The Anguilla Social Security Board is the latest organisation to demonstrate support for the Anguilla Country Conference 2017. On Tuesday, 4th April, Director of Social Security, Mr. Timothy Hodge, and Deputy Director, Mrs. Maglan Richardson, handed over a cheque for US$10,000.00 to Conference Committee members, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks and Ms. Jansie Webster.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Mr. Hodge said that the Social Security Board was particularly pleased to support the Anguilla Country Conference 2017 because the Board saw it as an important part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution. Recalling his farewell tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mr. Hodge said that, “even though historians will record the Anguilla Revolution of 1967 (and its accompanying economic take-off) and the introduction of the Social Security System in 1982 as two separate and distinct events, for all intents and purposes, they are tightly intertwined, interdependent and mutually sustaining. … Social Security is playing an extremely important role in ‘Building a New Anguilla’, which is what Mr. Webster and his ‘band of pioneers’ set out to do in 1967. The Anguilla Country Conference 2017 is important because it is an academic exercise that focuses on the Revolution, self-determination and nation-building, using the past to guide the future.”
Manager of the UWI Open Campus British Overseas Territories and Chairperson of the Organising Committee, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks, expressed appreciation on behalf of the Committee and applauded the Social Security Board for its generous contribution. “It is symbolic that this, the largest donation received thus far, comes from the Social Security Board”, she said. “We are at a critical juncture in our development as a nation and the Conference provides a significant opportunity for Anguillians, residents and other analysts to examine Anguilla’s development in the context of the Revolution, and help to chart the way forward. The UWI Open Campus Country Conferences are important because they generate research for the host country and we are pleased that the majority of the papers for the Conference are by local presenters”, she said.
The Anguilla Country Conference is scheduled for 19th – 21st April 2017 at the La Vue Hotel and Conference Room under the theme “ANGUILLA: THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION? Considering Nation Building and Self-Determination”. The Opening Ceremony will take place on the evening of the 19th April at 7:00 p.m., under the patronage of the Honourable Minister for Home Affairs and Education, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, while Thursday 20th and Friday, 21st will see the presentation of some twenty-three papers under seven panels. The papers will cover a wide range of topics including Decolonisation, Self-determination, Education, Health, Youth, Culture, the Environment, Food Security, Tourism, Gender, the Family, Commerce and Finance in the context of national development.
Anguillians, residents and visitors are invited to participate in the Conference and the ensuing discussions by registering online at https://anguillacountry conference.typeform.com/to/d3qjhu, emailing anguilla@open.uwi.edu or calling (264)497-8156 for more information.
– Press Release
