The Twenty-First Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Roseau, Dominica, on 11-12 March 2010. The Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, presided.

Other Members of the Conference in attendance were: the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Honourable Winston B Spencer; the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Rt. Hon Hubert Ingraham; the Prime Minister of Barbados, Honourable David J. H. Thompson; Prime Minister of Grenada, Honourable Tillman Thomas; the President of the Republic of Guyana, His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo; the President of Haiti, His Excellency René Garcia Préval; the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Honourable Bruce Golding; the Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Honourable Dr. Denzil L. Douglas; the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Honourable Stephenson King.

Belize was represented by the Honourable Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; St. Vincent and the Grenadines was represented by the Honourable Douglas Slater, the Minister of Health and the Environment; Suriname was represented by the Honourable Clifford Marica, Minister of Trade Industry and Commerce; and Trinidad and Tobago was represented by the Honourable Paula Gopie-Scoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Associate Member in attendance was the Honourable Dr. Ewart Brown, Premier of Bermuda.

Special Guests in attendance were Mr. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank; His Excellency José Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS); and Mr. Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

HAITI

Extensive discussions took place on the situation in Haiti with President Préval, the CARICOM Special Representative on Haiti, Most Honourable P. J. Patterson, as well as with the Presidents of the World Bank, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank.

In his interface with his colleagues, His Excellency René Préval President of Haiti made a presentation to the Conference on the historic context of the disaster, which befell his country on 12 January 2010. He underlined how the past helped to explain the present-day handicaps – weak institutional capacity, poverty - that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.

The President also expressed the view that the international community needed to draw the proper lessons from this humanitarian crisis and called for the establishment by the United Nations of a civilian force that would respond to such crises. The Conference agreed to support this call.

In his vision of a new Haiti, the President placed emphasis on decentralization, the establishment of
development poles provided with proper infrastructure and basic public services which could facilitate the creation of jobs as well as the redesigning of the devastated capital. He underscored the necessity for pledges for Haiti’s reconstruction to be informed by the vision of the Government of Haiti.

The President advised the Conference that beyond the vision, pressing urgencies remained to be addressed – the provision of durable shelter in view of the approaching rainy season, the relocation of temporary camps from areas prone to flooding, assistance in seeds and fertilizers to energize agricultural production, flood control measures, restarting schools in the affected and other areas, and strengthening Haiti’s depleted institutional capacity.

Haiti’s revenue flow had been decimated by some 80% by the disaster, hobbling the operations of the government. Consequently, Haiti’s need for budgetary support by the international community and the international financial institutions had emerged as a most critical priority at the moment. This pressing matter was raised with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank who had been invited to the Inter-Sessional Meeting. He agreed that the matter needed to be addressed urgently. He joined with the Caribbean Community and the OAS Secretary-General on the importance of drawing the immediate attention of the international donor community to this critical concern. There was also agreement on the need to dispel the misconception that pledges made by international donors were tantamount to resources in hand though they had not been disbursed.

In the exchange of views that followed with regard to CARICOM’s assistance to Haiti, The Conference commended Jamaica for the role it had played as the sub-regional focal point within the CDEMA framework in spearheading the Community’s emergency response to the disaster by the dispatch of troops and medical personnel. Among other activities, they provided emergency medical services, distributed relief supplies and secured relief convoys.

The Conference also expressed appreciation for the Regional Security System (RSS) aircraft support which provided a logistical lifeline to the Community’s operations as well as for the medical and other personnel from other Community Member States that worked alongside their Jamaican counterparts. Recognition was also made of the contributions of funds and supplies generated by individuals, civil society and corporate citizens in the Community’s Member States.

With regard to continued assistance to Haiti, the Conference was guided by the pressing urgencies indicated by President Préval. In this regard, it was decided that the funds pledged by the Community for the third phase of CARICOM’s health sector intervention would be contributed directly to the Government of Haiti as budgetary support to address these pressing needs. This gesture was also viewed as setting an example for the international community to follow.

The Conference also received a report from the Most Honourable Percival Patterson, the Community’s Special Representative for Haiti.