GOM

Annual Report of theSecretary-General 20 I 0

Mission Statementof the CARICOM Secretariat

To provide dynamic leadership and service,in partnership with Community institutions and groups,

toward the attainment of a viable, internationally competitiveand sustainable Community,

with improved quality of life for all.

Cover caption:A pictorial of the farewell function held in Sir Edwin Carrington's honour at the Pegasus Hotel,Georgetown, Guyana; CARICOM at the 2010 Exposition in Shanghai, China; Earthquakedevastation in Haiti and Youth Summit in Paramaribo,SurinameJanuary20l0.

Contents

SECTION| 2-8 - CommunityRelations- Strengthening Relations with Third States and

Letter of Transmittal Croups of StatesSecretary-General's I ntroduction

sEcTtoNvt 3t -34sEcTtoNil 9-t5Operations of the Secretariat

Trade & Economic Integration- Human Resource Management

- cARlcoM Single Market & Economy - conference services- Haiti's Integration in CSME - Documentation Services- customs and Trade Policy - Administrative Services- Trade Facilitation - InformationTechnology Services- Agriculture - Monitoring & Evaluation- Energy - Finance and Budget- ICT for Development- Transportation- Tourism SECTIONVII 35 - 36- Services- Private Sector TechnicalAssistance- Trade Negotiations

- Needs Assessment- Resource Mobilisation

sEcTtoN ilt l7 - 22

Human & Social Development SECTIONVIII 37 - 3g

- Youth Statistics- Health- FightAgainst lllicit Drugs- Gender SECTTON tX 39- Education- Sustainable Development Legal Services

sEcTroN tv 23 sEcTtoN x 40 - 46

Security Appendices

- The Caribbean CommunitySECTIONV 25 - 30 - The Caribbean Community Secretariat

- AcronymsForeign & Community Relations

Caribbean Commu nity SecretariatOffice of the Secretary-GeneralTurkeyenP O. Box 10827

Greater GeorgetownGuyana

July 20 | |

TO:The Conference of Heads of Government

It gives me great pleasure to submit herewith a Report of the work of the Community for the period

January to December 2010, in accordance with Article 23 paragraph 3 of the Revised Treaty

esrablishing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) including the CARICOM Single Market and

Economy.

Irl;tu'AffbulkttuLolita ApplewhaiteSecretary-General (Ag)

Telephone: (5921 222 - 0a1710274 Fax (592) 222-017310171E-mail: osg I @caricom.org; registry@caricom.org Webpage: www.caricom.org

I Secretary-General's lntroductionThe past year 2010 has been one of particulardifficulty for the Caribbean Community. Primacy ofplace must rest with the horrific disaster caused bythe catastrophic earthquake which struck Haiti - theCommunity's newest Member State - on l2 Januarykilling more than a quarter of a million people; leavingover a million homeless; and wreaking massivedamage to property and infrastructure. This disasterwas to cast a pall over the Community's activities forthe entire year.

Haiti Earthquake Disaster -Community Response

Out of adversity, however,the Community once againdemonstrated its strength of unity by its immediateresponse to that disaster. Under the systemestablished by the Caribbean Disaster EmergencyManagement Agency (CDEMA), Jamaica, the countrydesignated as the Community's focal point for thearea including Haiti,led the way.lts response was swiftand exemplary. Within 48 hours of the disasten itsPrime Minister and Leader of the Opposition were onthe ground in Haiti accompanied by the JamaicanDefence Force and representatives of its health sector.

Within a week, the Heads of Government selectedthe former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the MostHonourable PercivalJames Patterson as their SpecialRepresentative on Haiti, to spearhead the Region'sefforts in assisting Haiti to mobilise supporr for itsrecoveD/, rebuilding and reconstruction. In keepingwith the request of the Haitian Government, theCommunity has therefore been advocating on Haiti'sbehalf in international fora with particular emphasison assistance for the reconstruction andrehabilitation effort.

Ambossodor C.olin Gronderso4 Assistont Secretory6enerol, Foreign ondCommunity Relotons, CARICOM Secretaria\ interacts with Hottions ondmembers of the Jomoko Defence Force,doys ofter the eorthqual<e struckHoiti

His Excellency Edwin ConingtonSecretory-General

To co-ordinate the Region's response,the Communityalso established a Special Unit at the Secretariat led bythe Assistant Secretary General for Foreign andCommunity Relations, Ambassador ColinGranderson.

Individual Member States and Associate Members ofthe Community as well as non-governmentalorganisations also brought significant assistance toHaiti. Many regional organisations and institutions alsocontributed to the process. Of particular note wasthat brought by the University of the West Indies,through the provision of places at the three campuses,for Haitian university students who were displaceddue to the destruction of their Universities by theearthquake.

Efforts intensified to assist Haiti in resuscitating itseconomy. In this regard, in December, theCommunity's Council for Trade and EconomicDevelopment (COTED) agreed to grant non-reciprocal access to a number of Haitian products tothe Single Market for three years.

Cholera Outbreak - Further Disaster

The desperate situation in Haiti caused by the 12

January earthquake was exacerbated in the last

quarter of the year by an outbreak of cholera which by

December, had claimed close to 3,000 lives and

afflicted more than 100,000 peopleJhe Community is

again organising to respond, mainly through theestablishment of field clinics to be operated bymedical personnelfrom Member States to serve in theoutlying districts of Fonds Verette and Thomazeau.Given the nature of the particular disease, theRegion's assistance to Haiti is an important

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contribution to the public health of the entire

Community.

Elections in Haiti

The Community's involvement with that Member

State was not limited to disaster relief as Assistant

Secretary-General Granderson became integrally

involved in the Haitian election administration as

Chief of the Joint Electoral Observer Mission of the

Organisation of American States (OAS) and

CARICOM. At the end of the year, there were still

issues to be resolved in respect of the polls of 28

November and we all hope for an early solution in the

New Year with a peaceful transition of power. For

Haiti, the year 20l0 has indeed been a virtual "annus

horribilis".

20l0 Hurricane Season

As far as other natural disasters go, the Region was

generally spared during the hurricane season, excePtfor the destruction wrought by Hurricane Tomas

particularly in Barbados,Saint Lucia and StVincent and

the Grenadines. Saint Lucia was the worst affected'Tomas struck that Member State on October 30 and

battered the south of the island killing at least eiSht

people and wreaking considerable damage estimatedat US$500 million, particularly through land and

mudslides that felled trees, swept houses off theirfoundations and buried others, blocked rivers and

bridges and made main roads impassable.

HuniconeTomos domoge

The hurricane severely affected one of the country'smain income earners, agriculture, with a totaldecimation of the important banana industry and

about 65 per cent destruction ofother crops.

Livestock drowned in the flood waters. The educationsectorwas also hard hit.

It was heartening, however, to observe the efforts ofthe people of the affected countries, no doubt theresults of mainstreaming of disaster response by theirresponsible national agencies as well as by ourRegional Organisations.

Human and Social Development

The year has not been all disastrous for theCommunity. In January, in Paramaribo, Suriname,representatives of the YOUTH of our Communitygathered for an interaction with the Heads ofGovernment at a Summit onYouth. In a most clear and

forthright exchange, the Youth stated theirexpectations of the integration Process. lt was mostilluminating. The Summit benefited from thetremendous work of the CARICOM Commissionon Youth Development which was co-chaired by Ms.

Yildiz Beighle of Suriname and the late Professor BarryChevannes of Jamaica. The work and report of thatCommission is a legacy of the late Professor for whichthe Caribbean Community will be eternally grateful.

The Report and the Declaration of Paramaribo whichemanated from that landmark Summit has thedistinction of being the first such documents to have

been issued in all three languages spoken in theCommunity - English, French and Dutch. For thishappy result the Community owes a debt of gratitudeto the Caribbean Regional Information andTranslationInstitute (CRlTl).

In HEALTH, the Community spearheaded theinitiative which resulted in the adoption by the UnitedNations of a resolution calling for a Special Session ofthe GeneralAssembly on chronic Non CommunicableDiseases (NCDs). lt would be recalled that ourCommunity was the first such organisation to hold a

Summit dedicated to this issue. That Summit was

convened in Port of Spain in 2007. Given the relevanceof NCDs to the lives of the citizens of the Community,this is a most important development.

There have also been other major advances in the area

of Health, specifically involving the establishment of aCaribbean Public HealthAgency (CARPHA). The idea

for the creation of this institution has gained significantsupport from a number of our InternationalDevelopment Partners. The Community is thereforeactively maintaining its focus on its mantra of the

Secrctory-Genelul's f ntloduction

Health of the Region istheWeolth of the Regionwhich resulted from the 22nd Meeting of theConference of Heads of Government in Nassau,TheBahamas, in 200l.

Governance

There have been a number of advances in the criticalarea of Governance. The progress derives from theconcerns of the Heads of Government with the needto reduce the implemenration deficit. The proposalfor a Permanent Committee of CARICOMAmbassadors (PCCA) has gained the agreement ofthe Heads of Government. This new body is expectedto enhance the pre-decision-making consultativeprocess and the post decision-making implementationprocess. This new body should be established in thecomingyear.

The Community has also begun the process of furtherrevising the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas throughthe Reconstituted Inter.Governmental TaskForce (IGTF) which had its first meeting in

Georgetown in September, under the chairmanship ofthe Secretary-General. This important process is

being pursued with a view to making theTreaty morerelevant to the Community's needs, more responsiveto the demands of its stakeholders and moreadaptable to the evolution of the regional integration

Process.

CARICOM Single Market and EconomyThe CSME was also in focus this year with significantemphasis in the Single Market on AGRICULTURE.The draft CARICOM Regional Policy for Food andNutrition Security went through its stages to the finalmeeting with stakeholders which took place in

September. The Policy outlines guidelines andstrategies to secure higher food production; betterhealth and nutrition; income and employmentopportunities; and poverty alleviation, among otherthings.

The agency upon which the Region will depend tostrengthen agricultural health and food safety and

ensure the highest standards for trade in agriculturalproducts - the Caribbean Agricultural Health and

Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) - was launched on

March l8 in Paramaribo, Suriname having been giventhe green light at the Twenty-First Inter-sessionalMeeting in Roseau,Dominica. Among its main tasks is

the development of technical measures and protocolsrequired to achieve Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS)

certification for agricultural trade. Regrettably, therehas been a set-back with the destruction of two of thelabs identified for theAgency. This has however onlyslowed not stopped the process.

As regards the Single Economy dimension of theCSME, a draft of the Strategic Regional DevelopmentPlan is being put together based on a series of draftstudies for specific economic and social sectors.These were presented to stakeholders at a meeting inPort of Spain in November. This Plan emanates fromthe Single DevelopmentVision which was adopted byHeads of Government in 2007.

External Relations

On the INTERNATIONAL front, cooperationbetween Member States of CARICOM and LatinAmerica was advanced through the participation byCARICOM Heads of Government in two Summits inMexico in February - the inaugural Mexico-CARICOM Summit;and the Summit of Unity of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean.At the latter meeting oneof the main decisions was the formation of theCommunity of Latin American and Caribbean States(cALc).

In April, Heads of Government continued their questfor closer relations with Latin America when they metwith their Brazilian counterpart in Brasilia. Amongthe Summit's outputs were:the Declaration of Brasilia,four Brazil-CARlCOMAgreements and more than 40national bilateral agreements addressing areas ofcollaboration including health, education, culture,agricultural development, energy, tourism and civildefence.

Further afield in Spain, CARICOM leaders met withtheir Spanish counterpart at the Fifth CARICOM-Spain Summit. Additionally, as part of CARIFORUMthey also met with the leaders of the European Unionand participated in the lV EU- LAC Summit in Madrid.The more than sixty leaders at the EU-LAC meetingagreed on measures aimed at strengthening trade andimproving European relations with Latin America andthe Caribbean. They pledged to establish a jointinvestment agenc), and a foundation - the EU-LAC

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Secretory-Ge nerol's lnttoduction

Foundation - to promote social development withinthe Caribbean and LatinAmerica.

His fucellency President NtorrotJagdeo,who heoded the CARICOM

delegotion to the Shonghai fuposidon, on the red corpet forCARICOM Notionol Doy observonces in July 2010

A major internationalevent in which the Communitywas a most popular participant was the Expo 20l0Shanghai, China from I May to 3l October 2010.

Fourteen CARICOM Member States, as well as theCARICOM Secretariat and the CaribbeanDevelopment Bank (CDB) were among the morethan 200 pafticipants in the Expo, held under thetheme'Better City; Beaer Life'. CARICOM used themedium of the Exposition to showcase its culturalheritage, natural landscape and resources, cleanenergy development, urban development, tourismproducts, culinary arts and craft in a joint pavilion.

In September, the Second CARICOM-JapanMinisterial Meeting was held in Tokyo, at which a newstrategic framework for CARICOM-Japan relationswas established to replace that which was adopted in2000. ln addition to the revised version of the newframework, the meeting adopted a document titled'Partnership for Peace, Development and Prosperitybetween Japan and Member States of the CaribbeanCommunity (Outcome Document)', as well as theGuidelines for the Japan-CARICOM Friendship andCooperation Fund flCFCF).

Relations with the Community's more traditionalpartners were also strengthened. Following "anextensive,productive and effective exchange" with US

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June in Barbados,the Secretary of State announced $162M funding tofight HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean; and $8M for climatechange and energy programmes.

The negotiations for a Trade and DevelopmentAgreement with Canada continued to engage theattention of the Community and its Member States

during the year. Those negotiations are likely to be

completed in the comingyear.

