CARICOM: PARTNERSHIPS, COLLABORATION KEY TO PREPARING FOR 11TH EDF

Georgetown, September 20- The Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) Directorate, based in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, has been hailed for supporting broad-based, participatory stakeholder dialogue at a pivotal stage in the development of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Indicative Programme (RIP).

This sentiment was expressed by officials from CARIFORUM States and European Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories in the Caribbean, as well as representatives from a number of regional institutions and non-state actors, who attended a high-level Meeting of Regional Stakeholders to Discuss the 11th EDF RIP in Georgetown, Guyana.

The two-day Meeting, which concluded on 18 September, was made possible through the financial support of the European Union (EU).

In brief remarks at the opening of the Meeting, the Director-General of the CARIFORUM Directorate, Mr. Percival Marie, noted that the forum brought together a cross-section of regional stakeholders in the early stages of the Region’s engagement with the EU on 11th EDF regional programming.

Mr. Marie further noted that the Meeting represented an important opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate in “strengthening the policy dialogue on the 11th EDF that the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM had engaged in when it met last November”.

The Twentieth Meeting of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM—which was held in the Dominican Republic last November—had called for the convening of the Meeting of Regional Stakeholders to Discuss the 11th EDF RIP, as part of a series of steps, of which devising and developing the Concept Paper forms a part, to prepare for the 11th EDF RIP.

Much of the first day of the Regional Stakeholders’ Meeting was dedicated to a discussion of the Concept Paper, following its detailed presentation by Mr. Marie. In the dialogue that followed, strong emphasis was placed on the proposed approach to the probable contents of an 11th EDF Regional Programme, which the Concept Paper outlines.

The Regional Stakeholders’ Meeting also allowed for CARIFORUM States to prepare for exchanges with the European Commissioner for Development, Mr. Andris Piebalgs.

National Authorizing Officers (NAOs) from CARIFORUM States, who participated in the Regional Stakeholders’ Meeting, are meeting with Commissioner Piebalgs in Georgetown, on 19-20 September, for bilateral discussions on respective National Indicative Programmes (NIPs) under the 11th EDF.

Commissioner Piebalgs is scheduled to meet separately with Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of CARICOM and CARIFORUM and Regional Authorizing Officer (RAO), in Georgetown, on 20 September, to discuss the 11th EDF RIP.

The EDF is the main source of aid funding for ACP States, of which CARIFORUM States form a part. The Cotonou Agreement, which was signed in 2000 and subsequently revised, anchors ACP-EU cooperation.

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