BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS the Federation wraps up Diplomatic Week, attention will turn to the hosting of the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean Meeting (ECLAC) later this month.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kaye Bass - a recent Guest on the Government’s ‘Working for You’ programme - explained that based on the rotational policy St. Kitts and Nevis is scheduled to host the Meeting.
The Meeting, which is scheduled for April 20-2, will see Foreign Affairs Minister the Hon. Mark Brantley taking over the Chairmanship from his counterpart in Jamaica.
SKNVibes understands that he will be in that position for two years.
During the Meeting in the Federation, topics ranging from Climate Change to Debt Stability would be up for discussion, PS Bass pointed out.
“As you know, we just came out of a COP agreement on Climate Change and the Development of the 20/30 Sustainable Development Agenda. There are 17 goals and the issue is how can countries with a high death be able to accomplish these goals. So the discussion at the round table will center on the debt overhang facing this challenge and using it as an opportunity to achieve the goals.”
It is expected that at the conclusion of the Meeting, a number of important recommendations will be provided for member states affected by the high debt to have implemented on dealing with the challenge.
According to Bass, ECLAC has been very instrumental in the region in collecting data statistics about deaths, social development and poverty within the sub-region.
She noted that St. Kitts and Nevis is very privileged to be part of the organization.
Some 31 countries will be represented by their Foreign Affairs Ministers at the Meeting, and included in that number are all officials from CARICOM member states while Cuba, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St. Martin and the US Virgin Island are also expected to be present.
