United Nations, Caribbean Community Identify areas

 

for strengthened cooperation at Guyana meeting

 

NEW YORK, 8 February (DPA) -- The fourth general meeting between the United Nations system and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its associated institutions took place at the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen-Georgetown, Guyana, from 25 to 26 January 2007.

The meeting was co-chaired by Lolita Applewhaite, Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM, and the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kwame Sundaram Jomo, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs.

The meeting reviewed actions taken following the third general meeting held at the United Nations in April 2004 and discussed strategic objectives of the region to facilitate a more responsive programme of cooperation for the next two years, including the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and the development of a framework for the Single Economy; strengthening governance and security within the region; and advancing human and social development.

In an opening statement, Deputy Secretary-General Applewhaite provided the meeting with a comprehensive update on the region’s success thus far towards the construction and implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy with a view to effectively and creatively fulfilling its ultimate mandate of improving the standard of living and quality of life of the peoples of the Caribbean Community through sustainable development.  She highlighted the challenges faced in pursuit of this objective, within the context of a global economic environment adversely impacted by globalization and trade liberalization.

Detailing the status of implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, she emphasized that its construct and modus operandi reflect the Community’s approach to integration as an interdisciplinary exercise, with such issues as poverty reduction, food security, agriculture, environment, information and communication technology, culture, gender, security and governance being treated systematically as cross-cutting themes, rather than development objectives in themselves, an integrated approach critical to the sustainable development of the small, vulnerable States of the Caribbean.  She expressed appreciation to the United Nations for its continued support to the Community, particularly to Haiti and to Grenada following Hurricane Ivan.

The message of the United Nations Secretary-General, readout by Mr. Jomo, reiterated the strong commitment of the United Nations system to support CARICOM in its efforts to pursue regional economic and social development and tackle pressing issues such as transnational crime and HIV/AIDS.  The United Nations system’s ongoing effort to address the special development needs of the region, particularly in the context of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, was underscored.

The United Nations delegation included representatives from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Department of Disarmament Affairs, the Department of Political Affairs, the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, the World Bank Group, the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

The CARICOM delegation included representatives from the CARICOM Secretariat and associated regional institutions, particularly the Caribbean Agricultural Research Development Agency (CARDI), the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), as well as the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana.

On 26 January 2007, the meeting adopted a joint statement on a detailed and broad range of areas for cooperation.  Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, participated in the closing session of the meeting.

The next meeting will be held at United Nations Headquarters in 2008.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record