President Bharrat Jagdeo is pleased that the recommendations of two studies commissioned during Guyana’s chairmanship of the Rio Group have been accepted by the group and there are plans to deal with their implementation.
At a press briefing at the end of the Rio Group Summit held at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Turkeyen yesterday Jagdeo said the studies were important to countries like Guyana and smaller countries in the region and unless the issues are tackled collectively there may not even be development in the region. The studies dealt with the ‘Treatment of Asymmetries in the Context of Regional Cooperation’ and ‘the Democratisation of International Relations’.
Jagdeo said he held bilateral discussions with some of the heads attending the summit, including Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile’s President Michele Bachelet. He did not say what the bilateral talks were about.
Other leaders who attended the summit were President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez Reyna, who took over the chairmanship from Guyana, Honduras President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, Mexico President Felipe Calderon, Panama President Martin Torrijos Espino, and Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega Saavedra. The much-anticipated arrival of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez did not take place.
Jagdeo said there was much discussion on social sector problems in the region and that besides the Declaration of Turkeyen, which outlines the highlights of the Rio Summit, subsidiary declarations and statements were made.
These included the declaration on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons; on the situation in Haiti and the role of Minustah; on hunger and poverty; and a presentation ‘Freeing the Americas of Hunger and Poverty’ by President Jagdeo.
Meanwhile, the Declaration of Turkeyen congratulated Jagdeo on his presentation on the human and social aspects of development within the region and their implications for national development, peace order and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean. This resulted in the heads adopting the Declaration on Social and Human Issues.
According to the Turkeyen Declaration, among other things, the Heads agreed that to respond to the challenges posed by poverty and hunger and to achieve the highest level of economic and social development, the most vulnerable of the population must be targeted. Special emphasis must be placed on action to provide universal education, basic health care, and potable water, safeguarding the welfare of children and women, programmes for the empowerment of women and young persons of both sexes, and the promotion of gender equality.
They also agreed to promote development policies in their respective countries which accord priority attention to programmes aimed at the reduction of poverty and the fight against hunger, and the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
They reaffirmed the importance of the group as a privileged space for political consultations and coordination in Latin America and the Caribbean. As such they endorsed the agreement the foreign affairs ministers reached on the strengthening of the Rio group, which paves the way for a more dynamic role for the group in political coordination and as a regional interlocutor with other regions, countries and in the principal multilateral fora.
They renewed their commitment to support the participation of member states in international fora, with a view to contribute to the search for peace and security and a more balanced international system.
They observed that substantial progress was achieved through Latin America and the Caribbean in consolidating and strengthening democracy, maintaining peace and security, promoting development, combating terrorism and transnational organized crime and worldwide drug problem, furthering regional integration, unity and solidarity.
They examined the current situation in Haiti and adopted a declaration of the Rio Group on the situation in the country.
Recognising the urgent need to strengthen Latin America and Caribbean civil defence networks, they noted the contribution which Venezuela has been providing through the Simon Bolivar international humanitarian brigade.
They reaffirmed their commitment to prevent, combat and eliminate terrorism and its financing by cooperating extensively, respecting the mandates of international law, in particular international humanitarian law.
They reaffirmed their commitment to fight against the worldwide drug problem, through an integrated and balanced approach, based on the principle of shared responsibility underscoring the importance of international cooperation with due regard to national sovereignty.
