CARICOM Community Council Meets in Barbados

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council of Ministers meet at the Accra Beach Hotel, Christ Church, Barbados on Friday and the topics to be discussed include preparations for a Conference on the Caribbean scheduled for June in New York and the 10th Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) to be held in Guyana August 22-31.

Also on the agenda is a review of the preparations for next month’s 19th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government among.

The Inter-Sessional Meeting is scheduled for The Bahamas on 7-8 March and the council, the second-highest decision-making organ of CARICOM, has responsibility for approving the agenda for the meeting of Heads of Government.

The council also receives reports from the specialist Ministerial councils of the Community and in that regard at this meeting receive reports from meetings held by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and a Joint meeting of COTED and the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD). Both these meetings were held last month, January, in Georgetown, Guyana.

The council will also discuss preparations for a second Conference on the Caribbean scheduled for June, following last year’s inaugural Conference held in Washington D.C.

The ministers will look at preparations for CARIFESTA 10 to be held in Georgetown from August 22-31 and consider for approval the 2008-2009 work programme and budget of the Gerogetown-based CARICOM Secretariat.

The council consists of Ministers responsible for Community Affairs and any other minister designated by member mtates, and holds primary responsibility for the development of Community strategic planning and co-ordination in the areas of economic integration, functional co-operation and external relations.