During the year under review, seven ambassadors

were accredited to CARICOM from third countriesincluding the first ever from Australia and Finland.

Newly appointed envoys from Canada, Chile,Germany and the United Kingdom also presented

their letters of credence.

Ambossadors to the Community :

His Excellency Phillip Kentwell, Plenipotentiory Representotrve

of Austrolio to CARICOM presents his credentiols to HisExcellenq Edwin Corringon, CARICOM Secretory6enerol

His fucellency Edwin Corrington, CARICOM Secretory6enerolshores o toost with His fucellenq Froncois Montour,

Plenipotentiory Representotive of Conodo to CARICOM

Amb. Lolito Applewhoite, Deputy Secretory4enerol ondHis Excellency Mikla Pyholo, Plenipotentiory

Representotrve of Finlond to CARICOM

Secretory-Ge nerol's I nfipdu dion

His Excellency Potricio Prodel, Plenipotentiory Representotiye

of the Republic of Chile to CARICOM ond His Excellency

Edwin Corrington, CARICO M Secretory6enerol

His Excellency Edwin Corrington, CARICO M Secretory-Generol

ond His Excellency Poul Brummell, PlenipoteniloryRepresentotive of the United Kingdom to CARICOM

His Excellency Edwin Corringon, CARICOM Secrctoty-

Generol shores o toast with His Excellency Stefon Schluter,

Plenipotentiory Representotive of the Federol Republic ofGermony to CARICOM

His Excellency Edwin Corringon, CARICOM Secretory-

Generol receives credentiols from His Excellency Nihot Akyol,

Plenipotentiory Representouve ofTurkey to CARICOM

Transitions

ln 20 10, two Heads of Government were re-elected -the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitrsand Nevis, and Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, PrimeMinister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines.Two newleaders, the Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, PrimeMinster of Trinidad and Tobago, and His ExcellencyDesi Bouterse, President of the Republic of Suriname,took their place within the Conference of Heads ofGovernment, after winning the mandates of theirpeople. The Hon. Freundel Stuart, was appointedPrime Minister of Barbados following the death of theHon. DavidThompson.

His Excellency Desi Bouterse, President of the Republic of Surinome,

srgns the visitors' book ot the CARICOM Secretariot os His Excellency

Edwin Corrington, CARICO M Secretory-Generol looks on.

Farewell

The past year was tinged with heavy sadness for theRegion as a number of regional and national figurespassed away. October saw the passing of Barbados

Prime Minister the Honourable David Thompson,former Saint Lucia Governor General Sir WilliamGeorge Mallet; and December the former President

of Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Ellis Clarke. Though fromdifferent eras, these gentlemen served the regional

and their national communities with distinction in

their time and their loss to country and theCommunity was acutely felt.

The University of theWest Indies was also hard hit.InFebruaryVice-Chancellor Emeritus, the HonourableProfessor Rex Nettleford OCC was lost to theRegion. A true Renaissance Man, ProfessorNettleford was the quintessential Caribbean Man

whose gifts made him an icon in numerous fields.

Secrctory-Ge nerol's I nttodu di on

His Excellency Bhorrat Jogdeo, President of the Republic of Guyono

srgns the Book of Condolence opened ot the CARICOM Secretoriot

following the deoth of the Hon Dovid Thompson, Prime Minister of

Borbodos.

In July Professor Dennis Pantin, an outstandingeconomist,who gave freely of his time and intellect toadvance the regional integration process succumbedafter a long illness and in November, ProfessorAlstonBarrington (Barry) Chevannes also passed away.Professor Chevannes left a legacy of research into theCaribbean condition and was co-chair of the seminalCARICOM Commission on Youth Development,which had presented its report earlier in the year inSuriname to the Heads of Government.

The Community is much the poorer for having lostthese stalwarts but much the richer for their lives andfor the trove of documented works they left behind.

Departuresfrom Office

At the end of the year, my friend and colleagueAssistant Secretary-General Human and SocialDevelopment Dr Edward Greene stepped down fromhis post at the Secretariat after some l0 years. DrGreene has been at the forefront of ensuring thatthose quality of life issues such as health, educationand security,which are so critical to the well-being ofthe citizens of the Community, are firmly entrenchedon the Community's agenda. The entire Communityextends its profound thanks to him for theoutstanding job that he has done during his tenure andwishes him all the best for the future.

His Excellency Edwin Corrington, ond Dr. Edword Greene, (first and

second from left) enjoy tributes mode to them ot on oppreciotion

funaion shortly before they demined office in December 20 I 0. Also in

photograph ore Amb. Lolito Applewhaite, Deputy Seuetory-Generol,

Amb. I ruin LoRocgue,Assistont Secretory-Generol Trode ond Economic

lntegrotion, ond Dr Mourice Odle, Economic Adviser to the Secretory-

Generol.

After l8 plus years, I too will be leaving the office ofSecretary-General at the end ofthe year. lt has beena privilege and honour for me to serve the people ofthe Caribbean Community whether here in theRegion or in Brussels at the African Caribbean andPacific Group of Countries. The improvement in thequality of life of the people of this Community has

been the guiding principle of my life's work in

integration. I want to thank the staff of theSecretariat for their unstinting support over these

)rears. Finally, I wish to convey my gratitude to theHeads of Government for the confidence theyreposed in me in nominating me for four terms ofOffice. I will always be available, where mycompetence and circumstances so permit,to assist inthe efforts to create a viable, prosperous and secureCaribbean Commu nity forAll.

Secretory-Ge n e ra I's I ntro d u cti o n

ll Trade and Economic IntegrationIn the year under review, the CaribbeanCommunity advanced work on trade andeconomic integration, particularly in relation tothe Caricom Single Market (CSM); thetransformation of the agriculture sector;and theenhancement of trade competitiveness.

CARICOM Single Market and Economy(csME)

During the course of 2010, the Communitycontinued to forge ahead with the CSM, while itpursued elements of the Single Economy throughthe Community's productive sectors. A draftStrategic Plan for Regional Development (SPRD),intended to provide specific plans forimplementing the Single Development Vision ofCARICOM, was completed. The SPRDcomplements and adds value to existing nationaland sub-regional plans by exploiting synergiesamong the plans. The Plan was presented to a

regional stakeholders conference in Port of Spain,Tri n i dad an d Tobago, at wh i c h th e Cari bbean Tradeand Investment Report (CTIR), 2010, waslaunched. The CTIR is a benchmark review oftrade and investment in the Region with analysisof some of the critical issues of the economicintegration process.The Report is oriented to theneeds of regional policy-makers academicresearchers, business interests and the generalpublic.

The Appraisal of the State of lmplementation ofthe CSME reviewed at theTwenty-Ninth Meetingof the Council for Trade and EconomicDevelopment (COTED) in February 2010, and atthe lntersessional and Regular CARICOMSummits, confirmed that the operation of theSingle Market has benefited on account of wide-ranging political, legislative and related actionstaken by Parliaments,the Executive and Ministriesin all of the twelve participating Member States.

However, it was established that there wasoutstanding work to be done by individualMember States and bythe Community in ordertoimprove the functioning of the CSM. COTED

identified challenges in areas such as theestablishment of the legal framework withinidentified challenges in areas such as theestablishment of the legal framework withinwhich the CSM would operate effectively; and ingiving effect to the right of establishment and thefree movement of skills.

Senior Trade Officials, in considering the Reportof the Appraisal in February, also underscoredthat issues such as capacity constraints hadstymied the implementation of the CSME.Theyconcluded that high priority should be given torelieving these challenges in light of theConvocation on the CSME in September 2009,which had determined that the challenges to theprogress of the CSME were linked to resourcelimitations.

CARICOM Heads of Government, in July 2010, in

Jamaica,endorsed a detailed agenda for continuedaction on the Single Market which was proposedby the Trade and Development Ministers. TheConference of Heads of Government called for aproposal of timelines by which each MemberState could implement their programmes ofaction. In re-emphasising the importance of aneffectively functioning CSME to supporr thedevelopment of the Region and to contribute tothe achievement of the aspirations of the peopleof CARICOM, the Conference mandatedCOTED to review the progress made by eachMember State towards implementation, and toreport regularly on their compliance.

CARICOM Heads of Government also noted thecompletion of a Study on the Factors andCircumstonces Restri cting the F ull I ntegrationof the OECS and Belize in CARICOM, whichproposed a framework for identifiing andassessing factors and circumstances thatconstrained the full and effective participation ofthe Less Developed Countries (LDC) in theCSME. The CARICOM Secretariat was chargedwith following through on the execution of thesecond component of the project,which entailedthe preparation of a comprehensive Action Plan

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that converts recommendations of the study intoi mplementable actions.

Haiti's integration into CSME

Haiti, though not yet fully integrated into the CSME,

was granted a temPorary trade concessionarrangement under which it will be able to exPortcertain goods within the Single Market on a non-reciprocal preferential basis for three years, effectiveI January 201 l.Among the goods are paintings and

drawings, peanut butterl corn flour, wooden table-ware and kitchenware, basket-work and cocoa beans.

Haiti made the request for the temporary tradearrangement in May 201 0, at theThirtieth Meeting ofCOTED held in Georgetown, Guyana.The Ministersagreed to the request and CARICOM Heads ofGovernment endorsed the agreement. ln December20l0,at theThirty-First Meeting of COTED Ministers

approved an initial list of 42 items. CARICOMMember States agreed to continue consultationstowards approval of the additional items from an

original listwhich Haiti had submitted.

Assistont SecretoryGenerol,Trode ond konomic Integrotion, Amb.

lruin LaRocque,oddresses thelhirtieth Meeting of the Council forTrode

& Economic Development in Georgetown,Guyano. Also in photogroph,

from left ore COTED (hoir,Senotor Joonne Mossioh, Minister ofStote in

the Ministry of Legol Affoirs,Antiguo ond Borbudo;the Hon.lennifer

Webster, Ministe r in the Ministry of Finonce, Guyono; Ms. Desiree Field-

Ndley, Adviser, Single Mo*et & Sectorol Progrommes, CARCOM

Secretoriot, ond Ms. Glodys Young Senior Legol Offtcer, CARICOM

Secretoriot

CSME Public Education

ln its ongoing public education thrust, the Secretariatheld a number of activities geared towards the

effective pafticipation of CARICOM nationals in theCSME. The importance of Competition Policy and

ConsumerWelfare in the regional integration Process;the free movement of skills; and providing professional

services in the CSME were among the issues that werediscussed at interventions held across the Region forvarious stakeholders including members of the publicand private sectors,and representatives of the media.

As the Community worked to heighten awareness

and understanding of the CSME,focus shifted to ruralcommunities through a project to assess the latter'sreadiness to take advantage of the opportunitiesoffered in the Single Market. Supported by theEuropean Union under the 9th EuropeanDevelopment Fund (EDF) Caribbean IntegrationSupport Programme (CISP),the project was designed

to stimulate the active participation of ruralcommunities in the CSME through investigating, in thefirst instance,what they needed to know to enhance

their involvement. The underlying objective was todetermine the relevant public communication toolsneeded to be utilised to reach rural communities.

As part of the investigation,studies were conducted inBelize, Dominica,Trinidad andTobago,Jamaica, Guyana,

St.Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.A one-day review of the findings was held in October 20 10, in

Guyana, with participation from officials responsiblefor agriculture and rural development, farmers and

farmers'organisations and public education and mediaspecialists.

Customs andTrade Policy

ln advancing the sustained growth of the intra-regionaltrade regime, the Community developed mechanisms

to support the expansion of key elements of tradefacilitation to expedite legitimate trade. Workprogressed with regard to improving marketintegration and the administrative procedures relating

to trade in goods at the national and regional levels.

Technical assistance was provided to Member States

in the trade in goods regime, and in the effectiveutilization of the Trade Agreements as well as theresources available through technical cooperationbetween CARICOM and its externaltrade partners.

Trade Facilitation

As the Region negotiated the new demands and

Trode ond Economic lntegrotion

t1

challenges of an increasingly liberalised andcompetitive international trading environment, theCaribbean Agricultural Health and Food SafetyAgency (CAHFSA) was inaugurated in Paramaribo,Suriname, in 18 March 2010. The inaugurationfollowed the signing of the Agreement to establishCAHFSA on l2 March 20l0 in Roseau, Dominica.

The Agency is vital to fulfilling the provisions of theRevised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which makes provisofor the harmon isation of laws, adm i n istrative practicesand procedures in respect of agriculturaldevelopment.

CAHFSA was established to develop effectivetechnical measures and harmonized protocolsnecessaD/ to achieve Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)

certification in the trade of agricultural products.CARICOM Heads of Government at their RegularSummit in July 2010, discussed the operationalisationof CAHFSA in relation to effective agriculture healthand food safety systems in the Region.

Agriculture

In 20l0,efforts were intensified towards transformingthe agriculture sector into one that is internationallycompetitive with the capacity to contribute to thedevelopment of a vibrant CSME. Progress wasevident in several spheres including:

o Initiated development of agricultural health andfood safety systems with the establishment ofCAHFSA;

. establishment of an initial Regional Sanitary andPhyto-sanitary Regime to facilitate trade inagricultural goods while safeguarding human,plant and animal health along the value chain;

o the formulation of the Draft CommunityAgricultural Policy;

r the finalization and endorsement of theCARICOM Regional Policyfor Food andNutrition Security (RPFNS);

. the establishment and adoption of an

Agribusiness Development Strategy;o the formulation and development of a Draft

Action Plan to implementthe RPFNS;. the promotion of the value chain approach to

facilitate the integration of the primary productsinto value-added products and other agri

businesses;

o the development of a Draft RegionalBiotechnology and Biosafety Pol icy; andenhanced coordination with International

o Development Partners in the removal the keybinding constroints to agricultural development.

