History of the Academic Conference

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, four academic conferences have been held on: The Caribbean in the 21st Century (1999); Human Resources Development and Workplace Management (2000); Health (2001); and Governance (2002). The 2003 Conference will focus on Gender to mark the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies, which has been carrying out important research on various aspects of gender in the Caribbean.