The Commission was established following the Inaugural Caribbean–United States Security Cooperation Dialogue held in Washington D.C. on 27 May 2009 and this first meeting is intended to move the process into the coordination and implementation phase.

United States President Barack Obama announced his intent to pursue a security partnership with the Caribbean at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which was held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in April 2009. Since then, the governments of the Caribbean and the US have met four times to jointly define and develop the goals and scope for the CBSI.

The Governments of the Caribbean broke new ground in April 2008 by agreeing to develop a common regional strategy and operational framework, and they continue to embrace President Obama’s response to CARICOM’s call for greater cooperation in the critical area of regional security.

More than a series of programmes, this partnership will be an ongoing collaboration that draws upon and helps develop the capacity of the Caribbean to address common security-related challenges.

This first meeting of the Commission will focus on two fundamental components of the CBSI – policy and program coordination - and will provide an opportunity to agree on the Terms of Reference for the initial four Technical Working Groups (TWGs) agreed to at the Inaugural Caribbean-US Security Cooperation Dialogue. The meeting will also establish venues and participants - including other international partners - for the Meetings of the TWGs; exchange views on how best to achieve the objectives and implement the Joint Plan of Action; and begin preparation for the Second Caribbean-US Security Cooperation Dialogue, scheduled for the first half of 2011.