(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) One of the major challenges facing CARICOM and CARIFORUM countries in complying with implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) is to establish workable synergies, from the negotiating process right down to the implementation stages.

This is the consensus of senior analysts and policymakers within the regional public sector who are attending a four-day workshop on MEAs in Paramaribo, Suriname.

The regional workshop, which is now in its second day, focuses on mainstreaming MEAs into policy development and implementation. It is part of a broader capacity building project being implemented by the CARICOM Secretariat and coordinated United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with funding from the European Union to build the capacity of CARIFORUM countries to implement Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

In Wednesday’s plenary discussion, participants who are drawn from the 15 CARICOM Member States, Cuba and the Dominican Republic expressed concerns with what they described as “poor communication and collaboration” at the highest policy making level within the region; and fingered this as one of the major reasons for lack of compliance in implementing MEAs.

Notwithstanding, the participants identified several opportunities to foster greater synergies among Member States and with the MEA Secretariats. They pointed to the imperative of making use of the regional mechanisms such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in MEA negotiations.

In addition, the participants called for the pooling of resources to implement projects at the national level. They agreed that a more integrated approach to implementing those projects would give stronger support to meeting the obligations of MEAs.

In this regard, they underscored the need for greater coordination among the MEAs and called for greater appreciation of the unique realities of participating Member States, by the MEA Secretariats.

In addition to the European Union, the regional workshop has been given the strong support of the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Integrating Watershed and Costal Areas Management (IWCAM) project. The workshop and module design was led and coordinated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). It is being facilitated by UNEP’s consultants Christopher Corbin and Livia Bizikova.

At the end of the four days, participants would have gained a better understanding of how to employ a variety of methods in assessing MEAs and using them to meet national priorities.

Contact:  piu@caricom.org