Report on the workshop on damage and loss assessment and the impact of disasters in Belize

Includes bibliography

Environmental planning in the Wider Caribbean and Latin America: constraints to an effective regional institutional structure

Includes bibliography

Report of the Subregional Meeting on Population and Development ICPD+5 review

Summary Summarizes discussions and presentations on the following: review of activities at the subregional level in support of the International Conference on Population and Development; mechanisms to incorporate population issues into the development process; population policies; the effects of demographic trends on economic growth and poverty; the environmental effects; gender equality, equity and the empowerment of women; male responsibility and participation; reproductive health and the economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; and the partnership with civil society.

Central America: management of used lubricants in Central America: final report

Includes bibliography

Assessment of the socioeconomic and environmental impact of hurricane Ivan on Jamaica

Includes bibliography

Typology of instruments of public environmental international law

At the second meeting of the focal points appointed by the Governments of the signatory countries of the Declaration on the application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 16 and 17 April 2013, a decision was made to form working groups to advance towards the creation of a regional instrument. Thus, a working group on access rights and the regional instrument was formed for the purpose of gaining more in-depth knowledge on access rights in order to make a proposal on the nature and scope of the application of a regional instrument. At its first meeting, the working group determined that a study describing the different types of international instruments would be useful in helping it achieve its objective. This report explores the different types of instruments that are used in public international law, with an emphasis on the instruments that are relevant to Principle 10. The report has three chapters, which are as follows. The first chapter analyses the term “international instrument” and discusses the distinction between binding and non-binding legal instruments, illustrated with examples. The second chapter describes the function of implementation and compliance mechanisms in an international instrument, providing examples of these mechanisms. The third chapter presents the multilateral and regional instruments relevant to access rights regarding information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Caribbean development report: Exploring strategies for sustainable growth and development in Caribbean small island States

The Third Caribbean Development Roundtable (23-24 April 2014) was held under the theme “Exploring strategies for sustainable growth and development in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS)”. The Roundtable focused on challenges faced in stimulating growth and creating a capacity for resilience among the Caribbean SIDS. The conference examined the continuing challenge of igniting robust growth in Caribbean Small States, and at the same time, mitigating structural and cyclical risks and uncertainty. The presentations made at the Roundtable can be placed under six themes which comprise the sections of this report, namely: Macroeconomic reorganisation in the context of risk and uncertainty; fiscal adjustment, stabilisation and debt management; services, public/private partnership and development; social protection; human capital formation; and environmental protection.

Evaluation report of the regional workshop on the measurement of poverty in the Caribbean

1. The member and associate member countries of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) have committed to pursuing and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a common set of goals and targets to bring all people up to minimum acceptable standards of human development by 2015. 2. However, in spite of various capacity-building initiatives, Caribbean countries continued to experience difficulties in addressing additional demands of monitoring and measuring progress created by the Millennium Development Goals and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals. Therefore, it was necessary to implement activities to ensure the further building/strengthening of institutional capabilities for generating reliable social, economic and environmental statistics among Caribbean States. 3. The ECLAC project entitled “Strengthening the Capacity of National Statistical Offices in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals” sought to build and strengthen institutional capabilities for generating and compiling reliable social, economic and environmental statistics in the Caribbean subregion, through the provision of technical support, as well as the conduct of training workshops for statisticians and policymakers. 4. Within the objectives of that project, ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean convened a regional training workshop on the measurement of poverty in the Caribbean in Port of Spain, to build the capacity of government officials and other relevant stakeholders. 5. The overall objective of the workshop was to develop and strengthen the national technical capacity of public officials in data processing, systematization and dissemination of poverty indicators and measurement in the Caribbean subregion. The workshop further sought to review and discuss the current approaches to poverty measurement and monitoring in an effort to identify methods to ensure that monitoring and reporting of the Millennium Development Goals were conducted according to internationally agreed upon methodologies. Furthermore, the workshop also intended to review different methods of poverty measurements, including the multidimensional methodology for the measurement of poverty. 6. Participants were introduced to different methods of poverty measurements and other aggregation proposals which would enable countries to better measure progress towards Goal 1 on poverty, report on it and apply evidence-based approaches to national policymaking and planning.

