Issues pertaining to labour in the context of regional and global developments will be the focus of deliberations of the Ninth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), which takes place at Le Meridien Pegasus, Georgetown, Guyana from 8-10 October, 2003.

As the Community continues to respond to the challenges of globalisation in all its dimensions, principally through the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), high on the agenda of this Ninth COHSOD is the issue of the priorities for labour in the CSME. Ministers will also consider, in this regard, a status report on the arrangements in place in each Member State with respect to the free movement of people and the implementation of hassle free travel, the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Social Security; the role of labour in social dialogue; and labour issues in international and hemispheric negotiations.

Other issues on the agenda include: strategies for reducing the levels of unemployment in the Region; technical and vocational education and training; labour information systems; accreditation and standardisation and labour and the inter-sectoral agenda in human and social development.

On this last issue, the meeting will be updated on the measures for the further elaboration of an integrated human and social development strategy and will examine the importance of the effective integration of labour issues into the strategy and mechanisms for achieving this integration. Matters relating to a plan of Action for Dealing with HIV/AIDS in the Work Place; Mainstreaming Gender in the Work Programme for Labour and job coaching and placement for persons with disabilities also come up for discussion under this agenda item.

The ministerial meeting will also consider a number of special matters, among them: crime and security; the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Programme; priorities for culture and development in the Caribbean including the future of CARIFESTA; establishment of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development; advances toward a Joint Council of Civil Society and the Social Dialogue; and the functioning of national COHSOD.

Under the theme Investing in Human Resources - Focus on Labour, this meeting gets underway with an Opening Ceremony on 8 October in which the keynote address will be given by CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin Carrington. A special feature of the ceremony is the presentation of a Special Plaque to Guyana’s Phillip Moore.

 This Plaque is from the Government of the Republic of Suriname and honours Mr. Moore for his outstanding contribution to Culture and the Arts at the Extraordinary Palace Exhibition of Fine Arts held during CARIFESTA V111. Mr. Moore is one of the artists who were specially chosen to be part of that Exhibition. Mr. Carrington will make the presentation on behalf of H.E. Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, President of the Republic of Suriname.