(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Special Representative on Haiti, the Most Honourable Percival Patterson and CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General Foreign and Community Relations, Ambassador Colin Granderson are in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic attending a preparatory meeting for the Pledging Conference on Haiti convened by the United States and scheduled for 31 March at the United Nations headquarters, New York, USA.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  The Twenty-First Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Roseau, Dominica, on 11-12 March 2010. The Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, presided.

Subsequent to earlier information, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat has learnt that four delegates who were attending the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, have not been accounted for.

The delegates include a national of Saint Lucia, a national of Trinidad and Tobago and two nationals of the Netherlands Antilles.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Without the assistance of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) even with its limited financial resources, and the resources of the international community, Haiti would not be able to recover from the catastrophic earthquake that hit the country earlier this year, H.E Rene Preval, President of Haiti said Friday.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is to provide direct financial support to Haiti in recognition of the importance of channelling resources through the government of Haiti and as a demonstration of the Community’s confidence in the Haitian government.
The Community is also calling on the international community to demonstrate a greater level of confidence in Haiti to move its reconstruction process forward.

The earthquake of January 12 ranks as being among the worst catastrophes to befall a single nation. The loss of life, the toll of severe injuries, the destruction of the physical infrastructure, the demolition of public buildings and its consequent damage to the apparatus of governance combined to make the natural disaster one of the worst ever in recorded history.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community buckled down to the business of the 21st Intersessional Meeting Thursday morning in Roseau, Dominica, without the fanfare of a ceremonial opening, conscious of the pressing matters before them.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The World Bank has indicated its support for a special multi-donor fund for the reconstruction of CARICOM Member State, Haiti.
The fund will ensure that all donors’ resources are pooled. Such an approach would help to streamline the assistance to Haiti.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Monday, 8 March saw the launch of the CARICOM Advocacy for Gender Justice Programme, a historic initiative for the advocacy of gender equality and justice. The two-year programme will be coordinated by Dr. Rosina Wiltshire who has been named CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice. The mandate of the CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice is to influence research, advocacy and policy; to lessen the perpetration of violence against women and promote justice.