I am pleased to welcome you on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat and in particular the members of the Directorate of Human and Social Development. This past year has been a very active period for the Directorate and, indeed, the entire Secretariat.

As you know, 2005 has been designated the Year of the CSME when it is expected that all Countries of the Community would have fulfilled the requirements for giving effect to the free movement of goods and services. Well, we are down to the wire so to speak. However, under the guidance of Prime Minister Arthur supported by the Secretary- General and the Technical staff of the Secretariat, every effort is being made to achieve the goals for making the CSME a reality. What a memorable year this is turning out to be for the Community.

Celebrating Achievements

It is a year in which the Community rejoiced at the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with the vesting of 6 Justices, responsible for giving affect in the first instance, to the original jurisdiction of the Court on which a fair and proper functioning of the CSME depend. In this regard some significant steps have been taken in securing the compliance of most member states in the free movements of skilled categories of CARICOM nationals including cultural workers and sports person. In addition, several Countries have advanced the process of issuing CARICOM passports, Suriname being the first to actually issue the CARICOM document.

Of great relevance to this gathering is the publication of the Book CARICOM Our Caribbean Community by the CARICOM Secretariat and coordinated by Ms Glenda Itiaba, Special Assistant to the Secretary General. Though intended for readers between the ages 14-24, this book is a comprehensive source of information on the Caribbean. Therefore it is essential reading for all who wish details on the process of regional integration.

Coping with setbacks through collective action

As we press ahead with the CSME process, the Community is still confronted with both global and international challenges for which collective action is a prerequisite. The current negotiations to secure more favorable preferences for our sugar despite the WTO ruling, and following the previous disappointment in not gaining concessions for bananas are setbacks not only to the workers and management in these industries but to the regional economy as a whole. . But these setbacks only provide added impetus to the regional movement to find the formula for enhancing its collective viability.

Despite our best efforts, continuous acts of nature cannot always be defied. Last year we lamented the devastation reeked by Hurricane Ivan, particularly on Grenada but also on Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Haiti. This year, with the hurricane Season still in progress, we are witnessing further destruction to property and life as again Haiti, and Turks and Caicos earlier in the year and most recently, this week, The Bahamas has been swiped by Wylma (making it impossible for most of the Bahamian delegation including the Chairman of COHSOD to make it to Guyana for this opening session). For Guyana, the unprecedented high levels of rainfall in January and February this year caused the type of flooding and resulting damages of such a magnitude that the event was classified in typical Guyanese humor as Guynamie.

But in all these instances, the Region rallied to the causes of distress with full and unstinting support. It is significant to note also that in the height of the reconstruction after the floods, that the Guyanese spirit again prevailed as the new CARICOM Community Secretariat Headquarters was opened in a splendid ceremony hosted by the Government and people of Guyana.

ICT a formula for human and social development

In the face of these setbacks and confronted by the challenges and opportunities of globalisation, the Region is being challenged the find formulae for success. We have already referred to the efforts to make the CSME a reality. Underlying this flag ship activity is the new impetus for using information and communications technology for development. In this regard you will note from the two latest volumes of the CARICOM Perspective, the role of the Secretariat in coordinating the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) agenda.

The first volume (July 2004) examined a number of fundamental issues that make ICT so critical to improving the quality of life for the people of the Caribbean. The second explores how ICT could best be used for the social and economic benefit of our people. Hence in the CARICOM work programme for the coming year, there is evidence that ICT is increasingly being mainstreamed into the activities of the Community: in reforming health services, in advancing e-governance, in promoting standards and quality assurance, in the creative industries like music and media; and in disaster preparedness. As Ms Myrna Bernard reminded us in her article on human and social development issues in an information society in the second volume:

“The success of our efforts as a Region to development of an inclusive information society will be measured not by the degree of connectivity archived but moreso by the numbers of the uneducated who have been educated, the numbers that have been made employable and the numbers that have been made aware of a qualitatively different society and given the tools to participate effectively in that society. “