The endorsement of the RPFNS was one of thesuccesses of the Special Meeting of COTEQAgriculture, held in Grenada in October 2010.COTED's acceptance marked the second MinisterialCouncil that had endorsed the Policy. Earlier in

October, the Council for Human and SocialDevelopment (COHSOD), which met inGeorgetown, Guyana, had also approved theblueprint. COHSOD acknowledged the critical linkbetween education and food and nutrition securityand agreed that a focal point from the educationsector be nominated to support the implementationof the CARICOM RPFNS.

As efforts intensified towards the transformation ofthe regional agricultural sectoq stakeholders placedmore emphasis on mitigating risks in order to boostinvestor confidence.The deficient and uncoordinatedrisk management measures in Agriculture includingpraedial larceny, which the Jagdeo Initiative identifiedas a constraint to agricultural development, was thesubject of comprehensive discussion at the CaribbeanRegional Symposium on Disaster Risk Managementheld inAntigua and Barbuda inJune 2010.

Policy-makers, technical advisers, developmentpartners and representatives of private insurancecompanies identified the establishment of a RegionalProgramme for Disaster Risk Management as the firststep towards alleviating this particular constraint.Among the other priorities stakeholdersrecommended were the design and implementationof a Regional Catastrophic Risk Facility for agriculturalinsurance in the Region; and the provision ofgovernmental support to existing private sectorinsurance and reinsurance entities in the Caribbeanutilizing the experiences gained in the currentinitiatives such as WINCROP and CCRIF and othersuch related ventures.

CARICOM Heads of Government reiterated theirsupport for agriculture sector development by

underlining the commitments articulated in theLiliendaal Declaration on Agriculture and FoodSecurity, which identified agriculture as a prioritysector for allocation of financial and other resources.The leaders underscored the importance of the

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Trade ond Economic lntegration

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sector's growth through the infusion of resources tofood and nutrition security and for the expansion ofthe economies within the Community.

Energy

In 2010, the key developments under the CARICOMEnergy Programme were: i) the advancement of thedraft CARICOM Energy Policywith the submission ofthe Reporcfor a Study on Energy Pricing in the Region;and, ii) the Community's continued progress in thearea of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Study on Energy Pricing in the Region,which wasfinanced by the lDB, clarified outstanding issues

related to energy pricing in the Community and paved

the way for advancing the draft CARICOM EnergyPolicy.One of the keygoals of the the draft CARICOMEnergy Policy is to increase energy security andsustainability, through, inter alia, increasedcontributions from renewable energ), sources andimproved efficiency in energy use.These are two areasidentified by Member States as priority because oftheir potential to mitigate the impact of volatility in

world oil prices, and their efficacy in the fight againstClimate Change.

Amongthe developments in 20l0 which will positivelyimpact the advancement of renewable energy andenerg), efficiency in the Community was the signing ofa Technical Cooperation Agreement in October;between the CARICOM Secretariat and the Inter-American Development Bank (lDB). TheAgreementmade available US$400 000 in grant funding to, interalia, develop Phase I of the Caribbean SustainableEnergy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS),which wasmandated by CARICOM Heads of Government in2009. Amongthe C-SERMS objectives are:

l. to define a strategic and targeted regionalapproach for increasing the contributions ofrenewable energy and energy efficiency tothe Regional energy matrix by establishingachievable, short-, medium- and long-termtargets derived from an evidenced-based,bottom-up approach;

2. to develop specific strategic actions at theRegional level, building on national efforts.

Latet in mid-November 2010, the CARICOMSecretariat and the EU signed a ContributionAgreement to commence the implementation of theCaribbean Renewable Energy Capacity Support

(CRECS) Project. The Agreement provides grantfunds of 1,350,000 Euros for a l4-month period tosuppoft activities and generate outputs for increasingthe capacity to deploy renewable energy at nationallevels, including the enhancing of policy and legislativeframeworks; and to encourage renewable energyinvestments in the CARIFORUM countries.

Further, in December 2010, Indicative Support wasreceived from the Federal Government of Germany in

the amount of 4.5 Million Euros,for renewable energyand energy efficiency improvement in MembersStates, as well as for enhancing capacity and otherpractical developments in Member States related tothe sustainable energy strategy. This followed an

earlier decision by the Government of Germany in

August 2010, to increase to the pool of fundingavailable under the Caribbean Renewable EnergyDevelopment Programme (CREDP-GIZ) Project by0.75 Million Euros.

In addition,through supportfrom the UNDB a Projecttitled Increasing Sustainable EnergyAwareness in thePublic Sector (I-SEAPS) commenced. lts aim was toconduct energy efficiency and renewable energyassessments in sample public sector facilities inAntigua and Barbuda and Grenada, and at theCARICOM Secretariat, towards establishingdemonstration projects for energy efficiencytechnologies in public sector facilities.

Trade ond Economic lntegrotion

t3

ICT for Development

In 2010, the Secretariat continued to expand andeducate on the role of ICT for Development (lCT4D)as a catalyst for the implementation of the CSME andthe Caribbean Information Society (CARIB-lS).

Specific initiatives included the implementation ofstrategic ICT projects and programmes. Theseincluded public awareness and education on: E-Government/Governance, Legal and Regulatoryreform, Green ICT and Information and KnowledgeManagement.

ln the period under review, the Secretariatsuccessfully executed the CARIB-lS component -Year3 of the Caribbean Integration Support Programme(CISP), funded by the EU.A significant portion of thefunding was devoted to ( l) augmenting the core staffof the ICT4D Sub-programme, (2) facilitating thework of the Regional ICT Steering Commirtee whichdeveloped the Draft Regional ICT4DAction Plan. TheCISP also facilitated the enhancement of the ICT4Dwebsite and the development of the CARIB-lS portal.The portal, which was launched in November 2010,will serve as a repository for pertinent informationcontributing to the successful formation andsustainabiliq/ of the Caribbean Information Society.

In addition, Year 2 of the E-Government projectfunded by the Government of Korea also wassuccessfully executed. As part of theYear 2 activities -the Draft Regional E-Government Strategy (2010-20l4) was completed.

The Secretariat also spear-headed the development ofRegional plans and strategies for:

l. Regional Digital Development Strategy(RDDS), as mandated by the CARICOMHeads of Government inJuly 2009

ii. Development of a core list of ICT4D indicators tobe used bythe Region

iii. Draft implementation plan to ensure successfulcompletion ofthe RDDS.

In 2010, the Secretariat also undertook to deepensynergies with Member States and with Regionalinstitutions and organisations such as the CaribbeanKnowledge and Learning Network (CKLN),Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU),Caribbean Centre for Development and

Administration (CARICAD), and CaribbeanAssociation of National TelecommunicationOrganisations (CANTO); and with InternationalAgencies such as International TelecommunicationUnion (lTU), United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), UnitedNations Economic Commission for LatinAmerica andthe Caribbean (U NECLAC).

Transportation

Work advanced during the reporting period on thedevelopment of multi-modal infrastructure for thedelivery of safe, competitive and adequate transportservices within the Community and between theCommunity and its major trading partners.

In this regard, a refined text of the CARICOMMultilateral Air Services Agreement was completed.The document is aimed at the creation of suchmechanisms as would maximise for CARICOM aircarriers the economic and social benefits arising fromair services to, from and within the CaribbeanCommunity in the context of liberalisation,globalisation and the creation of regional groupings inthe international aviation community.

There was close collaboration with the Caribbeanoffice of the Centre for Development and Enterprisein developing a project aimed at improving the safetyand efficiency of inter-island cargo services byschooner and other small vessel operators and theStudy of the Feasibility of Establishing a Fast FerryService in the Southern Caribbean was commissionedand completed in 20lO.The Final Report of the Studywas being prepared for circulation to Member Statesin the First Quarter of 20 | | and for consideration andfurther action by COTED.

Tourism

In 2010, the Community continued to lobby for therebanding of the Air Passenger Duty (APD) imposedon passengers on flights from the United Kingdom tothe Caribbean. Heads of Government, at the Thirty-First Meeting of the Conference in July, in Kingston,

Jamaica, agreed that efforts should be made at thehighest level to hold further discussions with the UKon the matter. In September, through an initiative ofthe Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), aCaribbean delegation, including six Minister oflourismand representatives of the CTO, held talks with their

Trode ond Economic lntegrotion

14

UK counterparts in London on the damaging effects oftheAPD on the Region's tourism industry. Calls for theappropriate adjustments of the APD bands were also

made by the CARICOM Secretary-General in

December when he accepted the credentials of His

Excellency Paul Brummell, UK PlenipotentiaryRepresentative to CARICOM.

In 2010 also, the Community's efforts towards theattainment an internationally comPetitive and

sustainable tourism Industry yielded increasedtourism service provision and productivity; increasedNational Enterprise Development in the Industry;implementation of critical elements of theSustainability Plan for the Industry; and increased

faci I ities to promote mu lti-destination tou rism.

Services

During the reporting period, growth was evident in

the developmentand expansion of the Services Sectoras manifested through increased investment,employment, production and Trade in Services. TheCommunity was able to reach a consensus on the | |

elements of the Draft Strategic Plan on Services and

the identification of seven priority sectors for thecommencement of work.These seven priority areasare Financial Services, lCL Education ServicesJourismServices, Professional Services; Health and WellnessServices and Entertainment, Cultural and SportingServices.

The Draft Model Billto harmonise the registration andlicensing procedures within the CSME was finalised,and six professions - Nursing, Medical and/or Dental,Veterinary, Pharmacy, Engineering, and ArchitectureServices are being targeted i mmediately for action.

The Community conducted its first ever inventory ofeach Member State's policies, plans and strategies forServices with the aim of promoting greaterconvergence between the Regional and individualnational plans of Member States.

An assessment of the operations of the nationalservices coalitions was also undertaken in 20l0.As aresult of this assessment, at least four coalitions have

been able to secure funding from internationaldevelopment partners to implement their workProgrammes forthe nexttwo years.

Industrial Development

The completion of a draft Community lndustrialPolicy was the noteworthy achievement for the

Community. Member States will be encouraged toadopt, as priorities specific recommendations withinthe policy such as standards and quality that are inconcert with their own national policies and

development agendas.This will engender productionq/stems and enterprises that are internationallycompetitive and sustainable in the production ofgoods and services, for the promotion of the Region's

economic and social development.

Private Sector

The Caribbean Community, during the year underreview, continued its efforts to develop the Region's

Private Sector through facilitation of initiatives

intended to increase the competitiveness of thesector and increase the sector's contribution toemployment generation. With the assistance ofInternational Development Partners, work was

undertaken for the institutional strengthening of Small

and Medium Enterprise Business SupportOrganisations and work is ongoing with respect otherdevelopment initiatives for the SME Sector including

an SME Draft Model Billand a Draft Strategic Plan.

The development of a Private Sector DevelopmentProgramme (PSDP) was initiated, again with supportfrom International Development Partners. During theinvestigative phase of the PSDP a Gap Analysis was

conducted which highlighted the factors which are

needed to create competitiveness and the many

constraints which the Private Sector faces in achieving

competitiveness.

Emphasis was also placed on strengthening theCommunity's relationship with the private sectorthrough various public/private sector dialogueinitiatives .The Private Sector continues to be a key

stakeholder of the Community not only because it is a

key beneficiary of the work of the Community butalso because the work undertaken by the Communityon the private sector is driven by the needs of thesector itself.

Trcde and Economic lntegration

15

Trade Negotiations

The Community concentrated its efforcs in 20l0 inthe bilateral arena in the continued preparation forand negotiation of a Trade and DevelopmentAgreementwith Canada.

Throughout 2010, the Secretariat held severalregional consultations in the form of TechnicalWorking Groups, LDC sub-regional consultations incollaboration with the Organization of EasternCaribbean States (OECS) Secretariat; participated innational consultations; and provided other technicalassistance to Member States at their request, in orderto facilitate the Region's development and/orrefinement of textual proposals in the severalnegotiating disciplines.

A successful Second Round of negotiations, whichadvanced critical elements of the Region's externaltrade policy, was held in March 20l0 in Bridgetown,Barbados. The Round focused on marcers includingmarket access, services, investment, as well asinstitutional and trade-related issues.

Significantly, the Secretariat convened the inauguralmeeting of theTask Force on Development to adviseon advancing proposals for the treatment ofdevelopment in the negotiations with Canada. TheTask Force, established by COTED and composed ofrepresentatives from private sector, civil societyorganizations (CSOs) and the non-stare actor (NSA)community, met in September 2010, in Bridgetown,Barbados.

A noteworthy achievement was progress madetowards bridging the gap among governments,Community institutions, NSAs and CSOs. In theongoing effort to encourage closer cooperation andopen dialogue,a meetingwas held with regional NSAsand CSOs in September 2010 in Bridgetown, rodiscuss enhancing the interface among thestakeholders through the development ofcoordinating mechanisms and opportunities fordialogue.

20l0 heralded the launch of the Secretariat'sBusiness Dialogue Series for the regional privatesector. The Series, entitled Trade Agreements l0l,assessed the impact of trade policy on the privatesector and assisted businesses with a practicalunderstanding of how to maximize the benefits of a

free trade agreement.The well-received Series beganin Kingston, Jamaica, in February 2010, and wasfollowed by dialogues in the Bahamas, Barbados,G renada, Saint Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Secretariat continued to contribute to capacity-building in the CARICOM Member States in 2010.Incollaboration with the World Trade OrganizationSecretariat (WTO) and the lnter-AmericanDevelopment Bank (lDB),through its lnstitute for thelntegration of Latin America and the Caribbean(INTAL) and the Integration andTrade Sector (lNT),aRegional Seminar on the WTO and Regional TradeAgreements (RTAs) for Caribbean countries wasconvened.The Seminari held in Bridgetown, Barbados,in May 2010, contributed to increasing the capacity ofCARICOM officials to implement regional and/ormultilateral trade agreements.

