The Mona Academic Conference was initiated in 1999
by Professor Kenneth Hall, Pro Vice Chancellor and
Principal of the Mona Campus of the University of
the West Indies. The Conference serves as a forum to
bring together academics, policy makers in the public
and private sector, representatives from civil society, as
well as representatives from regional and international
organisations, to discuss issues of critical importance
to the region and to formulate concrete proposals that
could inform policy choices by governments and other stakeholders.

The Conference is held at the beginning of each academic year in order to expose new students to the discussion of issues of special importance to the Caribbean. The papers presented at the Conference are normally published in book form and it has become the convention to present copies to the CARICOM
Heads of Government at their annual meetings or as appropriate at their intercessional meetings depending on the timing of the publication. To date, five academic conferences have been held on: The Caribbean in the 21st Century(1999); Human Resources Development and Workplace Management
(2000); Health (2001); Governance (2002); and
Gender in the 21st Century; Perspectives, Visions, and
possibilities (2003), Revisiting Tertiary & Higher
Education Policy in Jamaica: Towards Personal Gain
or Public Good?(2004)

This conference is once again being organised and
sponsored by the Office of the Principal in association
with the Research and Policy Group; Mona School of Business and the Tourism & Hospitality Unit