(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A multi-party assessment on the progress the Caribbean Region has made in reaching international benchmarks in population and human development, unfolded in Georgetown, Guyana, among the CARICOM Secretariat, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), European Union (EU), the Intra-ACP Migration Facility and the Government of Guyana.
Convened under the framework of the Caribbean Forum on Population, Migration and Development, the two-day meeting at the Guyana International Conference Centre, drew political leaders, senior decision-makers, experts and stalwarts of civil society from a range of sectors and disciplines across the Region. They reviewed the successes and examined policy solutions in implementing the recommendations of the 1994 Cairo Programme of Action. The form was financed by the CARICOM Secretariat with support from the European Union under the Intra-ACP Migration Facility; UNFPA and UNECLAC.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Tuesday, Director, ECLAC Sub-regional Headquarters for the Caribbean, Ms. Diane Quarless said that the multilateral partnership was “an excellent example of how regional institutions working together, serve the governments and people of this Region better.”
Explaining the background against which the meeting was convened, she said 20 years ago in Cairo, the international community agreed to the most far-reaching platforms for action that integrated a range of issues related to population and development including health and human rights; poverty and inequality; the right to decent work and adequate standard of living; the promotion of gender equality; the empowerment of women and the need for continued attention to sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly in respect of adolescents; and the rights of older persons and those with disabilities.
The Forum was important, she said, in identifying the challenges that had retarded the implementation of those areas in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Cairo Programme of Action, looking specifically at continuing priorities, emerging issues demanding attention, and most importantly, strategies and practical ways to measurably advance efforts towards full implementation.
Noting that there was much for which the Region should be proud, she said substantial progress was recorded in sexual reproductive health and rights, particularly in respect of adolescent fertility, even though some countries had recorded declining rates while others showed fluctuating trends.
Ms. Myrna Bernard, Officer-in-Charge of the Directorate of Human and Social Development concurred that the Region had indeed made significant progress in the area of HIV/AIDS. Evidence resided in the reduction of HIV related deaths and major improvement in reducing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV, she stated.
Given this trend, she said that the Region was on its way to eliminating Mother to Child Transmission by 2015, and becoming the first in the developing world to reach that target.
Ms. Bernard noted that CARICOM Heads of Government had taken affirmative action to protect the rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities through a decision at the recently concluded 34th Summit to begin a regional dialogue to highlight and address issues and challenges faced by such persons.
In welcoming the participation of the wide range of experts to the Forum, she said it was an opportunity to develop a roadmap that would elaborate a comprehensive integrated development agenda for further implementation of the ICPD agenda beyond 2014.
Ms. Bernard said this process converged with other regional processes to advance human development which included the 20-year review of the Barbados Plan of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) preparatory to the Third SIDS Global Conference to be held in Somoa in 2014. These SIDS and ICPD processes were not isolated but will converge as the Region moved to develop strategies for population and human development beyond 2014, she said
Noting that the 1994 Cairo Programme of Action still had relevance and currency as most CARICOM countries continued to grapple with issues highlighted in the programme, Ms. Bernard said that the 2015 agenda must achieve policy coherence and increase sectoral collaboration among governments and non-state actors.
“We can no longer sit and lament the multiplicity of challenges encountered in the human development path; the only option is to be proactive in addressing them,” Ms Bernard told the Forum.
As the stakeholders deliberated on the Forum’s agenda, she encouraged them with the words of the Hon Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados, to the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting, last week: “The Community is positioned between hope and history. While history could be reversed, it is the duty of the current torch bearers to give flesh to the hope, to work closely to consolidate out independence… Progress is not going to happen by accident but by conscious decision.”
In his address, Head of the Delegation of the European Union, Ambassador Robert Kopecky, noted that the EU believed that migration and development were interdependent processes.
The process of development and migration was a dynamic one, he said, that implied growth, advancement, empowerment, and progress with the goal of increasing human capabilities, enlarging the scope of human choices, and creating a safe and secure environment where citizens could live with dignity and equality.
The Ambassador stated that in the development process, it was important that people’s productivity, creativity and choices were broadened. He explained that the Intra-ACP Migration Facility, supported by the EU to the tune of 25 million Euros under the 9th EDF within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement, was aimed at encouraging ACP governments to integrate migration management and international policies in areas such as health, education, employment, trade, and environment.
The Intra-ACP Migration Facility, he noted, was also designed to make a positive contribution to sustainable development of member countries and to improve the quality of life and rights of populations. Those interventions obtained greater significance against current data which showed that the rate of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years from an estimated 150 million in 2000, to 214 million persons, with international migration occurring the most among developing states, Ambassador Kopecky said.
Against this backdrop, he stated that the integration of migration issues into development strategies at all levels was a crucial first step to maximising the potential of migration and mobility in terms of development. This integration required extra effort by all stakeholders, he noted.
“Migration is increasingly coming into sharp focus in the global agenda and is recognised as a powerful vehicle for boosting development in both the countries of origin and destination. The increased regional and global mobility of persons, the structural changes in the global economy and the current economic crises, generate new opportunities and changes for countries of origin, transit and destination.
Migration mobility must be recognised as enabling factors in development. This should be addressed by development actors at all levels and introduced to the post 2015 development framework,” the Ambassador said.
Mr. Esteban Cabellero, Deputy Regional Director, Latin American and the Caribbean, (UNFPA), in his presentation noted that the Region had experienced significant development in increasing access to social services, even though significant gaps still existed. He called on decision-makers and planners to enhance the capacity of young people through programmes aimed at improving access to decent work, education, and health services, particularly in respect of reproductive health.
The Forum, which was also addressed by The Hon. Jennifer Webster, Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Guyana, is expected to produce an outcome document that will serve as a roadmap for both national and sub-regional actions within the ICPD framework beyond 2014. It will also contribute to a clear position of the Caribbean at a Regional Caribbean Forum on Population, Migration and Development in Uruguay in August and the United Nations High Level Dialogue on International Migration, in October.
