CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin Carrington identified the Forward Together Conference as one of the major achievements of the Caribbean Community in 2002.
The Conference which brought together the Heads of Government of CARICOM and organisations from civil society took place in Georgetown, Guyana last July. Mr Carrington and assisted by senior members of his management team held a Press Conference at the Secretariat's headquarters, Bank of Guyana building to update the media on a number of developments during the year.
In highlighting the Community's achievements over the year, the Secretary-General indicated that more progress could have been made and the results of the efforts at advancing the regional interest in 2002 were mixed.
According to Mr. Carrington, the Civil Society Conference was unique and historic in that no other integration grouping had been so advanced in their attempts at inclusion of all sectors of the society in governance. The conference resulted in the Liliendaal Statement of Principles which essentially institutionalised the idea of more regular engagements between Civil Society and Heads of Government.
On the international scene, the Secretary-General cited the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery's (RNM) success in gaining United States acceptance for the Community to be considered as small vulnerable states and therefore entitled for special and differential treatment within the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process. He also referred to the progress made between Belize and Guatemala in arriving at a solution to their border dispute although as he pointed out the important step of ratification by both populations had to be completed.
Mr. Carrington also identified the European Union grant of 70m Euro to assist the Region's rum industry in marketing and distribution as a landmark achievement.
In an update on the activities in the area of human and social development, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, Dr. Edward Greene singled out as a major achievement, the regional negotiations with a number of pharmaceutical companies which resulted in the signing of an agreement of principles with six companies for cheaper anti-retroviral drugs (ARVS) Dr. Greene advised that negotiations with the companies to reduce the price even further in 2003, were continuing.
The establishment of a Commission on Health and Development that will assist the Community on a health strategy which essentially speaks to how the Community packages its health and development issues particularly from a financial perspective; the appointment of CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYAs), who were charged with the responsibility for assisting the Secretariat in the regional integration process; and issues related to Crime and Security including drug demand reduction, maritime relations and border control, were some of the issues also highlighted by Dr. Greene.
In the area of foreign relations, Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Colin Granderson noted tha tone of the major achievements in 2002 was the adoption by the Heads of Government of the revised strategy on the coordination of the foreign policies of Member States which was agreed to by the Council of Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). Ambassador Granderson advised that the endorsement by the Conference set the stage for the Region to pursue its foreign policy strategy in a coherent and consistent manner in the global arena and that activities undertaken during the year sought to attain these objectives.
The media was brought up to date by Project Coordinator of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Mr. Sheldon McDonald, with developments relating to the establishment of the CCJ. Mr McDonald advised that the Agreement establishing the Court had entered into force in July this year when Guyana joined Barbados and Saint Lucia in depositing their Instruments of Ratification. Belize and Trinidad and Tobago have since ratified the Agreement. He also advised that the legal and technical infrastructure was fully in place and arrangements were being made by the Caribbean Development Bank with respect to the financial aspect. He said he expected these matters to be completed by April in the New Year.
Touching on events for 2003, Mr. Carrington briefly informed the media that a programme of events were being planned to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Community. The assumption by Dominica to the Chair and the hosting of CARIFESTA in Suriname in August, were also some of the events on the 2003 calendar highlighted by Mr. Carrington.
