(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continues to advance its food security agenda in the face of high food prices, Member States will join their Latin American counterparts in Georgetown Thursday primarily to further strengthen governance arrangements for food security at the regional and global levels.

​(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) I have the pleasure to welcome you to the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which will focus on Children and Youth, the building blocks of our Caribbean society. I offer a very special welcome to the Ministers who are attending their first COHSOD Meeting.

​(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The ultimate aim of working with and for children is to make our Region a better place for them to live, grow and develop. Making the CARICOM Region fit for children should be everybody’s business.

The fact that Member States are very well represented at this COHSOD is a clear indication of your conviction that a holistic approach is absolutely necessary to effectively implement the regional priority actions pertaining to children and youth as identified in the Regional Framework for Action for Children.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) I have the pleasure to welcome you to the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which will focus on Children and Youth, the building blocks of our Caribbean society. I offer a very special welcome to the Ministers who are attending their first COHSOD Meeting.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) When it comes to violence against children in any form, there can be no compromise in taming this beast in order to chart a brighter future for our Region’s children.

This was the strong and unequivocal message from the CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, as he addressed the 23rd Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which opened in Georgetown, Guyana on Tuesday.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)It is a pleasure to be bringing remarks on behalf of the CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA) Corps at this the 23rd meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) looking at Children and Youth.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The ultimate aim of working with and for children is to make our Region a better place for them to live, grow and develop. Making the CARICOM Region fit for children should be everybody’s business.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) There is growing concern about the alarming levels of violence - particularly sexual violence - against the Caribbean Region’s most vulnerable – our children and our youth.

Regrettably, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the nature, genesis, extent, causes and impact of this beast, hence the attempts to tame it has not spawned the desired outcomes. Violence against our Region’s children remains unabated.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) With just a week away, preparations for the Connect the Americas Summit are in high gear, as the Caribbean Community seeks to show-case its potential for maximizing the use of Information and Communication Technologies for development at this Summit and to attract investments for more than 45 projects submitted.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     There is growing concern about the alarming levels of violence - particularly sexual violence - against the Caribbean Region’s most vulnerable – our children and our youth.

Regrettably, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the nature, genesis, extent, causes and impact of this beast, hence the attempts to tame it has not spawned the desired outcomes. Violence against our Region’s children remains unabated.