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The
Civil Society Forward Together Conference, a historic
consultation between the representatives of Civil
Society in the 15 Member States of the Caribbean Community
and the Heads of Government held at the Ocean View
Hotel, Liliendaal, Guyana on 2-3 July 2002:
RECOGNISED
the increased challenges to the Caribbean Community,
posed by globalisation and the resulting complex economic,
trade, environmental, social and legal issues.
DEEPLY
CONCERNED about social conditions prevailing in the
Community with regard to increasing transnational
crime linked to trafficking in illicit arms and drugs;
money laundering; the widening negative impact of
terrorism; the migration of scarce skills; racism;
ethnic insecurity, the high incidence of male dropouts;
increased violence against women and children; persistent
and increasing poverty, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic
eroding the Region's human capital.
ALSO
RECOGNISED that the objective of achieving the Caribbean
Single Market and Economy (CSME) is not only a response
to globalisation, including the impending Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA), but is of the greatest
value for a more coordinated system to enhance the
Region's competitiveness, given our historical realities.
ACKNOWLEDGED
that Civil Society has a vital role to play in the
development of regional, political and social policies,
the development of those programmes and frameworks
currently in existence, their modification, where
necessary, and the creation of new areas as required.
CONSIDERED
that the establishment of mechanisms for continuous
dialogue between the Conference of Heads of Government
of the Caribbean Community and Civil Society is an
essential way to complement relevant programmes to
ensure social reconstruction, cohesiveness, peace,
poverty reduction, and equity that would enhance regional
integration and make the Community more economically
viable.
AFFIRMED
in this context, the importance of programmes with
regard to youth, labour, the elderly, people with
disabilities, women, men and gender relations; sport,
labour, education and training, health and access
to technology; and programmes aimed at promoting respect
for the rights and aspirations of our indigenous peoples.
AGREED
on several broad principles for strengthening the
relationships between the Caribbean Heads of Governments
and national governments and the Civil Society as
follows to -
Institutionalise
the Forward Together process in the form of more regular
engagements between the Civil Society and the Heads
of Government, a triennial engagement as suggested;
Emphasize
the need for more constructive participation of Civil
Society representatives in appropriate decisions making
Organs of the Community such as the Council for Trade
and Economic Development (COTED), the Council for
Finance and Planning (COFAP), the Council for Human
and Social Development (COHSOD), etc;
Establish
a Task Force, comprising a small representative group
of the Civil Society, coordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat,
to develop a comprehensive regional strategic framework
for carrying forward the main recommendations of Forward
Together Conference and report to the Conference of
Heads of Government at its next Inter-Sessional Meeting
in 2003.
The
work of the Task Force should be guided by the recommendations
of the three Working Groups at the Forward Together
Conference -
(i)
Human Resource Development with Equity, including
issues in relation to Gender, Youth and Persons with
Disabilities, Migration and the Diaspora;
(ii)
Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) - Capital
Investment and requirements for competitiveness; and
(iii)
Governance and Participation.
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