COHSOD

The Region should expect a breath of new life and meaning, to the Region's premiere cultural festival, CARIFESTA, when a special meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development [COHSOD] on Culture is convened next week.

The two-day meeting scheduled for June 2-3 will take place in Georgetown, Guyana where a strategic plan for the reorganisation of CARIFESTA drafted at the first meeting of the CARICOM Task Force on CARIFESTA in Trinidad in March will lead the discussions on the way forward.

The Ninth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was convened in Georgetown, Guyana on 8-10 October 2003, under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Lawrence Achong, Minister of Labour and Small and Micro-Enterprise Development, Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr. Chairman
Incoming Chairman of the COHSOD, Minister Lawrence Achong
Other Honourable Ministers of Government
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Representatives of International and Regional organizations, especially Ms. Grace Strauchan, Regional Director of the ILO, who is attending her first meeting of the COHSOD
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media
Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat

(Presented by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General,
Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat)

It is my pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the Directorate of Human and Social Development. Our Directorate has worked assiduously over the past year to support the flagship activity of the Community, which is the accelerated implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. Many of the activities in which we have been engaged are being discussed at this meeting.

Honourable Ministers
Ms. Jacqulyn Joseph and other members of the CARICOM Secretariat
Permanent Secretaries
Representatives of Ministers
Representatives of Regional and International Institutions
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen.

The Sixth Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) begins in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, starting at 9_00 a.m. on Monday, 31 March with a focus on Education.

The two-day meeting at the Trinidad Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre to be presided over by the Hon. Walter Sandriman, Suriname’s Minister of Education and Community Development, will consider among other issues, the migration of teachers from the Caribbean.

Honorable Ministers
Mrs. Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM and Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM
Permanent Secretaries
Representatives of Ministries
Members of the CARICOM Secretariat
Ladies and Gentlemen
Guests,

On behalf of Suriname and myself I am honoured to represent Suriname, which accede to Chair of the Seventh Meeting of the Council of Human and Social Development at this meeting.

The Region is seeking to advance discussions on a sustainable approach to human and social development as a major step towards securing a better future for its peoples by improving their quality of life and creating a region more capable of taking on the challenges of globalisation.

Chairman
Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett
Ministers of Government and Representatives of Member States
Diplomatic Corps
Members of International and Regional Organs
Ladies and Gentlemen