Trode ond Economic lntegrotion

16

Trode and Economic lntegrotion

17lll Human and Social DevelopmentThe Caribbean Community recorded success inaddressing challenges to the achievement ofsustainable development through the implementationof programmes designed to mitigate human and socialvulnerabilities including HIV and AIDS, substanceabuse, poverty, gender inequity.

Youth

The year commenced with a focus on youth and youthdevelopment. The three-day Youth Summit inParamaribo, Su riname, encompassed a Regional YouthForum on 27 January; a Special Meeting of COHSODon Youth Development, on 28 January; and a SpecialCARICOM Heads of Government Summit on YouthDevelopment, 29 - 30 January.

The CARICOM Commission onYouth Development(CCYD) presented its ReporcEye on the Future:lnyesrin Youth Now for the Community Tomorrow at theinauguralYouth Summit on 29January.The Report isthe culmination of a three-year investigation into thecircumstances that sq/mied youth from participatingeffectively in the CSME.

Hoiil's Junior Mercier presents copies ofthe CARTCOM Commjssjonon Youth Development (CCYD) report to President RunoldoVenetioon who honds o copy over to the Chairmon of CARICOM,Hon.Rooseyelt 5kerrit,29 Jonuory 20 I 0, Poromoribo,surinome.

The fandmarkDecloration of Paramoribo on the FutureofYouth was amongthe main outcomes of the Summit.In the spirit of the mantra "No inyestm ent in youth: noregional integrotion; no CSME" which resounded overthe three days, CARICOM Heads of Government - inthe Declaration - endorsed the mainrecommendations of the CCYD with regard to theCSME, youth governance, human resourcedevelopment, sports and culture. They also declared

their intention to, inter olio, explicitly recognise andclearly articulate the role of youth in Caribbeandevelopment in the amended Revised Treaty ofChaguaramas.

Regionol youth present ng o dromotic performonce

ofthe finding ofthe CCYD report

The Commission's Report became available in Dutchand French, in May 2010, through the work of theSuriname-based Caribbean Regional Information andTranslation Institute (CRlTl).

Members of the Bureou of CARICOM Heods of Government(L-R) HEBhorrot Jogdeo, lmmediote Post Choir of Conference; Hon RooseyeltSkerrit, Choirman of Conference; HE Edwin Corrington, CARICOMSecretary -Generol.

In June, the CARICOM Secretariat and the OASforged a partnership to address youth development.lnan engagement at the OAS headquarters inWashington DC, both sides explored ways ofcollaborating to address the challenges andopportunities for youth in theAmericas.

18

HealthThe Transition Plan and three Costing Scenarios forthe implementation of the Caribbean Public Health

Agency (CARPHA) were examined by Ministers ofHealth at the Fifteenth Special Meeting of COHSODin February 2010, in Trinidad and Tobago.The main

recommendations on the Transition Plan for theestablishment of CARPHA included the approval of an

lmplementation Plan comprising an lmplementationTeam; an I ntegrated Management System ; an Executive

Board and a Project Management Unit located in theCARICOM Secretariat.

At the Meeting of COHSOD in February,theTrinidadand Tobago Government - which has agreed to host

CARPHA - presented a Business Plan to accelerate

implementation in the transition period between

2010 and 2014 when CARPHA is exPected tobecome fully operational.

ln June 2010, CARPHA received approval from the

international partners at the Partner's Conference in

Washington D.C. More than 25 international partners

endorsed the creation on the entity, which willrationalise five Caribbean public health agencies when

it becomes operational.

That endorsement was reinforced by the European

Commission (EC) in November 20l0 at a meeting

with a CARICOM delegation led by the HonourableDr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kias and

Nevis,and lead CARICOM Head of Governmentwithresponsibility for Human Resource Development,

Health and HIV and Aids.The EC and the CARICOMSecretariat were collaborating to expedite details ofthe EU's support to the implementation of theregional health mechanism.

The Community's coordinated approach in

addressing Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs)received the endorsement of the United Nations(UN) in May 2010. UN Member States adopted, by

consensus,a resolution on"Prevention and Control ofNon-Communicable Diseases"' This recognition was

greeted by Dr. Edward Greene,Assistant Secretary-

General, Human and Social Development,as excellentnews, not only for the Caribbean but for all countries.

Fight Against I llicit Drugs

With the aim of strengthening inter-sectoralresponses to prevent the use and supply of illicit drugs

and to reduce its impact on families and communities,

the Community intensified its response to substance

abuse and illicit drugs within the context of theRegional Drug Demand Strategy of 2002.

In February 2010, the CARICOM Secretariat and theEU partnered to convene a workshoP onincorporating communication strategies and models

in prevention-planning to mitigate substance abuse.

The National Drug Abuse Council of Jamaica was

involved in this undertaking to provide valuable

capacity-building support to the directors and policy-makers of drug abuse councils in the Region. Theworkshop's overarching obiective was to emPowerthose persons with the tools and skills to incorporatebehaviour change models and strategies in theirprevention planning programmes, towards change ofbehaviours and attitudes of persons who are inclined

to abuse a substance.

The workshop spawned four primary obiectives:

assisting the more than 80 ParticiPants to apply

selected aspects of behaviour change communicationstrategies and associated tools; understanding the

importance of the research, behaviour change and

policy continuum; reviewing existing or proposedprevention programmes in the context of behaviour

change communication models; and identifying one

behaviour change programme for implementationacross the Caribbean.

The participants benefited from a Presentation by

international Behaviour Change CommunicationSpecialist, Dr. Shaheed Mohammed, from theUniversity of Pennsylvania, whose keynotepresentation focused on the use of Behaviour Change

Communication (BCC) theories and models inshaping communication. By the end of the workshop,participants resolved that the best way to approach

the fight against illicit substances was to increase

partnerships and foster greater collaboration in all

health services sectors.

Part of the Caribbean Community's strategic plan in

addressing the issue of substance abuse includedadvocacy for continuation of an on-line training in

Addiction Studies.This lobbying led to a decision by

the CARICOM Secretariat, the Inter-AmericanCommission on Drug Abuse (CICAD) and theUniversity of theWest Indies (UWl) to re-instate an

online ceftification programme inAddiction Studies.

During the reporting period, the Community also

Humon ond Sociol DeveloPment

19

lobbied for alternatives to incarceration for personsconvicted of offences associated with drug abuse. Inthis regard, a presentation was made to theFourteenth Meeting of the LegalAffairs Committee,April 2010, in St. Kitts and Nevis.This led regional legalexperts to endorse a recommendation to undertakesub-regional training workshops to address the issueof alternatives to incarceration.

Institutional strengthening activities were alsoundertaken redounding to the review of national anti-drug strategies in three Member States. Theseactivities included the designing of tools and manualsto assist drug reduction practitioners in the deliveryof service and programmes in their respectivejurisdictions; and 'train the trainers' workshops in theuse of edutainment to deliver drug preventionmessages.Training sessions were done in Antigua andBarbuda and Guyana.

Part of the strategy to reduce the use of controlledsubstances also involved the production of a publicservice announcement and the design of a posteragainst drug use and trafficking.

Gender

Efforts to reduce gender-based violence and promotegender equality continued in 2010, with one highlightbeing the appointment, in March, of the CaribbeanCommunity Advocate for Gender Justice, Dr. RosinaWiltshire.

His Excellency Edwin Conington, CARICOM Secretory-

Generol greets Dr. Rosino Wiltshire, Coribbeon Community

Advocote for Gender lustice.

The work of the Advocate falls under a two-yearproject funded through a CARICOM/SpainCooperation Agreement.The project was designed todevelop a more coordinated and integrated approachto reducing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in theregion. As part of her terms of reference, Dr.Wiltshirewas mandated to coordinate the research on GBV andraise awareness of the need for further action todevelop and strengthen integrated responses that willaddress all social and legal sectors for the purposes ofprotection, provision of services; justice; andprevention. As Gender Advocate, Dr. Wiltshire'smandate also involves recommending specificproposals to strengthen Member States' compliancewith their international and regional priorityobligations of equality and non-discrimination.

In October, Ministers at the Twentieth Meeting ofCOHSOD in Georgetown, Guyana, held discussionson gender issues in education. The discussion wascentred on the findings of a study titled GenderDifferentiols in Education, commissioned by theCaribbean Development Bank (CDB) and conductedby the University of theWest Indies Regional Centrefor Gender and Development Studies. The studyidentified the demographic profile related to homeand school factors for the school population; thealternative pathwa)rs to formal education; and thereasons for the high rate of drop-outs from the formaleducation system.An interesting result from the studywas that while boys seemed to be under-representedin the education system,and girls out-performed boys

generally, more males were participating in the labourforce and enjoyed higher salaries than females.

In this vein, COHSOD agreed that the SummaryResults of the Study on Gender Differentials in

Education be disseminated to a wide cross-section ofstakeholders;theTechnicalWorking Group on teftiaryeducation should take its findings into consideration;specific interventions be addressed at the nationallevel in response to some of the more country-specificfindings,and that consideration be given to the overlapbetween formal education and technical and

vocational training.

Education

Teachers' education harmonisation was in focus at theFourth Meeting of the CARICOM RegionalTask Force

onTeaching andTeacher Education held in March 20l0in Trinidad and Tobago. Experts in the field met to

tr

Humon ond Sociol DevefoPment

20

to examine how the Community can develop andharmonise standards inTeacher Education to raise thestandards of excellence in the teaching and learningenvironment region-wide.

COHSODat itsTwentieth Meeting,agreed to set up a

Technical Working Group to develop the blueprintthat would guide the establishment of a RegionalTertiary Education Council, which would serve tostrengthen the relationship among tertiaryinstitutions and adjudicate on collaborative venturesbetween universities in areas such as the development,delivery and accreditation of courses. The WorkingGroup was expected to submit its action plan toCOHSOD byApril 20ll,and make proposals on thefinancing of such a Council, considering carefully therole of government in financing tertiary education.

At theTwentieth COHSO D also, approval was grantedto the CARICOM RegionalTask Force onTeaching andTeacher Education to proceed with the developmentof a Regional Framework to establish teachingcouncils at both the national and regional levels.TheseCouncils would be autonomous, professional andadministrative bodies set up to promote theprofessional development of teachers while regulating,building and maintaining the competency of theprofession.They would also have legal structures andpowers under respective Ministers of Education andwould be required to work towards lifting the sratusof the profession and fostering information-drivenpolicies.

Sustainable Development

Efforts to mainstream Sustainable Development as across-cutting theme in the work programmes andplanning frameworks of the Community continued in2010. licwards this end, some key results wereachieved including the completion of work onarrangements for a Regional Coordinating Mechanismto facilitate the effective implementation of the 1994Barbados Plan of Action, and the Mauritius Strategy -the current United Nations sustainable developmentstrategy for Small lsland Developing States for 2005-20r5.

In March 2010, the United Nations reaffirmed itscommitment to support the Communiry in its effortto promote and implement policies for sustainableland management.To this end, the Secretary-Generalof CARICOM met with Mr. Luc Gnacadja, ExecutiveSecretary of the UN Convention to Combat

Desertification (UNCCD) and held discussions oncharting a course of action in the implementation of aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) signedbetween CARICOM and UNCCD Secretariats in July2002.

March 20l0 also marked an important development in

building the Region's capaciry with the accession byMember States to international agreements on theenvironment. The Agreements were in the maingeared at facilitating Member States' commitment tosatisfy M u lti lateral Envi ron mentAgreements (M EAs).

The CARICOM Secretariat (through the EuropeanCommission-UNEP funded project Caribbean HubSub-component - Capacity Building Reloted toMultilaterol Environmentol Agreements in theAfrican,Coribbeon ond Pacific Countries) and theCaribbean Development Bank (CDB) jointlyconvened a regional project management trainingworkshop in Barbados. The five-day workshoptargeted 22 senior environmental professionals fromthe l6 Caribbean ACP countries and focused on theidentification and appraisal of discrete environmentalprojects, particularly those associated with delivery ofnational-level outcomes associated with theM u lti lateral Envi ronmental Agreements that MemberStates have already ratified.

Climate Change

In November 2010, the next generation of regionalclimate change negotiators benefited from a capacity-building exercise in a Regional Skills TrainingWorkshop. The exercise formed part of a capacity-building programme funded by the EuropeanCommission in collaboration with the United NationsEnvironment Programme and executed by theCARICOM Secretariat for African Caribbean Pacific(ACP) countries to implement MultilateralEnvi ronmental Agreements (M EAs) more effectively.The Workshop was organized by the CARICOMSecretariat, the Caribbean Community ClimateChange Centre (CCCCC) and the Foundation forInternational Environmental Law and Development(FTELD).

Over the three days of the workshop, the participantswere involved in simulated exercises on negotiationbriefing; articulating negotiation positions; developingdraft texts; and focusing on issues relating to ReducingEmissions from Deforestation and ForestDegradation (REDD) and REDD+, finance and

Humon and Social Development

21

technology.The workshop featured presentarions anddiscussions on important developments in climatechange including the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and theKyoto Protocol;and priority issues for CARICOM.

