The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is seeking to review the way it engages its social partners in bid to enable more meaningful dialogue and exchanges.
The Secretariat made this disclosure in a release on Wednesday while informing that Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett has hosted the first in a series of discussions with the leadership of Regional civil society stakeholders in this regard.
She addressed the senior management teams of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) and the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL).
“We want to ensure greater collaboration, coordination, and inclusivity in interactions with the Organs and Bodies, CARICOM Secretariat, Com-munity Institutions, and our social partners”, she said. Dr. Barnett also noted that one objective of the series of consultations was to develop a mechanism for structured, ongoing engagement.
According to the release, both groups welcomed the initiative with Officer in Charge of the CPDC, Richard Jones, committing to engage its members for their views and perspectives on regional development policies and programmes, share Community information, and help raise awareness of the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society.
Meanwhile, President of the CCL, Andre Lewis, expressed appreciation for the Secretariat’s efforts to include the labour sector in formulating and implementing policy, noting that it is important to reflect the views of workers.
The CARICOM Secretariat plans to host ongoing consultations with regional social and economic partners “to allow for information sharing and a more diverse citizen contribution to the policies and programmes which drive the regional integration process,” the release added.
