(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Fifteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM ) of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) takes place on 9-10 September 2010, in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Current Chair of the RCM, Sen. the Hon. Ann Peters, Minister of Health Grenada, will oversee an agenda in which emphasis will be given to finalizing the PANCAP Global Fund Grant Agreement. This Agreement is scheduled to be signed at the end of September. The Global Fund, in November 2009, approved funding in excess of US$31 million for the PANCAP proposal, Fighting HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean: A Strategic Approach.

High on the agenda also is a review of the progress of arrangements to implement the Caribbean Regional PEPFAR Partnership Framework Implementation Plan (PFIP). The PFIP recognizes that sustainable, gender sensitive and country-driven HIV programmes are essential to the Region’s success in reducing the impact of HIV. To date, the Partnership Framework has been signed by twelve Caribbean countries, two regional partners and six U.S. embassies.

This fifteenth meeting will consider a status report on the implementation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework (CRSF) for 2008-2012. In this regard, the meeting will review the main technical interventions undertaken during the first six months of this year. The achievement of the strategic objectives and delivery of the regional public goods via these interventions, and the gaps that need to be addressed will be discussed.

The status of implementation of national strategic plans and a review of the latest version of the PANCAP Constitution are also on the agenda.

The meeting opens at 9 a.m at the Rose Hall Resort & Spa, with a special session chaired by PANCAP Coordinating Unit Director, Mr. Carl Browne. Remarks will be given by the Hon. Rudyard Spencer, Minister of Health, Jamaica and CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development, Dr. Edward Greene. The Feature Address will be delivered by Chair of the RCM, Sen. the Hon. Ann Peters.

A cross-section of stakeholders, including representatives of regional and international institutions, support networks of persons with HIV and AIDS and government institutions are expected to attend this session.

The RCM is the Executive Board of PANCAP and its responsibilities include providing policy guidance on the effective management and operation of the Partnership and approving and directing all PANCAP projects. PANCAP, established in 2001, is the regional mechanism responsible for coordinating the Caribbean’s response to the HIV&AIDS epidemic.

Contact details: pancap@caricom.org;
Website: www.pancap.org