PAN CARIBBEAN PARTNERSHIPAGA! NST H |VAN DAt DS (PANCAP)

The commitment of the broad membership of the PanCaribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS(PANCAP) continued to be unwavering and thePartnership represented a case study on the benefitsthat may be derived from meaningful regionalcollaboration.

PANCAP reached a key milestone when, at its TenthAnnual General Meeting on 3 | October - 2November;forthe firsttime,the linguistic divide of thePartnership was bridged with the full participation ofHaiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the FrenchDepartments of the Americas, and the DutchOverseas Territories, including Saba, Bonaire, Aruba,Curacao, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten.

A key highlight of that meetingwas the inauguration ofthe PANCAP Awards during its official opening, atwhich the keynote address was given by Dr. KofiAn nan, former United Nations Secretary-General andChair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. The PANCAPAward was conferred on six distinguished sons anddaughters of the Caribbean.

His Excellency Edwin Conington, CARICOM SecretoryGenerol,greets Dr l6fi Annon, former Unrted Notlbns Seoetory4enerol otthe lenth Annuol Generol Meeting of PANCAP in St Moorten inNovember 20 I 0.

Despite many internal and external challenges, thePartnership, now in its tenth year, made significantprogress in its response to the epidemic.

The Hon Soroh Wescot-Willioms, Prime Minister of SL Moorten,former United Notions SecretoryGenerol, Dr. Kofi Annon, ond Hisfucellency Edwin Corringon, CARICOM Secretoryceneralofte nded theTenth An nuol Generol Meeti ng of PAN C AP

The following are brief highlights of selectedachievements duringthe year under review.

There were three significant developments during theyear. First, a Regional Model Policy on HIV-relatedStigma and Discrimination and a Model Anti-Discrimination Law for the Caribbean weredeveloped.Second,a high-level symposium on HIV andHuman Rights, facilitated by Sir George Alleyne,developed the blueprint for advancing the HumanRights agenda in the Region.Third, an HlVAnti-StigmaToolkit, along with Facilitator's Guide, has beenproduced for use by six sectors: health, education,tourism, people living with HIV faith-basedorganizations and the private sector.

With regard to resource mobilisation, three newfunding streams became available in the year underreview:

o The second dispensation of the U S President 's

Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ll)which has earmarked funding in the sum ofUS$ | 00M overthe next five years

e The sum of US$3lM from the Global Fund, overthe nextfiveyears;and

. EUR 2.5M from the German TechnicalCooperation for a three-year period

The combined funds will be used to advance the workof the Partnership, as outlined in its StrategicFramework.

G

Humon ond Sociol Development

22

Farewell

Atthe conclusion of theyear under reviewCOHSODbade farewell to Dr. Greene who steered the

programme for l0 years beginning in 2000 - a decade

described as one of dedicated delivery, ranging from

building and sustaining a knowledge-based workforce;youth development; culture and development;building on strentths to meet the challenges of social,

to economic and technological change.

COHSOD at its 20th Meeting, paused to recognise

Dr. Greene's sterling leadership in human and social

development.ln a Statement, Dr. Greene was cited as

a humane and compassionate leader with "intellectual

clarity and conceptual brilliance and seemingly

boundless enthusiasm, perseverance and stamina;

diplomatic finesse and an expansive vision."

/vis. Btlrer BenthomGillis presents o forewell gift to Dr' Edword

Greene,Assistont Secretory4enerol, Humon ond Sociol Development

Sir Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General, who, inDecember 2010, closed the curtain on his l8-yeartenure at the helm of the Caribbean Community,wasalso lauded by COHSOD for his vision and role inexpanding the reach of the Community in a widerange of cooperative ventures with developing and

developed nations.

Humon ond Sociol Development

23lV SecurityActivities moved apace during the year under reviewto stimulate a safe and secure environment whichwould facilitate the development of creative, healthyand productive CARICOM citizens, capable offunctioning with i n a Si ngle Market an d Economy.

The CARICOM Secretariat played a critical role infacilitating the implementation of the strategies to dealwith issues of justice, crime and securiry through thecoordination of a review on the governance structurefor Crime and Security in the Region; effectingcapacity-building for Law Enforcement Officers andthe development of an anti-narcotics law enforcementtraining manual.

Notable highlights in the year under review wereCARICOM's advancement of the United NationsOffice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Strategies forthe Community; and the completion of the DraftRegional Social and Development Crime PreventionPlan of Action.That comprehensive Action Plan wasdeveloped in association with the UNODC to preventand reduce levels of violence and crime in CARICOMMember States, through a cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach.

The Plan has five major pillars: reduction of violence;fostering social inclusion; promoting integration;empowering victims; and protecting the environmentand economic resources. Regional consultationsreviewed the Plan to determine and identif prioritieswithin the five pillars and areas of the Plan that couldbe implemented in Phase ll.

Regionally-coordinated efforts towards a safeenvironment for the growrh of the CSME werebolstered in May 20l0 with the CARICOM-US highlevel securit), engagement on the Caribbean BasinSecurity lnitiative (CBSI).The talks,which commencedformally in Washington D.C., were in keeping with a

commitment made by United States President BarackObama at the Fifth Summit of the Americas held inTrinidad and Tobago in April 2009. Since rhe Summit,CARICOM and U.S. officials have met jointl), to defineand develop the goals and scope of the CBSl,which has

been rationalised as a"multi-year, multi-faceted effortby the US Government and Caribbean paftners todevelop a joint regional citizen safety strategy to tacklethe full range of security and criminal threats to theCaribbean Basin."

The discussions in Washington in May 2010, focussedon four broad priority areas namely: SubstantiallyReduce lllicit Trafficking; Advance Pubic Safety andSecurity; Promote Social Justice; and StateContribution.The high level security engagement alsodeliberated on strategies to improve the Region's lawenforcement capacity to substantially reduce illicittrafficking associated with transnational crimes, andapproaches to prevent crimes by focusing on youthand other vulnerable sections of the population.

24

Security

25V Foreign and Community RelationsIn the year under review,the Secretariat continued tostrengthen Community relations and to pursue astrategic position in an evolving global environment.This approach was undertaken as the economies ofCARICOM Member States continued to be buffetedby the global financial and economic crisis which beganin 2009. Accordingly, the Community sought tostrengthen its foreign policy relations with traditionalThird State partners, and pursued new strategicalliances with non-traditional partners in an effort toenhance its strategic position in the globe.As a resultof its effective articulation on these issues in itsengagements with Third State partners and in otherinternational fora, CARICOM received commitmentsfrom various Thi rd States i ncl ud i ng Brazi l, Canada, andAustralia to articulate its interests and concerns in

internationalfora such as the G-20.

CARICOM, in 2010, also continued to take intoaccount the impliiations of other major internationalpolitical and economic developments, such as theshifting global power equation and the rise ofemerging economic powers (the People's Republic ofChina, India, Brazil); deepening regionalism and

geopolitical shifts in Latin America; heightened

concerns about the continued threat of drug

trafficking, transnational crime and terrorism toregional security, and the continued threat of theimpact of climate change.

Community Relations

ln its pursuit of stronger alliances with externalpartners, CARICOM was conscious of its role ofstrengthening of Community relations. Therefore,democracy,good governance Practices and the rule oflaw within the Community continued to be strongareas of focus. ln this vein, the CARICOM Secretariat

began a series of engagements with Civil Society

Consultations in Member States from May toOctober 2010.

The interactive sessions with Civil Societyorganizations were intended to encourage the lafter's

more active particiPation and engagement in theCaribbean integration Process, including the CSME by

heightening awareness of the opportunities for Civil

Society to contribute to the common development

ogendo. Consultations were held in Antigua and

Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica,

Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, SaintLucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and theG renad i nes, Su ri name, and Tri n idad andTobago.

As the Caribbean Community continues to fosterdemocratic principles and the maintenance of goodgovernance in its Member States, the CARICOMSecretariat undertook the coordination andmounting of CARICOM Electoral Observer Missionsas requested in four Member States, namely St. Kittsand Nevis, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinameand Tri n idad andTobago.

Haiti

The earthquake in Haiti in January roused the need

for a massive regional disaster response and it was

met by a tremendous outpouring of support fromCARICOM Member States and Associate Membersbeginning with Jamaica - the sub-regional focal pointfor that area for the Caribbean Disaster EmergencyManagement Agency (CDEMA) - leading the charge

within the first 48 hours of the disaster, outfitted withmilitary, medical, search and rescue personnel and

relief supplies.

Members of the Jamoico Defence Force in Hoiti

shortly ofter the earthquoke struck

In the days that followed, the true value ofmembership of the Community was demonstrated as

reinforcement poured in from CARICOM membercountries, civil society and the Diaspora in various

forms ranging from food aid to CARICOM civilian

evacuation.

While the disaster emergency resPonse was being

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26

operationalised on the ground, the CARICOM Heads

of government were mobilising political suPPort forsustained recovery and reconstruction efforts in theearthquake-torn French-speaking CARICOMMember State.

JDF Medicol Corps onending to the injured in Hoiti

The first visualisation of CARICOM's political supportwas a visit by the Prime Minister of Jamaica, theHonourable Bruce Golding on l4 January.This wasreinforced by then CARICOM Chairman, HonourableRoosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of Dominica;Prime Ministers of The Bahamas; Barbados; Jamaicaand Trinidad and Tobago as well as Secretary-Generalof CARICOM, His Excellency Edwin Carrington, whoformed a delegation to the first international meetingon the recover), and reconstruction of Haiti on l8January, in Santo Domingo.

There, CARICOM began to lobby the internationalcommunity's assistance for Haiti's recovery andreconstruction in response to an appeal by thatMember State to lobby the international communityfor its long-term recovery and reconstruction. Fromthereon, the Secretariat ensured that advocacy onbehalf of Haiti was reflected in all consultations at theMinisterial and Summit levels with Third Countriesand Groups of Countries.

The Most Honourable PJ. Patterson, Former PrimeMinister of Jamaica, was appointed as SpecialRepresentative of CARICOM Heads of Governmenton Haiti, to interface with the internationalcommunity and to represent CARICOM arinternational conferences on the country's recoveD/.

Further, the CARICOM Heads of Governmentassigned Amb. Granderson, Assistant SecretaryGeneral, Foreign and Community Relations, theadditional responsibility of Heading the CARICOM

Haiti Support Unit (CAHSU) which was establishedwithin the CARICOM Secretariat to sustainCARICOM's assistance to Haiti and as the focal pointfor interface with the Community and with externalpartners on the community's response.

As part of follow-up activities to the InternationalDonor Conference:'Towords o New Future for Hoiti'held in New York in March 2010, the, Special

Representative of the CARICOM Heads ofGovernment on Haiti, headed a CARICOM Follow-Up Mission to Haiti.The CARICOM Mission, whichincluded Amb. Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations, metPresident Ren6 Pr6val on the establishment,operational modalities and launch of the work of theInterim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC)and the Multi-DonorTrust Fund (MDTF), two criticalmechanisms in the implementation of theAction Planproposed by the Government of Haiti for therebuilding of the country following the earthquake.

The IHRC is co-chaired by former United StatesPresident Bill Clinton and Haiti's Prime MinisterHonourable Jean-Max Bellerive. CARICOM hadsecured a seatwith voting rights on the Commission -a key mechanism to guide Haiti's reconstructionprocess in accordance with its Action Plan forNational Recovery and Development.

The Secretariat took a lead role facilitating trilateralcooperation projects with Mexico and Brazil for thebenefit of Haiti in the areas of reconstructionassistance, agriculture, health, shelter education, aswell as in the design of a regional strategy to addresscrisis situations stem m i ng from natu ral d isasters.

The CARICOM Secretariar was also instrumental inthe successful adoption of Declarations on Haiti at theFifteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Councilof the Association of Caribbean States; the FirstCARICOM-Mexico Summit; the Latin America andthe Caribbean (CALC) Summit; and the ThirdCARICOM-Cuba Ministerial Meeting.

Apart from the engagemenr withThird State partnersand other international organisations in the recoveryand reconstruction of Haiti, critical support wasprovided to the CARICOM Representational Officein Haiti (CROH), a key mechanism in Haiti'sintegration into the CSME. The Government ofCanada, through its cooperation arm, the CanadianInternational DevelopmenrAgency (Cl DA), continues

Forcign and Community Relotions

27

Haiti Support Unit (CAHSU) which was establishedwithin the CARICOM Secretariat to susrainCARICOM's assistance to Haiti and as the focal pointfor interface with the Community and with externalpartners on the Community's response.

As part of follow-up activities to the InternationalDonor Conference:'Towords o New Future for Haiti'held in New York in March 2010, the, SpecialRepresentative of the CARICOM Heads ofGovernment on Haiti, headed a CARICOM Follow-Up Mission to Haiti.The CARICOM Mission, whichincluded Amb. Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations, metPresident Ren6 Pr6val on the establishment,operational modalities and launch of the work of theInterim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC)and the Multi-DonorTrust Fund (MDTF),two criticalmechanisms in the implementation of the Action Plan

proposed by the Government of Haiti for therebu i ld i ng of the cou ntry fol lowi ng the earthquake.

The IHRC is co-chaired by former United StatesPresident Bill Clinton and Haiti's Prime MinisterHonourable Jean-Max Bellerive. CARICOM had

secured a seat with voting rights on the Commission -a key mechanism to guide Haiti's reconstructionprocess in accordance with its Action Plan forNational Recovery and Development.

The Secretariat took a lead role facilitating trilateralcooperation projects with Mexico and Brazil for thebenefit of Haiti in the areas of reconstructionassistance, agriculture, health, shelter education, as

well as in the design of a regional strategy to address

crisis situations stemming from natural disasters.

