Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr Edwin Carrington, is slated to deliver the key note address at the eighth National Consultation with Civil Society in Saint Lucia as the Community advances towards its goal of integrating ideas from the non-government sector into a forward-looking strategy for the Region.
The government of Saint Lucia through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Community Development will host the forum in Castries, Saint Lucia’s capital, tomorrow, 19 October 2001.
The consultation is part of a series being conducted in individual Member States to field the widest possible participation in the development thrust of the Community. The Secretary General will address the importance of partnering with non-state actors at this critical stage of the advancement of the regional integration process, particularly in the context of the free movement of people, international competitiveness and human resource development.
The Opening Ceremony will also feature presentations by St Lucia’s Minister of Commerce, International Financial Services and Consumer Affairs, Hon Phillip J Pierre, and St Lucia’s Ambassador to CARICOM Member States, His Excellency Mr Anthony Severin. Hon. Jon Odlum, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, will deliver the welcome remarks.
The Forum is expected to attract a total of 45 persons from a wide cross section of Civil Society including the Trade Union movement, community-based organisations and the private sector.
The deliberations will be directed at formulating new structures of governance appropriate to the changing needs of the Caribbean experience. The interaction is also expected to specifically seek to craft a role for St Lucia’s Civil Society in promoting the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Member of the local Organising Committee, Ms Fortuna Belrose, says that the Civil Society Organisations are very expectant as they see a clear role for them in the facilitation and implementation of the economic advancement of the Region, given their strategic contribution to people’s development.
As the Community reviews existing mechanisms of consultation between government and civil society, the national consultations are only one small effort in the overall commitment, which the Leaders have made for ongoing collaboration with non-state actors.
Recommendations from the St Lucia forum will feed into the document for the Regional Encounter of Civil Society now rescheduled for early 2002.
