UCCI ready to tackle questions of ethics
(CNS): The fourth ethics conference in the UCCI’s biennial series kicks off Wednesday evening, with wide support from both the public and private sectors. The largest and the best supported conference in its short history, the opening reception, when the keynote address will be delivered, is open to the Cayman public. The entire conference is made possible by the support of government and commerce in the Cayman Islands. “We have tackled an important subject for the Cayman Islands and the region,” said the conference chair, Livingston Smith “To ensure a holistic approach, we have assembled the most eminent thinkers – and doers – in this field of knowledge locally and regionally, from many perspectives.”
Supported by many private sector organisations and government, the aim of the conference is to raise awareness of the potential for corruption, the decline in ethical standards across various sectors of society, and the damaging effect of corruption on economies and social harmony. The conference will focus on strategies of various regional governments and organisations, public and private, to raise sensitivity to these threats and how to curb and eliminate them, organisers said.
“Each year since its inception, the UCCI Conference has grown significantly,” said UCCI President Roy Bodden. “This year’s conference sees the University College once more collaborating with external partners to produce a world-class informative event.
“As President of the University College of the Cayman Islands, I am proud to wholeheartedly support these efforts to inform, edify and enlighten the Caymanian and the wider Caribbean community on these challenges. In hosting such events, the University College is fulfilling one of its most important mandates – that of being a leader in facilitating dialogue and discussion of important societal issues.”
This non-profit venture by UCCI was financially challenging in difficult economic times, but Smith stated that it makes an important contribution to Cayman and the region.
“Undoubtedly, this conference is due to the financial support of many people, particularly those who have come aboard at the highest sponsorship levels,” he said. “The Cayman Islands Government has been a stalwart supporter. Moreover, the level at which our financial sector has seen fit to support us is extraordinary.”
Dan Scott, whowill speak on the critical role the private sector must play in combating corruption, said his firm, Ernst and Young, was committed to building a better working world.
“This means helping the private sector collaborate with government to increase trust and confidence in business," Scott said. “This is especially important in Cayman, because the world looks to us to continually strengthen our position as a sound, stable and transparent market for financial services and investments,” he added.
For the Cayman Islands government, sponsorship was particularly challenging, given its role in ensuring that the people’s funds are well spent. As part of the sponsorship, the Portfolio of the Civil Service is enabling some civil servants who may not otherwise have had an opportunity to attend the conference to do so.
“Good Governance, indeed the very foundation of democracy, rests on the trust reposed by the people in their government,” said Deputy Governor Franz Manderson. “As servants of the public we must exercise continued vigilance to ensure that their faith and trust is well founded. By raising awareness within our civil service of the various forms of corruption I hope we can strengthen that vigilance which every good democracy requires to maintain its integrity.”
The UCCI conference opens on 19 March with keynote speaker Dr Huguette Labelle, chair of the board of Transparency International, an organisation that rates governments and their business sectors on perceptions of ethics and trust. Dr Labelle will be joined for the three-day conference by regional and local heads of states (prime ministers and premiers), ministers of government, directors of anti-corruption agencies, and academicians and representatives of various organisations seeking to raise awareness about the need for transparency. They will be sharing ideas on how corruption can be reduced and eliminated from all sectors of communities across the region.
Visit www.UCCIconference.ky for further information and see schedule posted below.
Category: Local News
I pray that Premier McLaughlin will not speak given his latest demonstration of leadership and ethics with the family land don't ask don't tell policy.
Can we make it mandatory for all our elected officials to attend?
Wow! A former president of this college is currently being extradited to Cayman on corruption charges and nobody in the news media thinks this is ironic enough to mention?
"eminent thinkers", "raise awareness", "tackled", "holistic approach" …they must be using microsofts new buzzword3000 program. I hear it makes sh$%^$% look shiny.
What a wonderful event with generalized and virtuous concepts that will not touch the down and dirty reality of the particulars of corruption, Gotta keep those muchrooms in a dark place where they can grow in the elites sh$%^#^.
Can UCCI announce the explicit costs of setting up this conferance, along with the implicit costs to the students for interrupting a already poorly designed schedule where I have heard some students are just getting back thier midterms and final exams are less than a month away.
Many thousands spent for yet another vanity fair for . . . .
"The University College is fulfilling one of its most important mandates – that of being a leader in facilitating dialogue and discussion of important societal issues.”
It certainly is the case that corrupt government and thier educational minions tend to teach the controversy without providing solutions so they can maintain the status quo.
“Each year since its inception, the UCCI Conference has grown significantly,” -because each year they convince more of thier teachers to either force thier student's attendance or sweeten the deal by offering grades for attendance,
You won't find common caymanians there because they need to work to earn a living, what you will find is the usual incestuous CS crowd all patting each other on each others backs for creating a glorified catering party that passes for a conferance these days.