The CARICOM Secretariat was also instrumental in

the successful adoption of Declarations on Haiti at theFifteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Councilof the Association of Caribbean States; the FirstCARICOM-Mexico Summit; the Latin America and

the Caribbean (CALC) Summit; and the ThirdCARICOM-Cuba M inisterial Meeting.

Apart from the engagement withThird State parcners

and other international organisations in the recoveryand reconstruction of Haiti, critical support was

provided to the CARICOM Representational Office inHaiti (CROH), a key mechanism in Haiti's integrationinto the CSME.The Government of Canada, throughits cooperation arm, the Canadian lnternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA), continues to play a

significant role in this regard.

Given the critical importance of political stability toHaiti's recovery and reconstruction, CARICOMpartnered with the OAS in a joint ElectoralObservation Mission (JEOM) to Haiti in preparationfor the legislative and presidential elections of 28Novemberi which had been postponed due to theearthquake.

It was the first time the OAS and CARICOM hadpartnered to provide electoral observation assistance.The partnership was a key mechanism aimed atsolidifring all other efforts towards social andeconomic reconstruction and sustainabledevelopment in the French-speaking CARICOMMember State.

The mission was headed byAmbassador Granderson,and included more than 180 observers who weredeployed to various provinces in Haiti to monitor thepre- and post- electoral process as well as the votingprocess itsellthe counting and closing of the ballots.

Strengthening Relations with ThirdStates and Groups of States

CARICOM-Mexico

CARICOM Heads of Government participated in theSummit of Unity of Latin American and the Caribbean,held in Cancun Mexico 22-23 February. lt had been

preceded by the inaugural Mexico-CARICOMSummit on 2 | February in which the Heads of State

and Government of Mexico and CARICOMacknowledged the urgent need to contribute to theinternational cooperation efforts to reconstruct Haitiand to ensure its long-term development.

In a declaration adopted at the end of the summit"thetwo parties planned to jointly review and harmonizecooperation plans and programmes to "takeadvantage of our joint capacities to provide aid and

assistance for the reconstruction of Haiti in themedium and long term according to the needs,

interests and priorities of the Haitian government and

in conjunction with existing aid efforts at the regional

and international levels."

At the Unity Summig the Community fortified its tieswith Latin America which pursued issues regardingHaiti's rebuilding, and sub-regional cooperationbetween CARICOM and Latin America in respect of

Forcign and Community Relotions

28

challenges and opportunities in the current economiccontext.

The Government of Mexico, in its capacity as Chair ofthe Rio Group for the period 2008 to 20 | 0,and as hostof the Second Summit of CALC, opted to convene a

Summit in which all member countries of bothprocesses participated under the umbrella name UnitySummit of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean.

It was an opportunity for CARICOM to give credenceto the priority articulated by the Council for Foreignand Community Relations (COFCOR) in its revisedstrategy for the coordination of foreign policies todeepen relations with Latin America and strengthenlong-standing relations the Region has enjoyed withcountries of the Americas and with sub-regionalgroupings within the Americas over the past twodecades.

CARICOM-Brazil

Towards stronter relations with select LatinAmericancountries,the historic First CARICOM- Brazil Summitwas convened on Monday, 26 April, in Brasilia, Brazil.The diplomatic discourse identified avenues for thedevelopment of cooperation between CARICOM andBrazil and culminated in the signing of four majorAgreements and eight Memoranda of Understanding(MoUs).

Other major outputs of the summit were theDeclaration of Brasilia and more than 40 bilateralagreements between Brazil and CARICOM MemberStates addressing areas of collaboration includinghealth, education, culture, agricultural development,energy,tourism and civil defence.

With Brazil's emergence as a major economic powerand its position in the G-20, the Summit was of greatimportance to the Region and this was recognised inthe Declaration, which pointed to the fact that "thecurrent international financial structures do notcorrespond to the unique needs of highly indebtedsmall countries with middle income, like those ofcARlcoM."

CARICOM-fapan

The Caribbean Community pursued a new strategicframework for CARICOM-,Japan relations at theSecond CARICOM-Japan Ministerial Meeting held on2 September 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. The revised

framework was to replace one which was adopted in2000.

In a comprehensive Outcome Document,'Partnership for Peace, Development and Prosperitybetween Japan and Member States of the CaribbeanCommunity (Outcome Document)', adopted by theMeeting, the parties identified the issues ofovercoming vulnerability, climate change, povertyalleviation, capacity-building and cultural exchange as

areas for strengthened cooperation.

The Community commended Japan for its ongoingsupport to Haiti over the years, and particularly for itsimmediate response to Haiti through its pledge ofUS$100M for reconstruction activities, as well as itsstated intention to provide further assistance to Haitiin the medium- and long-term recovery of thatMember State.

Relationswith Europe

More than 60 Heads of States and Government,including severalfrom CARICOM and CARIFORUM,met with their counterparts from Europe in Madrid,Spain, for the Sixth Summit of the EU and LatinAmerica and the Caribbean (EULAC) in May.

Convened under the theme: 'Towords o New Phose ofBi,-Iaterol Regionol Associotion', the Summit provided a

platform for both Regions to forge commonapproaches to a global agenda which includes theenvironment, climate change and energy; internationalfinancial architecture, education and migration;science, technology and innovation; peace and securityand trafficking in illicit drugs.

Just ahead of the Sixth Summit, representatives ofCARIFORUM Member States met EU officials in theinaugural meeting of the Joint CARIFORUM-EUCouncil, and adopted the Rules of Procedure thatwould establish the framework of the conduct ofmechanisms established under the EconomicPartnersh i p Agreement (EPA) benveen CARI FO RU Mand the EU.

The Meeting endorsed a proposal for the HonourableMaxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs andForeignTrade of Barbados and Chair of CARIFORUMto serve as CARIFORUM's 'High Representative',tothe European Commission as allowed for underArcicle 228 (2) of the EPA and in accordance withArticle l(2) of the Rules of Procedure. Minister

Forcign ond Community Rerotions

29

McClean will serve until December 20 | | .

Within the margins of the Summit, a number ofmeetings were held with specific LAC countries andsub-regions. Chief among those meetings forCARICOM Member States is the CARIFORUM-EUSummit in which the dialogue focussed on, amongother things, a joint strategy for future partnershipwith the EU;regional integration and cooperation forsustainable and economic development and naturaldisasters, with the post-Haiti crisis being thecentrepiece of this discussion.

The summit ended on a positive note for theCaribbean.The more than 60 leaders at the meetingagreed on measures aimed at strengthening trade andimproving European relations with Latin America andCaribbean. They pledged to establish a jointinvestment agency and a foundation - the EU-LACFoundation - to promote social development withinthe Caribbean and LatinAmerica.

European Leaders had also committed to setting up anew financial facility to support investment projects inthe Region and to re-open talks with the MERCOSURtrading bloc -Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay

-which were suspended in 2004,due to disagreementovertariffs and subsidies paid to European farmers.

ln June 20 I 0, Barbados hosted a high level consultationinvolving Caribbean Community Foreign Ministersand the United States of America Secretary of State,Hillary Clinton - a meeting described by AntiguanPrime Minister Honourable Baldwin Spencer as a

welcome "re-engagement" with the US.

CARICOM Heods of Government and representotiyes of Heodsof Government ond His Excellency Edwin Corrington, CARICQMSecretory4enerol ot the meeting with US Seoetory of StoteHillory Clinton in Bridgetown,Borbodos.

Secretary of State Clinton assured regional officialsthat the US remained committed to finding solutionsto common problems.The US's pledge was formalised

in the 'Commitment of Bridgetown: Paftnership forProsperity and Security' which covered a range ofareas of partnership including: Co-operation andAssistance to Haiti; Security, Energy and ClimateChange, Health,Trade and the lmpact of the GlobalFinancial and Economic Crisis.The Secretary of Statealso announced US$162M funding to fight HIV/AIDSin the Caribbean and US$8M for climate change andenergy Programmes.

ln November 2010, Belize hosted the SeventeenthMeeting of Ministers of the Caribbean Forum ofAfrican, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States(CARIFORUM) to discuss marcers pertaining toCARIFORUM's relations with the European Unionand issues within the bi-regional framework.

The CARIFORUM Ministerial meeting reviewed thestatus of the Caribbean Integration SupportProgramme (CISP),which was implemented through a

Contribution Agreement between the EuropeanCommission and CARIFORUM, giving effect to theNinth European Development Fund (9th EDF). TheMinisters also considered the areas which will benefitfrom the resources of the upcoming lfth EDF.

Forcign ond Community Relotions

30

Forcign ond Community Relotlons

31Vl Operations of the SecretariatHuman Resource Management

In 2010, the Secretariat began the processes forimproving its human resources efficiencies bothoperational ly and strategical ly, an d sou rced funding fora new Results-Based Performance ManagementSystem, Phase 2 of which was rolled out at the Officeof Trade Negotiations in October 2010. Financialsupport for this part of the exercise was provided bythe Government of Spain. The roll-out for theremaining staffwill be undertaken in the second half of20 | | with funding provided by Member States.

The processes towards the implementation of theHuman Resource Information System (HRIS) alsobegan in 2010. The HRIS will facilitate improvedmanagement of the Secretariat's human resources andprovide a better interface between the HumanResource Management (HRM) Unit and the FinanceDepartment. Funding for the system has beenidentified from resources made available by the EU forimplementation in 20 | l.

In 2010, the staff rules were revised and a new job-classification system was established. Acomprehensive, wel l-received orientation exercise fornew members of staffwas also undertaken.

Notwithstanding reductions in the training budget,donor support was provided which allowed a numberof staff members to benefit from traininginterventions in procurement, record management,leadership, protocol, and first aid. In addition, theSecretariat was accorded 'ACCA ApprovedEmployer-Professional Development' inrecognition of the continuing developmentopportunities provided to members of theAssociation of Chartered Certified Accountants(AccA).

Counselling was provided where necessaD/, and theUnit continued to support activities aimed atimproving employee relations among staff of theSecretariat. In the year under review, staff membersonce again displayed their talents in the performingarts as well as in their culinary skills during StaffTalentWeek.

Attention continued to be paid to the wellbeing ofstaff and their families, particularly following theearthquake which struck Haiti in January 2010. The

Secretariat ensured that the comfort of staff in Haiti,as well as that of the Haitians at Headquarters andtheir families was provided for.

In recognition of their years of service to theCommunity,tokens of appreciation were presented tostaff members who had been in the employ of theSecretariatfor more than twenty-five years.

Fifty-nine members of programme and project staffleft the employ of the Secretariat in 20 I 0, among themthe Secretary-General, Sir Edwin Carrington, andAssistant Secretary-General, Human and SocialDevelopment, Dr. Edward Greene. Twenty-four newnationals joined the staffduringthe year.

Conference Services

In the year under review the Secretariat continued tosupport the process of consultation and decision-making for the implementation of Communitydecisions by Member States. In doing so, and inensuring effective conference management, close totwo hundred (200) meetings of organs and bodies ofthe Community were serviced, both in Guyana andoverseas. Documents were expeditiously dispatched.These included about nine hundred (900) letters, fivehundred and twenq/ (520) Savingrams as well as

numerous Working Documents and Reports. Tofacilitate this dissemination of information, fifty-three(53) Electronic Links were established and documentswere posted on them upon receipt. This greatb/facilitated the reduction in the number of hard copiesof documents that were printed as compared toprevious years and it allowed Member States to have

earlier and faster access to documentation formeetings.

The Secretariat continued to support the facilitationof intra-regional trade through the safeguard andsuspension mechanism by executing the operationalprocesses related thereto. Documents were alsotranslated to support the implementation of tradeagreements between the Community and Spanish-speaking countries, as well as the purposefulintegration of Haiti into the Community.

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32

Ad m i nistrative Services

The Secretariat's programmes and proiects continuedto be supported generally by the AdministrativeServices Department. In this regard, maintenanceprogrammes for buildings, equipment, buildingsystems and grounds of the Secretariats offices and

official residents, continued to be executed.Procurement of consultations and studies for theSecretariat's programmes and the timely execution ofcontracts were also provided during the year underreview.

Documentation Services

The Secretariat continued archiving documentsduring the year under review.ln this stead, it met a settarget of organising over I 1,000 electronicdocuments. This accomplishment, which was theresult of in-house cooperation and collaboration, has

now boosted the Secretariat's capability to provideelectronic copies of documents to CARICOMMember States and other authorised users.

Through a collaborative effort in June 20l0 betweenthe Documentation Centre and University of theWest Indies (Cave Hill), specifically the Law FacultyDean, MsVelma Newton; and Librarian,Junior Brown,CARICOM Reports were declassified. Some of theReports were made available for research materialswithin the University's Law Library.

As a follow-up activity to the decision to make

declassified items available on the CARICOMSecretariat (CCS) website, the Secretariat continuedwith the data entry of previously declassified CCSdocuments in its MlNlSlS database.These documentswhich cover the period 1974 to 1997 emanated fromMeetings of the Caribbean Common Market,Agriculture, Labour, Education, and Women in

Development.lt is proposed during 20ll,to digitizetheAgriculture documents prior to the release of thislist on the CCS website.

During the reporting period, the Secretariat mountedseveral in-house exhibitions to coincide with variousregional and International events. One of the keyexhibitions was mounted in October 2010, at theGuyana Pegasus Hotel for the Twentieth Meeting ofCOHSOD- Education. The exhibition was a fittingtribute to the outgoing Assistant Secretary General,

Dr. Greene, who demitted Office in December 2010,

and it highlighted an impressive number of outputsemanating from various Programmes.

