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IISD Reporting Services (IISD RS) has produced daily web coverage and a joint summary report of these two meetings. To download our reports, click the HTML or PDF icons below.
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Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
Caribbean Forum: Shaping a Sustainable Development Agenda to address the Caribbean Reality in the 21st Century and Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Follow-up to the development agenda beyond 2015 and Rio+20

5-6 and 7-9 March 2013 | Bogotá, Colombia

Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
Summary highlights for the meetings
Highlights for Tuesday, 5 March 2013
ECLACThe Caribbean Forum: Shaping a Sustainable Development Agenda to Address the Caribbean Reality in the 21st Century, opened on Tuesday, 5 March, at the Crowne Plaza Tequendama Hotel in Bogota, Colombia. Over 50 representatives from Caribbean governments, international and intergovernmental organizations and civil society met with the objective of discussing Caribbean views on the follow-up to Rio+20, sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda.

In the morning, the opening plenary heard a message from, among others, Chair Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana, who stressed the importance of shaping the sustainable development agenda to address the Caribbean reality. Diane Quarless, Director of the Economic Comission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, said the Forum provides an opportunity to ensure that, in the evolving global discourse on the post-2015 development agenda, the special needs of small island developing states (SIDS) are considered. Crispin Gregoire, UN Development Group-Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDG-LAC), suggested convergence between the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs. Elizabeth Tompson, Former Executive Coordinator of Rio+20 and consultant for the post-2015 development agenda, presented an overview of progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 agenda in the Caribbean SIDS.

In the afternoon, a session on advancing development in addressing the vulnerability of Caribbean SIDS through resilience building was held, and participants heard presentations by different stakeholders, including governments and international agencies. The themes addressed: promoting human development, citizen security and human rights in Caribbean SIDS; the promotion of inclusive growth, through diversification, creativity and innovation; and building resilience and social cohesion by leveraging cultural capital and community empowerment.

The session closed at 6:58 pm and the meeting will resume on Wednesday.
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Outside the Crowne Plaza Tequendama Hotel, where the meeting was held.
Opening of the Forum
The dais during the opening of the meeting. L-R: Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana; Amb. Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Caribbean Community (CARICOM); Crispin Gregoire, UNDG-LAC; Carlos Morales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia; Paula Caballero, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia; Diane Quarless, Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean; and Guillermo Acuña, ECLAC.

Overview of progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,
the Post-2015 development agenda and implementation of the sustainable development agenda of SIDS
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Arnaldo Brown, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica
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John Maginley, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, Antigua and Barbuda

Consideration of the Millennium Development Goals, the Post-2015
development agenda and Rio+20 follow-up initiatives
L-R: Janice Miller, Under-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Alva Baptiste, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation, Saint Lucia; Gisela Alonso, member of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and President of the Cuban Agency of Environment; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana; Diane Quarless, Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean; Amb. George Talbot, Guyana; and Garfield Barnwell, CARICOM

Highlights for Wednesday, 6 March 2013
On Wednesday, 6 March, the Caribbean Forum: Shaping a Sustainable Development Agenda to Address the Caribbean Reality in the 21st Century, convened to continue discussing the follow-up to Rio+20, sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda. In the morning, participants exchanged views on enhancing institutional infrastructure and governance for sustainable development in the Caribbean and financing for sustainable development in small, middle-income Caribbean countries.

In the afternoon, participants gathered to adopt a Caribbean statement, which addresses main issues raised during discussions held in the Forum.

In the closing ceremony, participants heard statements. Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, CARICOM, highlighted the outcome prepared by the Forum, which reflects subregional realities and provides an indicative roadmap for discussions at the regional and global level. Heraldo Muñoz, Chair, United Nations Development Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDG-LAC), drew attention to the different post-2015 development agenda processes, including: the consultations that are taking place at the national, regional and thematic levels; the open working group streams to address mandates coming out of Rio+20; and the SIDS Sustainable Development Conference to be held in 2014, which should provide a unique platform for the Caribbean region to gain political traction.

Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary, ECLAC, underscored the critical messages that the Caribbean countries discussed in the Forum and were reflected in the outcome document, including the region's high vulnerability, lack of economies of scale, unemployment and the need to move to a different quality of integration process beyond trade. She also underscored the need for a paradigm shift to one of internal development that benefits the people of the subregion.

