(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) His Excellency Edwin Carrington has held several meetings on the margins of the 19th Summit of the Rio Group of States now underway in Georgetown.
On Friday March 2, the Secretary-General held discussions with Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) His Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza. The forum at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, was the Fourth General Meeting between the Secretariats of CARICOM and the OAS and marked the first time the two Secretaries-General led their delegations to a meeting of the two Secretariats.
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister of Chile, the Honourable Alberto Van Klaveren, also paid a courtesy call on the Secretary General on March 2 at the Secretariat.
On March 3, the Secretary-General will hold talks with the President of Mexico, Mr. Felipe DeJesus Calderon. President of the Dominican Republic, His Excellency Leonel Fernandez will pay a courtesy call on the Secretary General on March 3 and tour the CARICOM Headquarters.
Below are a Joint Statement by the Secretaries-General of CARICOM and the OAS, and remarks made by Secretary-General Carrington at the Fourth General Meeting.
JOINT STATEMENT OF THE FOURTH GENERAL MEETING BETWEEN THE SECRETARIATS OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) AND THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS) 2 MARCH 2007 CARICOM HEADQUARTERS, TURKEYEN, GREATER GEORGETOWN GUYANA
1. The Fourth General Meeting between the Secretariats of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of American States (OAS) was convened at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana on 2 March 2007. The CARICOM delegation was led by His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of the Caribbean Community. The OAS delegation was led by the Secretary General, His Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza. This is the first time that the respective Secretaries General are leading their delegations to a meeting of the two Secretariats.
2. The CARICOM-OAS relationship was formalized by the signing of the Agreement between the General Secretariat of the Organisation of American States and the Caribbean Community, in May 1992.
3. In his opening statement, Secretary-General Carrington expressed his appreciation to the OAS Secretary General for his participation and that of his delegation in the Fourth Meeting. He recalled the supportive role that CARICOM played in the election of His Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza to the post of Secretary General of the OAS. Secretary General Carrington also emphasised the strength of the relationship between the two Secretariats and the collaboration that exists between the two Organisations. In this regard, Secretary-General Carrington also recalled the collaboration between the two Organisations in an effort to help the Haitians to resolve their political difficulties and to strengthen their institutional mechanisms to help consolidate governance in Haiti.
4. Secretary-General Carrington expressed the appreciation of the Community for the support being provided by the OAS to the Conference on the Caribbean, 19-21 June 2007.
5. Secretary-General Carrington highlighted the hosting of Cricket World Cup 2007 by the Caribbean Community and the importance to the Community of the commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
6. Secretary General Insulza congratulated Secretary General Carrington on his re-appointment as CARICOM Secretary-General, by the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, for another five years from 1 August 2007. He also thanked Secretary General Carrington for the warm welcome accorded his delegation and for all the courtesies extended and arrangements made for the General Meeting.
7. Secretary General Insulza reiterated the commitment of the OAS to deepen institutional linkages with CARICOM and the strong support of the OAS in the preparations for and hosting of the Conference on the Caribbean in Washington, DC in June 2007.
8. Secretary General Insulza acknowledged the historical importance of the Commemoration of the Abolition of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade to the descendants of Africans throughout the Americas and indicated that the OAS Permanent Council would be commemorating this event at a Special Meeting in late March. He invited the CARICOM Secretariat to be represented at this Meeting.
9. The OAS Secretary General also expressed his best wishes to the Governments of the Caribbean for the hosting of a successful Cricket World Cup 2007.
10. A major emphasis of the meeting was the current CARICOM-OAS relationship and how the two organisations could better collaborate to address the issues of concern to the sub-region and the hemisphere. Both Secretaries-General highlighted the importance of the XIX Summit of the Rio Group being held in Guyana on 2-3 March, the first time that the Summit is being hosted by an English-speaking country, and a Member State of CARICOM. They expressed confidence that the discussions which would take place at that Summit would serve to strengthen relations between Latin America and the Caribbean.
11. The Secretaries-General approved a series of recommendations relating to enhancing and deepening cooperation and consultation between the Secretariats in the following areas: human resource development, gender issues, training of persons with disabilities, trade capacity-building, multidimensional security, drug demand reduction, sustainable development, with particular regard to the environment, climate change, natural disasters, energy, tourism development, democracy and governance, electoral assistance and electoral reform. The OAS raised the issue of electoral financing as an important question.
