(6 July 2010) The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, participated this weekend in the 31st Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and held high-level meetings with several presidents of the subregion.
Bárcena was part of the official delegation of the UN Secretary-General, who was a special guest to the meeting held in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Ban recognized the commitment and support provided by Caribbean nations to Haiti after the devastating earthquake in January and encouraged them to continue cooperating in order to ensure the long-term needs of the Haitian people are met.
On the eve of the CARICOM summit, Bárcena explained the priorities of ECLAC's work programme to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean.
She also participated with Ban Ki-moon in bilateral meetings with the President of Haiti, René Preval, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and the Prime Ministers of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas, who currently holds the presidency of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
They then held a private meeting between United Nations, Organization of American States (OAS) and CARICOM officials with the Heads of State participating in the summit.
For enquiries, please contact ECLAC's Public Information and Web Services Section. Email: dpisantiago@cepal.org; telephone: (56-2) 210-2040/2149.