Chair Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana, gaveled the Caribbean Forum to a close at 6:41 pm

Enhancing Institutional Infrastructure and Governance for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean SIDS
L-R: Gordon Bispham, Civil Society; Gisela Alonso, member of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and President of the Cuban Agency of Environment; Cletus Springer, Organization of American States (OAS); Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana; Diane Quarless, Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean; and Guillermo Acuña, ECLAC
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L-R: Gisela Alonso, member of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and President of the Cuban Agency of Environment; Cletus Springer, OAS
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José Luis Samaniego, ECLAC

Plenary session to consider a Caribbean statement on the follow-up to Rio+20, the Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda
L-R: Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana, and Diane Quarless, Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, working on the draft Caribbean statement.

Highlights for Thursday, 7 March 2013
The Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Follow-up to the development agenda beyond 2015 and Rio+20 opened on Thursday, 7 March 2013, at the Crowne Plaza Tequendama Hotel in Bogota, Colombia. The meeting was convened by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Government of Colombia. Over 250 representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society gathered to discuss development goals, global and regional governance and implications, from a regional perspective, of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), as well as the post-2015 development agenda, with the aim of informing ongoing global processes.
 
In the morning, participants heard opening remarks. Maria Ángela Holguín, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Colombia, emphasized the need for the post-2015 development agenda to be: universal; focused on achievement; centered on poverty eradication, in the context of sustainable development; and based on equity. ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena called for a view of development that transcends poverty reduction, observing no “unique recipe” exists and that every country must choose its own development model. Heraldo Muñoz, UNDG-LAC, discussed: the move towards a renewed vision of development, with emerging topics and a new financial architecture; and avoiding imposing a top-down approach in the new development agenda. Amina J. Mohammed, Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, called for one cohesive, bold and ambitious global agenda with one set of goals that properly integrates both people and the planet.
 
In the morning, participants also discussed follow-up to the post-2015 development agenda, while in the afternoon, discussions turned to options for convergence towards sustainable development, including a regional vision of sustainable development. In the evening, delegates attended a reception hosted by the Government of Colombia.
 
The session will resume on Friday morning.
María Angela Holguín, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia
Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, ECLAC, and Coordinator of the Regional Coordination Mechanism, greeting María Angela Holguín, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia and member of the High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana
Participants observed a minute of silence in honor of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez.

National Perspectives on the post-2015 Development Agenda
Dulce Buergo, Cuba
Juan Angel Delgadillo, Paraguay
Fernando Carrera, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guatemala

Highlights for Friday, 8 March 2013
The Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Follow-up to the development agenda beyond 2015 and Rio+20 resumed on Friday, 8 March 2013, at the Crowne Plaza Tequendama Hotel in Bogota, Colombia. In the morning, in honor of International Women’s Day, Amina J. Mohammed, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, conveyed a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who highlighted violence against women and girls who are gang raped, commit suicide out of shame and are shot at close range for daring to seek an education. She urged converting our outrage into action, and noted efforts in peacemaking and peace building activities to combat sexual violence against women in conflict situations. She said all women and girls have the fundamental human right to live free of violence.

In the morning session, Chair Patti Londoño, Colombian Vice-Minister for Multilateral Affairs, asked participants to focus the day's discussions on regional priorities that could be taken to the global level. Underscoring consensus that the MDGs should be maintained, she asked how the MDGs can be continued, noting a spectrum of visions regarding how and when, and for ideas on means of implementation beyond ODA. Participants then continued discussions on a post-2015 development agenda.

In the afternoon, participants addressed Caribbean prospects and preparation for the Third Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS (2014). George Talbot, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN, discussed some of the outcomes of the Caribbean Forum.

The session will resume on Saturday morning.
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Amina J. Mohammed, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning, started the session by reading a statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon honoring International Women’s Day.
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Patti Londoño, Colombian Vice-Minister for Multilateral Affairs
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The dais during the intervention of Margarita Astralaga, Regional Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean
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Mario Liori, Uruguay
Statements by delegations continued into the afternoon session

Highlights for Saturday, 9 March 2013
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Ivo Havinga, Chief of the Economic Statistics Branch, UN Statistics Division, discussed how to evaluate sustainable development and measure progress.
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Ambassador José Luis Balmaceda, Chile, discussed the ongoing process to establish a regional instrument on Principle 10.
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Comments by civil society participant Dona Da Costa Martinez, Family Planning Association, Trinidad and Tobago
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Rueanna Haynes, announced Trinidad and Tobago's intention to become a signatory to the regional “Declaration on the application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.”
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Patti Londoño, Colombian Vice-Minister for Multilateral Affairs

Closing Ceremony
Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, ECLAC, introduced the closing ceremony and said the meeting had raised encouraging proposals.
María Ángela Holguín, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, suggested convening an annual regional meeting on sustainable development.
The ENB team, L-R: Asheline Appleton, Kenya; Leila Mead, USA; Elizabeth Press, USA; Eugenia Recio, Argentina/Spain; and Diego Noguera, Colombia
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