The United Nations has reaffirmed its commitment to helping the Caribbean region build capacity to combat transnational crime.
This assurance came at the recently concluded two-day Fourth General Meeting between representatives of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the United Nations Systems at the Caricom Secretariat on Friday.
The UN is to assist the region in the implementation of legal and political instruments related to the eradication of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
A joint statement by the two institutions said that in the light of the threat which narco-trafficking poses to security in the region, UN delegates at the meeting also took note of Caricom’s concern at the recent closure of the UN Office of Drug and Crime in the region.
Coming out of deliberations, too, was a commitment from the UN to collaborate with Caricom and its associated institutions in the effective implementation of a comprehensive disaster management strategy which Caricom said demands a multidisciplinary approach.
The statement said an agreement has been reached for Caricom and the UN to jointly pursue the full and effective implementation of the 2006 World Summit Outcome Document on the review of progress in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, since this document accurately reflects the thinking of the international community with respect to the international cooperation for development in which the follow up for collaboration between Caricom and the UN should be based. Both sides also reiterated their commitment to supporting Haiti in its efforts to achieve sustainable economic development and enhanced social and political stability and the UN has urged Caricom to become a partner in the integrated mission in Haiti. Caricom said too that it has requested the UN’s support in training and capacity building, Information Communication Technologies development, research, analysis and advisory services to support informed decision making and policy formulation as well as public education at national and regional levels. According to the Caricom statement, both sides have agreed that this should be an area for active, system-wide follow-up.
The UN and Caricom have decided to give attention to the establishment of an appropriate regional pragmatic framework which will deal exclusively with areas to be pursued and the co-ordination of the priority areas for collaboration. Added to this they have also agreed that a mechanism for indicating specific areas of co-operation to monitor and measure progress in implementation be designed and implemented.
The meeting opened on Thursday with Caricom Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite delivering opening remarks in which she updated UN representatives on the region’s success to date in the construction and implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy.
