CARICOM Council to focus on culture, youth and sport this week
Stabroek News
April 23, 2003
From tomorrow to Saturday issues concerning culture, youth and sport will be the focus of the Eighth Meeting of the Caribbean Community's Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) when it convenes at the Torarica Hotel in Paramaribo, Suriname.
The Caribbean Festival of the Arts (CARIFESTA) which will be staged in Suriname from August 25 this year is expected to be a key agenda item. Ministers and officials will receive the latest update on plans for this major regional event, which is being held as the Community celebrates its 30th Anniversary, the CARICOM Secretariat stated in a press release.
One of the major events of the year-long celebration of that milestone has been incorporated into this week's meeting when the third in the Distinguished Lecture Series will be delivered by Maxine Henry Wilson, Minister of Education and Culture, Jamaica. Her topic is "The Future of Human Resource Management in the Caribbean".
The release said that the issues of youth and culture are central to the agenda which include matters related to the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); the Regional Plan of Action on Children's Issues; Regional Drugs and Crime Control Programmes and a report from the Civil Society Task Force - all follow-up issues from the Seventh COHSOD held in October of 2002.
A number of special matters, the release further said, will also come up for consideration, among them: establishment of the Caribbean Health Education Accreditation Board (CHEAB), human resource development of environmental health professionals in CARICOM and HIV/AIDS and the establishment of a Regional Violence and Injury Surveillance System.
Other matters for discussion are the progress towards a CARICOM Foundation for Art and Culture and recent initiatives in culture undertaken by UNESCO.
