Minister of Foreign Affairs, Camillo Gonsalves will chair the 34th Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Community which opens at the Caricom
Secretariat in Guyana today
A release from the Caricom Secretariat says the two-day meeting will deliberate on the third draft of the CARICOM Five-Year Strategic Plan
A Summary outline of the Strategic Framework of the Plan was tabled at the 25th Inter-Sessional Meeting held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in March.
Following the Inter-Sessional Meeting, a revised full draft of the Plan was prepared and considered by the Change Drivers and Community Institutions in early April. On the basis of comments provided, a further iteration was generated and circulated to the Change Drivers on 13 May
A draft based on these changes has now been prepared and will be deliberated on by the Ministers during the meeting of the Community Council.
It is expected that at the end of the meeting a final draft of the Five-Year Strategic Plan for the Community will be ready to be tabled for consideration by the CARICOM Heads of Government with a view towards adoption at their thirty-fifth regular meeting in Antigua and Barbuda on 1-4 July 2014.
The Strategic Plan identifies six integrated Strategic Priorities for the Community over the five-year period 2015-2019 and key areas of interventions for each. The six (6) integrated strategic priorities are: building Economic Resilience; Social Resilience; Environmental Resilience; Technological Resilience; Strengthening the CARICOM Identity and Spirit of Community; and Strengthening Community Governance. Two (2) enabling priorities have also been identified. These are co-ordinated foreign policy and research, development and innovation
The Community Council of Ministers will also discuss other matters in relation to the provisional agenda for the Thirty-Fifth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
