Barbados

Mr. President,

The Caribbean Community deeply appreciates this opportunity to address the Security Council on the situation in Haiti.

One year ago, we were all gravely concerned about deteriorating political and security conditions in Haiti. With Haitian agreement and international support, the Caribbean Community launched a diplomatic initiative. Underpinned by the principles of democracy and good governance enshrined in the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the CARICOM initiative sought the following_

Regional experts on Climate Variability and Change in the Caribbean will meet in Barbados 25-27 October 2004 to prepare a joint plan of action for Regional risk reduction. They will also review specific issues including disaster management, adaptation to climate change, and the increasing risk and frequency of weather-related disasters.

Barbados_

CBC Radio, Barbados, has a long history of collaborative relationships with broadcast entities in the Caribbean Community on development and integration issues.

Since the early 1970s, with the advent of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, we have provided personnel and financial resources for regional broadcasters to travel for coverage of culture and aspirations of peoples throughout the Region. Indeed, over time, we have become a part of the very essence of the Caribbean Community; fulfilling our role in building an informed and educated society.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – A ‘CARICOM Meeting on Smaller Economies Issues in the FTAA & Preparatory Meeting for the CARICOM Sub-regional Round Table’ was held in Barbados, June 7 to 8. The Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) provided an update to the meeting on the status of Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks and formal/informal discussions at the level of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) regarding the scope and structure of negotiations, pursuant to the Miami Ministerial mandates.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – At a recently concluded “mini-ministerial”, convened in Paris, Hon. Clement Rohee, CARICOM Ministerial Spokesperson for World Trade Organization (WTO) issues and Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation- Guyana, underscored that development has to be at the core of the WTO’s Doha Round. Minister Rohee also highlighted the significance to CARICOM of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT). He stressed the importance of recognizing the vulnerabilities of Small Developing Economies.

The Seventh Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) was held in Christ Church, Barbados, on 22-23 April 2004. The Ministers attending were_ the Hon. Harold Lovell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Tourism and International Transport, Antigua and Barbuda; the Hon. Frederick Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service, The Bahamas; the Hon Dame Billie Miller, DA, BCH, Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Barbados; the Hon. Godfrey P.

Hon. Marcus Bethel, Minister of Health and the Environment
Hon. Ministers
Amb. Anwarul Chowdhury, Secretary-General of the Mauritius Conference
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

Permit me firstly, to join with the previous speakers in expressing sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government and People of The Bahamas, for hosting this meeting. There is no need for me to stress how important the subject of our deliberations is. My comments will be brief and to the point.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The G-20 – which was formed ahead of and rose to prominence at the ill-fated Fifth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, this past September - met in Brasilia, Brazil, December 11 to 12. The meeting was convened ahead of a high-level WTO General Council meeting, set for December 15. The meeting took place at Ministerial level. It was intended as an interchange and coordinative session focused on how to advance multilateral agricultural negotiations and, allied to this, attaining progress in the stalled Doha Round.