendations of the IBC. It informs the IBC of its opinions and submits these opinions along with proposals for follow-up of the IBC's work to UNESCO's Director-General for transmission to Member States, the Executive Board and the General Conference.
As a result of an invitation extended to Jamaica by UNESCO at the first preparatory meeting for the formation of a National Bioethics Committee in June 2007, Ms. Cheryl Brown attended the IGBC meeting in July 2007. Jamaica, represented by Ms. Brown, was then at the next session in October 2007, elected a Member of the Committee, becoming the first Member State from the English Speaking Caribbean to gain membership on the Committee. Membership will be for the period 2010-2013. Ms. Cheryl Brown is an Attorney at Law and the Manager of the Office of Sponsored Research at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.
At the most recent meeting of the IGBC (July 2009), Jamaica through Ms. Brown, was further honoured by being elected as one of the four Deputies for the Bureau. The elevation of Jamaica to the position of Deputy is testimony to the quality of Jamaica’s contribution to the committee.
NATIONAL BIOETHICS COMMITTEE (NBCJ)
A National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica has been formed.
Jamaica was one of six countries chosen by UNESCO to establish a National Bioethics Committee under their Assisting Bioethics Committee (ABC) programme. An initial meeting was held in June 2007 with representatives from the health, religious, social science and other sectors. Members of the Bioethics Society of the English Speaking Caribbean (BSEC), the UWI and Youth for Christ also attended. Representatives from UNESCO (Paris) and the United Kingdom based Nuffield Foundation, guided the discussion. The former chairperson of the National Commission and Minister with Responsibility for UNESCO opened and endorsed the initiative.
The NBC will provide a forum for discussion of bioethics issues and includes persons from the health, religious, social science and other sectors. Members of the Committee attended a training workshop in Working Methods: Procedures and Policies for National Bioethics Committees in March 2009. This training was held at the offices of the National Commission, 9-10 March 2009.
Preceding the sessions was the signing of the MOU by Prof. Rex Nettleford, Vice Chairman of the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO, and Henk ten Have, Director of the Division of Ethics and Technology of UNESCO.
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| Signing of the MOU by Prof. Rex Nettleford and Prof Henk ten Have |
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| Signing of the MOU by Prof. Rex Nettleford and Prof Henk ten Have |
Subsequent to the training session the following executive was elected by the members of the Committee: Dr. Anthony Mullings (Chairman), Dr. Derrick Aarons (Deputy Chairman) and Nancy Anderson (Secretary). The full list of members is given below.
NATIONAL BIOETHICS COMMITTEE
Chair: Dr. Anthony Mullings
Senior Lecturer,
Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Child Health, UWI, Mona
anthony.mullings@caribbeanethics.com
Deputy Chair: Dr. Derrick Aarons
Consultant Bioethicist and Palliative Care & Family Physician
President, The Bioethics Society of the English-speaking Caribbean (BSEC)
daarons@mail.infochan.com
Secretary: Nancy Anderson
Legal Officer
Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights
anancy3@hotmail.com
Dr. John Ayotunde (Tunde) Bewaji
Coordinator, Philosophy Section
Department of Language, Linguistics & Philosophy, UWI, Mona
tunde.bewaji@gmail.com
Ms. Cheryl Marlene Lorane Brown
Attorney at Law
Manager, Office of Sponsored Research, UWI, Mona
cheryl.brown@uwimona.edu.jm
Mrs. Shereen Dawkins-Cox
Secretary
Bioethics Society of the English-Speaking Caribbean
jreen2@yahoo.com
Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester
Chief Medical Officer
Ministry of Health
forresters@moh.gov.jm
Rt. Rev. Dr. Howard Gregory
Bishop of Montego Bay
hkagregory@hotmail.com
Rev. Garth Minott
Anglican Tutor UTCWI & Chaplain UWI
Jamaica Council of Churches
g.minott@gmail.com
Dr. Claude Packer
Principal
Mico University College
claudepack@hotmail.com
Mrs. Angella Patterson
Chief Executive Officer
Creative Productions and Training Centre
angelapatterson@cptcjamaica.com
Prof. Ralph Robinson
Professor of Parasitology
Dept. of Life Sciences, UWI, Mona
ralph.robinson@uwimona.edu.jm
Dr. Herbert Thompson
President
Northern Caribbean University
president@ncu.edu.jm
Mr. Everton Hannam (Co-opted)
Secretary-General,
JNC-UNESCO
ehannam@gmail.com
View / download the publications below:
Chairman Launch Presentation- Bioethics and You
- Public Health Ethical Issues
- Genetic Screening - a Supplement to the 1993 Report
- Genetic Screening - Ethical Issues 1993
- Fetal and Neonatal Ethical Issues 2006
- The Forensic use of Bioinformation - Ethical Issues
- Bioethics Curriculum
- Social Responsibility & Health
The NBCJ Logo Competition
- Competition Deadline. All entries must be received by the NBCJ by January 31, 2010.
- Submission of Entries. All entries MUST be sent by e-mail to the NBCJ at nbcjlogocompetition@gmail.com . The National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica will not accept entries by mail. Files should be GIF, JPEG, or PNG format.
- Honorarium. The winning Entrant will be awarded an honorarium of J$35,000.
- Criteria for Selection of Winning Entries. The winner and the runners-up will be selected based upon the artistic quality of the design and the way(s) in which it symbolizes the National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica. ib
View / download the publications below:
NBCJ members to attend The 16th session of the International Bioethics Committee
Cheryl Brown and Dr. Anthony Mullings (Chair, NBCJ) will attend the IBC/JACOB meeting in Mexico from 22-25 November 2009. At that meeting they will both make presentations on the NBCJ. Cheryl Brown will be addressing the meeting of the IBC which will be held just before the JACOB one, whilst Dr. Anthony Mullings will speak at the JACOB Meeting. He will also be an observer at the IBC meeting as part of the exposure towards the development of the NBCJ.
In 1957-1958 the term “Participation Programme” was used for the first time in the Programme and Budget.
Originally, assistance was given to Member States for unplanned activities - “technical aid services for special activities”.
The Participation Programme is an integral part of the Organization’s biennial programme.