Report of the meeting on methodologies for disaster assessment-a regional approach

.--Background.--Agenda item 1 Welcome and opening remarks.--Agenda item 2 The Vulnerability of Small Island Developing States.--Agenda item 3 Methodologies for Risk Reduction at the Community Level.--Agenda item 4 Methodologies for Disaster Impact Assessment.--Agenda item 5 Ongoing Initiatives in Disaster Risk Reduction.--Agenda item 6 Optimizing the use of existing methodologies for addressing disasters.--Agenda item 7 Innovative financing mechanisms for risk reduction.--Agenda item 8 Regional collaboration for disaster risk reduction.--Agenda item 9 Simulation exercise.--Agenda item 10 Wrap-up, reflection and charting the way forward.--The Way Forward.--Immediate Tasks.--Annex - List of Participants.

Report on expert group meeting on macroeconomic modelling in the Caribbean: new challenges and new directions

The purpose of the expert group meeting was to bring together modelling practitioners to share experiences and to reflect on how to overcome new and old challenges to model building in the Caribbean. As part of the rationale for such a meeting, it was argued that since a major objective of policymaking in the Caribbean was to create the conditions for growth with equity while reducing vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks, model builders must develop strategies to properly address those questions in a unified way. It was further suggested that those goals, though straightforward, required a concentrated technical effort to clarify and update understanding of the workings of Caribbean economies. The emphasis on addressing issues of growth, equity and vulnerability was urgent because Caribbean economies were at a crossroads, with major challenges to the foundations and premises on which the economies had been built.

Report on expert group workshop on macroeconomic modelling in the Caribbean: new challenges and new directions.

The purpose of the expert group meeting was to bring together modelling practitioners to share experiences and to reflect on how to overcome new and old challenges to model building in the Caribbean. As part of the rationale for such a meeting, it was argued that since a major objective of policymaking in the Caribbean was to create the conditions for growth with equity while reducing vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks, model builders must develop strategies to properly address those questions in a unified way. It was further suggested that those goals, though straightforward, required a concentrated technical effort to clarify and update understanding of the workings of Caribbean economies. The emphasis on addressing issues of growth, equity and vulnerability was urgent because Caribbean economies were at a crossroads, with major challenges to the foundations and premises on which the economies had been built.

Report on the implementation of the ECLAC work programme subregional activities for the Caribbean 2006-2007 biennium [Covering the period 1 Janurary 2006- 31 December 2007]

The focus of the activities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (ECLAC/CDCC) secretariat during the 2006-2007 biennium continued to be on assistance to member governments of the subregion with policy-making and development strategies, especially on issues relevant to the promotion of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development in the Caribbean. The Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean worked closely with member countries of the CDCC in an effort to ensure the relevance of outputs which would inform policy options. This involved the strengthening of partnerships with both regional and subregional institutions and relevant agencies of the United Nations system working in the Caribbean. A major decision was taken to refocus the operational aspects of the secretariat to ensure that they were relevant to the development goals of its members. This involved the introduction of a thematic approach to the work of the office. One of the changes resulting from this was the restructuring and renaming of the Caribbean Documentation Centre. The Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre (CKMC), as it is now known, has changed its emphasis from organizing and disseminating documents, and is now a more proactive partner in the research undertaken by staff and other users of the service. The CKMC manages the ECLAC website, the public face of the organization. Newsletters and all other documents, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) profiles of selected countries, prepared by the secretariat, are now available online at the ECLAC/CDCC website www.eclacpos.org . The Caribbean Knowledge Management Portal was launched at a meeting of information specialists in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2007. In addition to reaching a wider public, this measure was introduced as a means of reducing the cost of printing or disseminating publications. In spite of the unusually high vacancy rate, at both the international and local levels, during the biennium, the subregional headquarters accomplished 98 per cent of the 119 outputs earmarked for the period. Using vacant positions to carry out the assignments was not an easy task, given the complexity in recruiting qualified and experienced persons for short periods. Nevertheless, consultancy services and short-term replacement staff greatly aided the delivery of these outputs. All the same, 35 work months remained unused during the biennium, leaving 301 work months to complete the outputs. In addition to the unoccupied positions, the work of the subprogramme was severely affected by the rising cost of regional and subregional travel which limited the ability of staff to network and interact with colleagues of member countries. This also hampered the outreach programme carried out mainly through ad hoc expert group meetings. In spite of these shortcomings, the period proved to be successful for the subprogramme as it engaged the attention of member countries in its work either through direct or indirect participation. Staff members completed 36 technical papers plus the reports of the meetings and workshops. A total of 523 persons, representing member countries, participated in the 18 intergovernmental and expert meetings convened by the secretariat in the 24-month period. In its effort to build technical capacity, the subprogramme convened 15 workshops/seminars which offered training for 446 persons.

Latin America and the Caribbean: looking ahead after the Millennium Development Goals: Regional monitoring report on the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2015

Foreword by Alicia Bárcena