UK Diaspora Conference Will Provide Real Solutions to Problems Faced by Jamaicans

The organisers of the first conference of the Jamaican Diaspora in the United Kingdom (UK) will serve to empower the Jamaican community by providing real solutions to the problems faced. The conference is set for April 1 at the Bethel Conference Centre in West Bromwich.
It is expected that the workshops, which will be held as part of the event, will provide quality information on a range of issues to empower the Jamaican community. These include: providing information on a starting business and where to get support; and look at how Jamaicans can influence public policy and be more involved in the decision-making process.
According to Major Winston Sutherland, one of the conference organisers, a chief aim of the event was to encourage Jamaicans in the UK “to identify and take up public office and become active in representational politics”.
“We are not where the decisions are being made so we are often in a reactive mode. We need to shift to be where we are in a position to influence policy at the time the decisions are being made,” he told JIS News adding that, Jamaicans must be encouraged and supported to get involved in public bodies and representational politics.
Other issues to be discussed are: Jamaica’s image in the UK; immigration regulation and the impact on Jamaicans; reaching out to second and third generation Jamaicans; and crime and security in Jamaica.
The formal proceeding will feature a range of high powered speakers including Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Delano Franklyn; and Sir Bill Morris, Chancellor of the University of Technology.