The OECS is administered by a Central Secretariat located on the Morne, Castries, St Lucia. The Secretariat is headed by the Director General who is responsible to the Authority. Over the years several subsidiary and autonomous institutions have been created.
The Islands share a single currency, the Eastern Caribbean Dollar ($2.70 ECD = 1 USD). The operation of the currency is overseen by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the monetary authority forthe seven OECS governments and the government of Anguilla (The British Virgin Islands uses the US Dollar as their de facto currency).
The Islands also share a common Supreme Court: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court with its two divisions, the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court is headed by the Chief Justice. High Court judges are based in each Member State, but the judges of the Court of Appeal are resident in St Lucia and travel to each territory to hear appeals from the High Court. Final appeals go to the Privy Council in the UK.
The Authority
The OECS Authority is the highest decision-making body of the Organisation. The Authority comprises the Heads of Government (Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers) whose decisions direct the work of the Organisation as required.
The chairmanship of the Authority changes every year, rotating alphabetically by country. The OECS Authority meets twice yearly.
The OECS Secretariat
The functions of the Organisation are set out in the Treaty of Basseterre and are coordinated by the Secretariat under the direction and management of the Director General.
The OECS functions in a rapidly changing international economic environment, characterised by globalisation and trade liberalisation which are posing serious challenges to the economic and social stability of their small island members. |
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It is the purpose of the Organisation to assist its Members to respond to these multi-faceted challenges by identifying scope for joint or coordinated action towards the economic and social advancement of their countries.
The restructuring of the Secretariat was informed by considerations of cost effectiveness in the context of the need to respond to the increasing challenges placed on it, taking into account the limited fiscal capacities of its members. The Secretariat consists of four main Divisions responsible for: External Relations, Functional Cooperation, Corporate Services and Economic Affairs. These four Divisions oversee the work of a number of specialised institutions, work units or projects located in six countries - Antigua/Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, St Lucia, Belgium, Canada, and the United States of America.
In carrying out its mission, the OECS works along with a number of sub-regional and regional agencies and institutions. These include the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB); the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat; the Caricom Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). |