12. A Policy Dialogue on matters of mutual interest to the two Secretariats focused on issues including Haiti; preparations for the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the OAS General Assembly and its theme “Energy for Development”; evolving preparations for the Fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009; political developments and inter-state relations in the hemisphere; and the Conference on the Caribbean in Washington, DC from 19-21 June 2007.
13. The Secretaries General look forward to the next General Meeting to be held at the Headquarters of the OAS at a date to be determined.
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown
Guyana
2 March 2007
REMARKS DELIVERED BY H.E. EDWIN W. CARRINGTON SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY ON THE OCCASION OF THE FOURTH GENERAL MEETING BETWEEN THE SECRETARIATS OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY AND THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES, 2 MARCH 2007, TURKEYEN, GUYANA
Secretary-General Insulza
Members of Staff of the OAS
Members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Excellency, it is an honour and pleasure for me as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community to welcome you as the first Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States to visit the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat.
On your previous visit you were seeking the support of the Caribbean Community in your bid to achieve the high office you now hold and CARICOM as it undertook on that occasion played its part in assuring you of victory at the polls. We therefore are especially pleased to receive you today. You are in more than the ordinary sense of that title our Secretary-General of the OAS.
Secretary-General, Members of Staff of our two organisations, we meet here on this the occasion of the Fourth General Meeting of the Secretariats of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of American States (OAS). Your participation in this meeting Secretary-General, emphasises the strength of the relationship between our two Secretariats and the vibrancy of the collaboration which exists between the two Organisations which we have the honour of leading.
This is an important year for us in the Caribbean Community with three major events occupying our attention even as we sit around this table today. Firstly the Region is the venue for the Cricket World Cup 2007 which is expected to see an unprecedented influx of visitors as well as the exposure of the Region to almost half the world’s population via television. Secondly we join the rest of the world in commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, a commemoration in which I am advised your Organisation will also be participating.
Thirdly, in June an historic Conference on the Caribbean is scheduled to take place in Washington D.C. USA. In this regard let me express the appreciation of the Community for the support being provided by the OAS to this event. This is a tangible example of the co-operation and collaboration between the OAS and CARICOM which augurs well for the future and serves as a guide for us in this meeting today.
Fortuitously, our meeting is taking place against the backdrop of the XIX Summit of the Rio Group of States, which is being hosted by Guyana. It is the very first time that an English-speaking country is hosting the Summit of this important grouping of States, and the honour has fallen to Guyana the headquarters country of the Caribbean Community, and the Community’s representative on the Rio Group. I am very confident that under Guyana’s leadership the Summit will be a most successful one, further cementing the ties between CARICOM and the countries of Latin America.
Secretary-General, CARICOM and the OAS cooperate on various levels – the political, the economic, the social, the technical. To give formal form to the cooperation between our two Organisations an Agreement was signed to that end in 1992. The substance of the Agreement is essentially to cooperate with each other on matters of common interest within the scope of the general objectives of our respective Organisations. I therefore look forward to the discussions which are to follow and out of which we anticipate an even greater mutual awareness of each other’s priorities.
One of our most sustained collaborative efforts to date has been in relation to Haiti where together we have sought to help in resolving the long-standing political difficulties in that country. While our good offices did not meet with the fulsome success which we so much desired, our Organisations have been able to play critical roles in helping Haiti on its path to a democratically elected Government.
Our Organisations are now working assiduously to strengthen the institutional mechanisms in that country in an effort to consolidate governance, in order to underpin its stability, and promote its social and economic development. CARICOM has long placed much store on good governance. It is against that background that our Member States have habitually participated in debates at the OAS, whether they be on the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the right of each country to determine its own future or any other fundamental issue of national, regional and hemispheric significance.
Secretary-General I am certain that today’s Fourth Meeting conducted at the highest levels of our respective Secretariats will help us to identify the areas in which we can strengthen our cooperation and work more closely together for the benefit of the people of the Caribbean and indeed of the hemisphere. Our technical staff have already laid the groundwork on which we will be able to conduct our discussions with a view to the strengthening of cooperation and collaboration between our two Organisations.
Once again, therefore, Secretary-General, I welcome you to the Caribbean Community Headquarters at Turkeyen, Guyana.