This echoes the sentiments of the integrating theme of the Directorate that was approved by COHSOD V: Investing in Human Resources with Equity. Most recently in discussions with the University of the West Indies, the Secretariat agreed to a collaborative approach to S&T as a critical priority in enhancement of human and social development

Highlights in the COHSOD Agenda

Turning to the specific issues in the COHSOD Agenda, let me indicate to you some of the highlights and prevailing challenges

First of all, we are very pleased to note that more countries are convening national COHSODs and are adopting the structure to suit their own specific needs. In turn, the Directorate has embarked on follow up activities to several important decisions taken at recent COHSODs. At this meeting for example we will be discussing several of the mandates related to Youth, Sport and demand reduction for drugs.

Among the major achievements are the Directorate’s efforts in collaboration with the CSME Unit, the Directorate of Regional Trade and Economic Integration and the Legal Division of the Secretariat in advancing the free movement and accreditation agendas.

The Directorate also took the lead in fashioning the strategic regional follow up to the MDGs, which engaged the UN General Assembly in September 2005, an effort led by Ms Jacqulyn Joseph, Director of Human and Social Development.

In the area of Education, the Directorate has advanced the programme of work in Technical and Vocational Education as well as analysing the gender differentials in Education. This is a direct response to the concerns of COHSOD and the Conference of Heads of Government as to the reasons why girls are so consistently outperforming boys at all levels.

The programme for the advancement of language skills in the Region is also being promoted and will be one of the priorities in the work programme of the Directorate in the coming years.

The highly acclaimed Report of the Caribbean Commission for Health and Development Chaired by Sir George Alleyne which was initiated at COHSOD VI in 2002, offers a series of messages to inform decision making that places health at the centre of economic development. Among its findings is the emergence of obesity as a major disease in the Caribbean and the links between obesity and deaths resulting from diabetes, hypertension, strokes and heart diseases. The proposals for health Tourism as a contributor to direct foreign investments and on managed migration of health professionals are very insightful. It also makes recommendations for a regional health insurance scheme and for better organisation of social statistics for informing policy.

We can go on to illustrate the progress and achievements in other areas but these would emerge in the course of our discussions over the next two and a half days. Among them is the fact that the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYA) Programme is taking shape and making a very useful contribution. In Sport, the CARICOM 10 K had its inaugural run in St. Lucia and it is proposed that the event be staged annually in the country that is hosting the Conference. This meeting will also focus on other practical recommendations to bring sport and physical education to the people.

Then there is the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), which has been designated an international best practice by UNAIDS. This programme, under the Umbrella of the Directorate, is the first regional network to have gained a grant from the Global fund and is now being used as a model for other initiatives notably in Central America and Central Asia. This year at its fifth annual general meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, the PAN Caribbean Business Coalition will be launched.

However, HIV/AIDS, its high incidence rates among the youth in particular, poses a special challenge for this Region. PANCAP recognises the need to place greater emphasis on prevention and has engaged the support of a variety of stakeholders, including leading sports persons, cultural icons, representatives of the private sector and faith-based organisations as well as parliamentarians as champions for change in the fight against this disease. This year too in Guyana, CARICOM/PANCAP will be convening a second Conference of Champions for Change when it brings together representatives of faith-based organisations from across the Region and internationally to deal with the issue of reducing HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination.

Another major challenge for us in the Region is the escalation for crime and violence. In this regard the Heads of Government have approved the establishment of a new architecture including an implementation Unit to spearhead a proactive and collective approach to crime and violence. The role and impact of this new architecture is one of the items on the agenda of this meeting.

Looking ahead

As we in the Directorate move forward with developing our work programme for the next two years, we will depend on the advice and recommendations from this Council. We look forward to continued collaboration and support from our donor partners and give thanks to:

• UNICEF and UNFPA for their support for the Youth programme
• The Directors of Youth for their guidance in refining the Regional Strategy for youth development,
• The CARICOM Youth Ambassadors for their enthusiasm and commitment to advancing the programme of youth development

We wish to thank you all for taking the time to be here and we do look forward to a very productive meeting.