(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Under the theme Towards Universal Access_ Enhancing the Multi-sectoral Response to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, more than 150 representatives of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) will meet for the Ninth Annual General Meeting on 28-30 October 2009, in Grenada.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown) The Caucus of Ministers of Health meets in Washington this week-end (26 -27 September) for its 18th Annual Meeting, with a formidable agenda of critical regional health issues to be addressed.

This Forum provides an opportunity for Health Ministers of the Caribbean Region, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), to collectively discuss and approve regional policies on health as well as to formulate Caribbean positions on health in the Americas.

  (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community has lost, in one week, three major literary figures_ Jamaica’s Trevor Rhone, Suriname’s Henk Tjon and Trinidad and Tobago’s Wayne Brown.  While Rhone and Tjon were both multi-talented, regionally and internationally acclaimed theatre artists, Wayne Brown was an acclaimed poet, creative writing teacher, short story writer, critic and journalist.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community Secretary-General H.E. Edwin Carrington has extended congratulations to His Excellency Ambassador Davidson L. Hepburn on his election as President for the 35th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

A Bahamian, Ambassador Hepburn, who was elected last week in Paris by the 58 Member States of the UNESCO Executive Board, is the first Caribbean National to have been elected to this post during the 60 years of UNESCO’s existence.

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (GIS) -- India's High Commissioner-designate to Grenada, Malay Mishra, has pledged his country’s continued support to Grenada in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“India attaches great importance to her relations with Grenada,” he explained. “Under India’s Economic and Technical Cooperation Programme (ITEC), India has continued to assist Grenada in its capacity building in the IT sector.”

It is a pleasure for me as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community to join the Honourable Robert Persaud, Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, in welcoming Honourable Ministers and Officials from our Member States to this important meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development of the Caribbean Community.

   (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ministers of Agriculture from CARICOM Member States meeting in Guyana on Friday were challenged to let Agriculture take the lead in regional development efforts. This the Ministers heard from CARICOM Secretary-General H. E Edwin Carrington in his address at the opening of the 32nd Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture.

  (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Chairman of the of the 32nd Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture, the Honourable Ezekiel Joseph, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries and Forestry of Saint Lucia urged his colleague Ministers on Friday to implement the decisions taken at the one-day meeting.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Guyana on the occasion of the 32nd Special meeting of the Agriculture COTED. I am saddened to learn that this may very well be the final Agricultural COTED for 2009, and indeed for quite some time. I am saddened because there seems to be so much that remains to be done in Agriculture in our part of the world.

I want to warmly welcome you to Guyana and to the 13th PANCAP Meeting. Not long from now, PANCAP will observe its 10th anniversary. As we ensconce ourselves within the cusp of this milestone, we must realize there is merely just one more year to go.

The question at this 13th Meeting of the RCM of PANCAP is, will we simply observe our survival as an organization or would we have reasons to celebrate our 10th anniversary when it soon comes up?