5th Summit of the Americas, April 17-19, 2009

From April 17 to 19 2009, Heads of State and Government of the countries of the Americas, from Canada to Chile, come together for the 5th Summit of the Americas, in Port of Spain, Trinidad. They will address the theme "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability". The overarching aim is to "deliver tangible and measurable outcomes that will make a real, positive difference to the lives of people in the region".


The Concept Paper of the Summit highlights the necessity of focusing on “reducing critical vulnerabilities and improving the well-being and safety of the peoples of the Americas through an integrated and mutually reinforcing set of social, economic and environmental policies”. It addresses a collective regional agenda for achieving accelerated human development and poverty reduction, social and cultural inclusion, and a transition to greater energy security and more sustainable communities.

3 Pre-Summit Fora will be held by groups recognized as fundamentally important for achieving the goals of the Summit:

• Civil Society Forum - Theme: “Citizens in Motion for Social Innovation and Implementation”
• Private Sector Forum - Theme: "Promoting Private Sector-led Prosperity in the Emerging Decade: The Quest for Competitiveness Revisited"
  
• Youth Forum - Creates a space for young people to discuss and contribute to putting into action the central theme of the 5th Summit. Participants will present the results of a consultation process that was conducted throughout the region.

More Information:

Previous summits: Summits of the Americas Process

Summits of the Americas Information Network

February meeting of the group

The 9 February 2009 meeting of the Caribbean Women's Network International was held in Room C in the United Nations Conference Building.
The special Guest was the Secretary General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington, who addressed the group indicating among other things

1.that he was very impressed by the motives and reasoning of this group for being formed at this time;

2.that there were pressing concerns for the 15 Caribbean nations which made up CARICOM, especially in light of the global economic crisis;

3.that among the concerns, the most pressing was that of Crime and Drug Trafficking, citing the closure of the UN's Office for Drug Control in the region as an action that needed to be reversed to help to stem the increase of drug-related crime in the region;

4.that there was also the need to gain more specific attention to the needs of Caribbean countries, at least as much as that paid to Latin America (when we speak of Latin America and the Caribbean as one entity).

The meeting was attended by at least 20 members of the group and members of the CARICOM Secretariat along with the Secretary General, Mr. Edwin Carrington. We were also addressed by the Asst. Secretary-General, Foreign Policy and Community Relations, Mr. Colin Granderson.

Other members of the group who attended the meeting are invited to post their own summary or comments, especially with regard to how what we heard could impact our yet-developing mission.