I nformationTech nology Services

With respect to the delivery of informationtechnology services for improving the oPerations ofthe Secretariat, the following activities werecompleted in 20l0:

o Expansion of the Intranet for providing access tocorporate information and schedulingapplications

o Upgrading of the Internet bandwidth to facilitateaccess to external information resources

o Enhancement of the website for access toinformation on the Community

. Development of an electronic leave system

. Development and support for a database

application used by the Office of the Secretary-General and the Registry

o Enhancement of the lT infrastructure to supportinternal processes by providing high availability tonetwork services

o Strengthening the videoconference function toimprove the management of and support for thevideoconferencing faci I ity at the Secretariat

. lmplementation and testing of web-conferencingtools to facilitate real-time communication and

collaboration with Member States. Provision of lT service and support for internal

and external meetings

Information kiosks provided by the Government ofIndia were installed in Barbados and Suriname in thecontinuation of the process started in several otherMember States. Personnel in these countries weretrained in the use and maintenance of the kiosks.

Monitoring and Evaluation

During the year under review, the Secretariatexpanded its services and support for the WorkProgramme Planning and Preparation process andalso for the monitoring of its Work Programme. In

addition, an in-house collaborative approach wasadopted during the design phase of programmes to befinanced with new donor resources. Thiscollaboration served not only to strengthenprogramme design, but also ensured that adequateprovisions are made for monitoring and evaluation,

Operotions of the Secretoriot

33

including the establishment of baselines necessary forthe agreed monitoring and evaluation plans.

Some of the new programmes which have beensupported and which will be monitored are:

(a) Strengthening of Capacity to lmplementMultilateral Environmental Agreements(MEAs) and related Commitments

(b) PAN Caribbean Partnership on HIV/AIDSRound 9 Grant

(c) CARICOM Spain Co-operation Programme(d) CARICOM Secretariat Capacity

Development for National CSME FocalPoints States

ln addition,theWork Programme and Budget Planningprocess was strengthened with the introduction of aMeeting of Senior Officials, held prior to the Meetingof the Budget Committee, where proposals for thenew financial year were reviewed. This review wasconducted in the context of performance in 2009 andnew mandates received from Organs of theCommunity. This exercise served to provide befterclarity to Member States with respect to the priorityareas identified for specific focus in 20ll-20l2.TheSecretariat will be seeking to strengthen this exerciseas a means of further enhancingtheWork Programmeand Budget Preparation process.

Finance and Budget

In 20lO,the Community Council approved a budget ofEC$45,47 6,828 for the CARICOM Secretariat. Thisbudget funded by contributions from Member States

together with other income of EC$92, 159 comprisedincome for the year 20 | 0 totaling EC$45,568,987JheCARICOM Secretariat also received EC$83,43 1,876

from lDPs.

A Summary of Member StatesAssessed Contributionfor the year 20 | 0 is given overleaf.

In 2010, actual expenditure from Member States'

resources amounted to EC$45,293,703. Withrespect to funding from lDPs, the sum ofEC$74,807,324 was expended.

The table below provides a summary of expenditurefunded from Member States' contributions for theyear 20 I 0:

The Secretariat received an unqualified opinion on itsFinancial Statements for 2010 from the ExternalAuditors.

Head | - HumanResource Costs

Head ll - OtherOperatingExpenses

Head lll - CapitalExpenditure

Opemtionr of the Secretoriot

34

CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIATCONTRIBUTION ASSESSM ENT

EC$

E

Anguilla 0.r I 50,025 50,025

Antigua & Barbuda 4.44 554,855 654,856

Barbados 7.863,574,479 3,574,479

Belize 2.251,023,229 a,023,229

Bermuda r.00454,768 454,158

BritishVirgin lslandso.77 350, | 72 350, | 72

Cayman lslands t.00 454,758 454,168

Dominica 0.79 359,267 359,257

Grenada 1.44 654,866 554,866

Guyana 7.00 3,183,378 3, | 83,378

Haiti 6.00 2,729,510 2,729,6a0

Jamaica 23.t5 10,527,886 | 0,527,886

Montserrat 0.!l 50,025 50,025

Saint Kitts & Nevis t.44 554,865 554,855

Saint Lucia 1.44 554,866 654,856

St.Vincent &TheGrenadines 1.44 554,855 654,866

Suriname 7.00 3, | 83,378 3,183,378

The Bahamas I r.43 5,198,001 5, | 98,00 |

Trinidad &Tobago 24.12 | 0,969,0 | | | 0,969,01 |

Turks & Caicos lslands 0.2 t 95,50 | 95,50 |

Total | 00.00 45,475,828 45,476,828

Operotions of the Secletoriat

35Vll Technical AssistanceNeedsAssessment

The Secretariat engaged in a comprehensiveprogramme of evaluating its past interventions in ten( l0) Member States with a view to determining thesuccesses, failures and lessons learnt. These weredocumented and will provide the basis for improvedproject design and methodology in the developmentof future interventions.

In addition, needs assessments were conducted inMember States using a participatoD/ approach,involving a cross-section of key stakeholders withnational level responsibility under the Movement ofGoods and Persons regimes.This exercise sought toidentifr specific capacity needs and to determinefuture interventions designed for increased impactand sustainability. Based on this, ten ( l0)interventions were implemented across seven (7)Member States with support ranging from training totechnical assistance.

The Secretariat also sought to strengthen systems tomaximise the impact of its technical assistancethrough enhancing its capability to identifr consultantswith the requisite skills in the Community and theDiaspora. An upgraded consultancy data-base wasdeveloped which will provide the Secretariat withaccess to expanded human resources.

Efforts were also focused in 20l0 on completing theidentification and diagnosis of information flows in ten(10) Member States.The expectation is that the keyfindings will be developed into national plans of actionto allow for more effective engagement ofstakeholders and beneficiaries in the consultative,decision-making and implementation processes of theCSME.

Resource Mobilisation

The Secretariat made significant strides in 20l0 withregard to the implementation of the 96 EDE, €36.9MCaribbean lntegration Support Programme (CISP).

The Secretariat recorded a 40% increase in the fundutilization rate from the previous reporting period.

Discussions and stakeholder meetings were also

convened to programme the € l65M available to theCaribbean under the lO" EDF. The focal area for this

programme is Regional Economic Integration ICooperation and EPA Capacity-Building to which€ l43M has been allocated.

During 2010, there was progress with theprogramming of theAus$63.8M which had been madeavailable under the 2009 Memorandum ofUnderstanding with Australia.Aus$ | 0M was allocatedto the area of Economic Resilience; Aus$20.3M toPeople to People and lnstitutional Linkages;Aus$ 17.5M to Climate Change and Disaster RiskReduction; and Aus$ 16.00M was earmarked forDirect Assistance to meet unforeseen developmentneeds. In addition,Australia provided some Aus$24Min emergency disaster relief to Haiti.

Germany continued its ongoing cooperation in thefight against HIV/AIDS and Renewable Energy inCARICOM and granted new approvals for projects inthe areas of Marine and Coastal Zone Managementand Renewable Energy to the value of €5.0M and

€4.5M, respectively.

The CaribbeanAid forTrade and Regional IntegrationFund (CARTFund) was established with a sum ofapproximately f l0M from DFID to supportCaribbean implementation of the EPA. This fund isbeing administered regionally by the CDB.

Japan continued to provide assistance to the Region

through the Japan-CARICOM Friendship and

Cooperation Fund as well as through J|CA-fundedprojects, and renewed its commitment to the Region

by updating the Framework for CARICOM-JapanCooperation at the Second CARICOM-'JapanMinisterial Meeting which was convened in Tokyo.

Japan also provided significant suppoft to Haiti,and as

atAugust 20l0,this was in excess of US$ 100M.

A Regional Strategic Assistance Agreement was also

signed between USAID and the Secretariat for thesum of US$21.9M to be programmed in the areas ofgovernance and the rule of law; investing in people,

specifically in the areas of health and education; and

economicgrowth.

Several initiatives at both the national and regionallevels have benefited from financial support fromSpain to the Region. This support focused on areas

such as agriculture, health (non-communicable

E

36

diseases), fisheries, gender, small and medium-sizedenterprises development, strengthening ofinstitutional capacity and support for the CARICOMRepresentation Office in Haiti (CROH), particularly in

the aftermath of the JanO allocation supportedprojects in the priority areas of governance, citizens'security, energy and capacity-bui lding.

Contributions from DFIQ Spain, and UNDP financedthe drafting of a Regional Services Strategy, andsupport from IDB was secured for projects in theareas of regional statistics, procurement and theestablishment of the CSME.

In December 2010, the Secretariat convened a highlevel forum which focused on the topics of DonorCoordi nation and Ai d Effectiveness.Approxi mately | 2development organisations participated and agreed,among other things, to institutionalise the forum.Thenext meeting is expected to discuss strategic areas ofcommon interest for future cooperation.

During the planning cycle 20 | l-20 | 2, the Secretariatwill continue its efforts to strengthen donorcoordination, consol idate the program matic approachto resource mobilization and institutionalize projectmanagement processes to improve projectimplementation and the delivery of results.

Technical Assistonce

37

Vlll Statistics

Statistics

In 2010, the Secretariat continued its work instrengthening statistical capacity in Member Statesand Associate Members toward informed decision-making and to improve the quality and range ofstatistics produced in the Caribbean Community.

Through critical support from internationaldevelopment partners including the EU, the lDB, theGovernment of Great Britain and Northern lreland,an d U n ited Nations Agencies, the Secretariat executedwork in a range of areas including Economic Statistics

- National Accounts, MerchandiseTrade, Services andI nvestment Statistics; and Statistics Program m i ng.

Specifi c activities included:

o Updatingand implementation of the commonRegional Statistical Work Programme (RSWP) ;

o Initiating and building on the process of developingstrategies forthe development of the NationalStatistical Systems;

o Capacity-building within Member States' tocompile core indicators in Social / Gender andEnvironmental Statistics and laying the foundationfor data collection in other areas of statistics suchas Information Communication Technologies(rcr);

o Activities to markWorld Statistics Day (October20) and Caribbean Statistics Day (October l5) tocelebrate the many achieves of official statisticsand to reinforce the core values of service,integrity and professionalism in statistics.

o Seminar on a strategic approach to implement theSystems of National Accounts 2008 - a newinternational standard for the production of thesestatistics national accounts through a partnershipbetween Regional Statistics Programme and theUnited Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)

. Training workshops on the findings of a project onthe lmprovement of Basic Data for theCompilation of National Accounts andparticularly on the Business Register ofEstablish ments; Statistics on Trade i n Services; data

processing

o Establishment of a Technical Working Group(TWG) to sustain capacity-building activities forregional statisticians in the areas of NationalAccounts/Trade in Services Statistics to advanceSouth-South co-operation on technical issues, andto formulate a data quality assessmentframework in National Accounts.

The development of I nformation Tech nologyinfrastructure including:- the operationalisation of the CARICOM

Statistics Online Help Desk Facility.- the development of a web-based

communication infrastructure for thetransmission of data using a commonapproach from Member States to theSecretariat; and the organization and use ofdatabases aimed at developing a frameworkfor enhancing a structured approach forstoring and archiving data.This would enableeffective database architecture and a datadissemination policy for users at national,regional and international levels.

- the implementation of data disseminationfacilities in Member States using the UN-developed Devinfo System used in thedissemination of UN development indicatorsincluding the Indicators for the MillenniumDevelopment Goals.

The Secretariat was fully involved in the RegionalPopulation and Housing Census 2010, which, for thefirst time,was coordinated through a Regional Census

Strategy supporting CARICOM Member States toconduct their Censuses.

In May 2010, CARICOM Member States began theCensus 2010. Barbados led the wa), on May l,followedbyThe Bahamas on May 3, Saint Lucia on May | 0; Belize

on May l2; and Bermuda on May 20; and the BritishVirgin lslands and the Cayman lslands on l4June and

l0 October, respectivel)r. Guyana had indicated itwould begin late 2010 while other Member States

were expected to conduct their censuses in 20 | l. ltwas anticipated that Haitiwould have its Census donein 2013.

tr

38

Strengthening of the Statisticallnfrastructure

With the support of lDB, work commenced on theCommon Framework for Statistics Production withrecruitment of consultants to focus on updatingstatistics legislation and updating the RSWP by

conducting diagnostic assessments across membercountries. Efforts were made to build synergies across

proiects, in particular the EU-funded activity on theStatistics programming which also related to theRSWP and that of the IDB project.

Advisory Group on Statistics -Statistics Devel opm e nt Agenda

The Advisory Group on Statistics (AGS), whichreports to the Standing Committee of CaribbeanStatisticians (SCCS), continued to function in the area

of statistical development.Work included following up

the decisions of the SCCS to improve the range,

comparability and quality of statistics in the Region.

Among the activities of the AGS were thereview/update of the terms of reference and rules ofprocedure of the SCCS; the development of a ModelStatistics Bill supported by an IDB-funded consultant;developmental work on the Minimum Data Set

recommended by theAGS and approved by the SCCSrelative to inclusion of international High FrequencyIndicators (HFl) as early warning to financial and

economic crisis;and follow-up of the 2009 High LevelAdvocacy Forum through preparation of an ActionPlan.

International & Regional Cooperationin Statistics

At the regional and international levels workcontinued on a number of activities to support thedevelopment of statistics and to enable adherence tointernational statistical standards. Chief among thesewere the 35th Meeting of the SCCS,the lSth and l9thMeeting of the Regional Census CoordinatingCommittee (RCCC), the 4lst Session of the UnitedNations Statistics Commission, which is the apex ofstatistics internationally, and the Third RegionalStatistical Research Sem i nar.

Stotistics

39lX Legal ServicesDuring the year under revieq the Secretariatcontinued to provide legal support to theimplementation of the CSME, legal and advisoryservices to the CARICOM Member States, theOrgans, Bodies, Institutions and Associate lnstitutionsof the Community. The Secretariat also serviced aregular meeting of the LegalAffairs Committee in St.Kitts and Nevis on 3OApril- | May 20l0 and a Meetingof CARICOM Institutions and Associate Institutionsin March 2010 in Barbados to discuss various legalissues relating to the status of and relationships amongthese institutions.

The Secretariat was again called upon to represent theCommunity before the Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ) in its original jurisdiction, in respect of a claimmade under the provisions of the Revised Treaty ofChaguaramas.

Supported by the 9th EDE the Secretariat alsoconvened a Treaty Law and Practice Seminar in TheBahamas in July 2010, which was attended bygovernment officials, the private sectoq and lawstudents.This was the second iteration of this seminar,with presentations by the Secretariat's attorneys, theOrganisation of American States (OAS), theCommonwealth Secretariat and the CCJ.

The following agreements were opened for signature:' Agreement between the Government of the

Republic of Suriname and the CaribbeanCommunity Establishing the Headquarters ofthe Caribbean Agricultural Health and FoodSafety Agency. This Agreement entered intoforce immediately upon signature on l8March 2010.

' Agreement Establishing the CaribbeanAgricultural Health and Food Safety Agency(CAHFSA) was signed on 12 March 2010 in

Roseau, Dominica.

' CARICOM Travel Card (CARIPASS) Treatyentered into force on l2 March 2010.

' Protocol to Amend Article 83 of the RevisedTreaty of Chaguaramas was opened forsignature on 24 March 2010. lt is not yet inforce.

' Agreement Establishing the CaribbeanKnowledge and Learning Network Agency

(CKLNA). This Treaty is being provisionallyapplied.lt will enter force when Instrumentsof Ratification have been deposited by at leastseven of the States andTerritories listed in itsAnnex.

' Amendment to the Agreement Establishingthe Caribbean Aviation Safety and SecurityOversight System (CASSOS).This Agreementis not yet in force. lt will enter forceimmediately upon signature by all the StateParties.

The Secretariat also facilitated conclusion of thefollowing:

' Memorandum of Understanding onlmmigration Arrangements for the ICCWoddTwen ty 20 20 | 0 Championships signedon | 6April 20l0 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

' Technical Cooperation Agreement betweenthe Caribbean Community (CARICOM) andthe Government of the Federative Republicof Brazil signed on 26April 2010 in Brazil.

' Memorandum of Understanding between theCaribbean Community (CARICOM) and theGovernment of the Federative Republic ofBrazil onTechnical Cooperation signed on 26April 20l0 in Brazil.

' Memorandum of Understanding between theSecretariat of the Caribbean Community(CARICOM) and the Rio Branco Institute ofthe Ministry of External Relations of theFederative Republic of Brazil on MutualCooperation on Training of Diplomats signedon 26April 20l0 in Brazil.

' Protocol between the Government of theFederative Republic of Brazil and theCaribbean Community of Caribbean States(CARICOM) on Political Consultationssigned on 26April 20l0 in Brazil.

' Memorandum of Understanding Establishinga Mechanism for Political Dialogue andCooperation between the CaribbeanCommunity (CARICOM) and the Russian

Federation signed on 24 September, 20l0 in

NewYork,USA.

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40 X AppendicesTH E CARIBBEAN COMMUN ITY

The Caribbean Community comprises fifteen ( | 5) Member States and five Associate Members.The Member States

are:Antigua and Barbuda,The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti,Jamaica, Montserrat, St.

Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.The five Associate

Members areAnguilla, Bermuda, BritishVirgin lslands,Cayman lslands,andTurks and Caicos lslands.

The Community has the following objectives identified inArticle 5 of the RevisedTreary of Chaguaramas:

o lmproved standards of living and work;

o Full employment of labour and other factors of production;

o Accelerated,coordinated and sustained economic developmentand convergence;

o Expansion of trade and economic relations with third States;

. Enhanced levels of international competitiveness;

o Organisation for increased production and productivity;

o TheachievementofagreatermeasureofeconomicleverageandeffectivenessofmemberStatesindealingwiththird States,groups of States and entities of any description;

o Enhanced co-ordination of Member States' foreign and fioreign] economic policies;

o Enhanced functional cooperation including:- More efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its peoples- Accelerated promotion of greater understanding among peoples and the advancement of their

social cultural and technological development- Intensified activities in areas such as health,education

The principal organs of the Community are:

. The Conference of Heads of Government commonly called 'The Conference'

. The Community Council of Ministers commonly called 'The Council'

TheConferenceofHeadsofGovernmentistheSupremeOrganoftheCommunity. ltconsistsoftheHeadsofGovernment of the Member States and is the final authoriq/ of the Community.

The primary responsibility of the Conference is to determine and to provide the policy direction for the Community.It is the final authority for the conclusion ofTreaties on behalf of the Community and for entering into relationshipsbetween the Community and International Organisations and States.The Conference is also responsible for makingthe financial arrangements to meet the expenses of the Community but has delegated this function to theCommunity Council. Decisions of the Conference are generallytaken unanimously.

Bureau of the ConferenceThe decision to create the Bureau of the Conference was taken atthe Special Meeting of the Heads of Government in

October 1992.lt came into operation in December l992.The Bureau consists of the incumbent Chairman of theConference, as Chairman, as well as the incoming and outgoing Chairmen of the Conference and the Secretary-General in his capacity as the Chief Executive Officer.

41

The responsibilities of the Bureau are to:

o lnitiate proposals

. Update consensus

o Mobilise and secure implementation of CARICOM decisions in an expeditious and informed manner

The Community Council of Ministers

The Community Council of Ministers is the second highest Organ.lt consists of Ministers responsible for CommunityAffairs and any other Minister designated by Member States in their absolute discretion. lt is responsible for thedevelopment of Community strategic planning and coordination in the areas of economic integration, functionalcooperation and external relations.

CommunityOrgans

The principal organs of the Community are assisted in the performance of their functions by the following fiveMinisters Councils:

The Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) promotes trade and economicdevelopment of the Community and oversees the operations of the CSM&E;

The Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) determines relations with internationalorganisations and third states;

The Councilfor Human and Social Development (COHSOD) promotes human and social Development;

The Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) coordinates economic policy and financial and monetaryintegration of Member States.

The Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) coordinates security and lawenforcement arrangements across the Commu n ity.

Bodies of the Communityare:

The LegalAfrairs Committee

The BudgetCommittee

The Committee of Central Bank Governors

The existing Institutions of the Caribbean Community arez

Caribbean Meteorologicallnstitute (CMl)

Caribbean MeteorologicalOrganisation (CMO)

Caribbean EnvironmentalHealth Institute (CEHI)

CaribbeanAgriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI)

Association of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP)

Caribbean Centre for DevelopmentAdministration (CARICAD)

Appendices

42

tn the execution of its functions,the Community is assisted by the following institutions:

CARICOM lmplementation Agency for Crime and Security

Caribbean Examination Council

CaribbeanAviation Safety and Security Oversight System

Caribbean Disaster Emergency ManagementAgency

Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre

Caribbean Court of Justice

Caribbean Organisation of Tax Administrators

Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism

Caribbean Association for Standards and Quality

Caribbean Telecommunications Union

Caribbean Food Corporation

Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System

Caribbean Development Bank

University of Guyana

University of theWest Indies

Caribbean Law Institute / Caribbean Law Institute Centre

The Secretariat of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

(TMPACS)

(cxc)

(cAssos)

(cDEMA)

(ccccc)

(ccJ)

(corA)

(cRFM)

(cRosQ)

(cru)

(cFc)

(cAssos)

(cDB)

(UG)

(uwr)

(cLr/clrc)

(oEcs)

Under theTreaty, the following entities are Associate lnstitutions of the Community:

Appendices

43

The Caribbean Community Secre tariat

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is the principal administrative organ of the CaribbeanCommunity.

FUNCTIONS OFTHE CARICOM SECRETARIAT:

o Service meetings of the Organs and Bodies of the Community and take appropriate follow-up action to suchmeetings;

' Initiate, organise and conduct studies on issues for the achievement of the objectives of the Community;

o Provide, on request, services to Member States of the Community on matters relating to the achievement of itsobjectives;

o Collect, store and disseminate to Member States of the Community information relevant for the achievement ofits objectives;

o Assist Community Organs in the development and implementation of proposals and programmes for theachievement of objectives of the Community;

o Prepare the draft budget of the Community for examination by the Budget Committee;

o Provide,on request,technical assistance to national authorities to facilitate implementation of Communitydecisions;

o Conduct,as mandated,fact-finding missions in Member States;and

o Initiate or develop proposals for consideration and decision by competent Organs in order to achieveCommunity objectives.

The task of drawing together the separate but interlocking strands of the Work Programme of the CARICOMSecretariat falls under the ambit of the Secretary-General - the Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Community(CARICOM) and the Head of the CARICOM Secretariat.The CARICOM Secretary-General is assisted by theDeputy Secretary-General, the General Counsel, and the Assistant Secretaries-General responsible forTrade andEconomic Integration, Foreign and Community Relations,and Human and Social Development, respectively.

Administrative leadership, political and technical advice and support for the work of the Organs of the Communityand Member States are provided through this means.

The CARICOM Secretary-General also serves as the SecretaD/-General of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) ofAfrican, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States - the grouping comprising the independent CARICOM Member Statesand the Dominican Republic.A CARIFORUM Directorate, headed by an Assistant Secretaq/-General, provides thenecessaD/ suPPort to the Secretary-General.

Appendlces

44

His Excellency Edwin CorringtonSecretory-Generol

Dr. Edword GreeneAssistont Secletory-Generol

Human and Social Development

Executive Management

Ambossod o r Lolito App I ewh oiteD ep uty Secreto ry-G e n ero I

Ambassodor Colin GrondersonAssistont Secretory-Generol

Foreign ond Community Rerotions

Ms. Ch e ry I T h o mpso n-Ba rrowGenerol Counsel

Ambossodor lrwin LoRocgueAssistont Se cretory-G e n e rol

Trode ond Economic lntegration

DnMourice Odle,Economic Adviser to the

Secretory-Generol

Amb o ssodo r G ai I Moth uri n,Director-Generol Office

ofTrode Negotiotions

45

Acronyms

ACP

ACCP

ACS

BPoA

cArcCAMlDcARtB-rs

CARDI

CAREC

CARICOM

CARIFESTA

CARIFORUM

CARPHA

CARTAC

CASSOS

CCDP

ccJCDB

CDERA

CDTA

CEHI

CET

CFNI

CIDAcMocoFcoRCOFAP

COHSOD

COTED

CRDTL

CREDP

CRNM

cRosQCSME

croCVQCYAP

DFID

EC

EEC

EPA

African, Caribbean and Pacific States

Association of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians

Association of Caribbean States

Barbados Programme of ActionCaribbean Association of Industry and Commerce

Caribbean AgriBusiness Marketing intelligence and Development NetworkCaribbean Information Society Project

Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute

Caribbean Epidemiology Centre

Caribbean Community

Caribbean Festival of ArtsCaribbean Forum of ACP States

Caribbean Public Health Agency

Caribbean Regional and Technical Assistance Centre

Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System

Caribbean Capacity Development Project

Caribbean Court of JusticeCaribbean Development Bank

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency

CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement

Caribbean Environment Health lnstitute

Common ExternalTariff

Caribbean Food and Nutrition lnstitute

Canadian International Development Agency

Caribbean Meteorological Organisation

Council for Foreign and Community Relations

Council for Finance and Planning

Council for Human and Social Development

Council forTrade and Economic Development

Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory

Cari bbean Renewable Energy Development Program me

Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery

CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and QualityCARICOM Single Market and Economy

Caribbean Tourism Organisation

Caribbean Vocational Qualifi cation

CARICOM Youth Ambassador Programme

Department of International Development

Eastern Caribbean

European Economic Commission

Economic Partnership Agreement

Appendices

46

EU-LAC European Union - Latin American and the Caribbean

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

FCR Foreign and Community Relations

FTAA Free Trade Area of the Americas

HFLE Health and Family Life Education

IATA International Air Transport Association

IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

ICAO International CivilAviation Organisation

IDB Inter-American Development Bank

IDB-INTAL Inter-American Development Bank-lnter-American Institute for the

lntegration of Latin America and the Caribbean

llCA Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

MDC More Developed Country

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

OAS Organisation of American States

OECS Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

OTN Office of Trade Negotiations

PANCAP Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean

PEP Public Education Programme

SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise

STI SexuallyTransmitted Infection

TASU TechnicalAction Service Unit

UN United Nations

UK United Kingdom

UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

UNGA United Nations GeneralAssembly

UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNECLAC United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and

UNSD

USAID

uwlwstsWTO

the Caribbean

United Nations Statistics Division

United States Agency for International Development

University of the West lndies

World Summit on the Information Society

World Trade Organisation

Appendlces

47Notes

48

Notes

Caribbean Communitywww.caricom.org

CARICOM SecretariatTu rkeyen, G reater Georgetown, G uyana

Tef: (592) 222 0001-ts Fax (592) 222 OtT IE mail: carisec2@caricom.org, carisec3@caricom.org

lsBN 97 8-97 6-500-260-2 (pbk)