Roseau, Dominica– May 4, 2010………Dominica will host the Thirteenth (13th) Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) from May 5-6, 2010. COFCOR comprises the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The Meeting will be chaired by Minister for Employment, Trade, Industry, and Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Colin McIntyre. Dr McIntyre also has responsibility for CARICOM affairs.
Matters for discussion over the two days include:
Ø CARICOM’s response to the Haitian catastrophe
Ø The changing geopolitical dynamics in the hemisphere
Ø Post Copenhagen- challenges and policy responses
Ø Relations with Third Countries and Groups of Countries
Ø Multilateral and Hemispheric Relations to include the United Nations, the Organisation of American States(OAS), Association of Caribbean States(ACS) and the Human Rights Council
Ø Border Issues to include Guyana- Venezuela Relations and Belize -Guatemala Relations
Ø Piracy in the Gulf of Aden
Ø Matters relating to Community Relations to include discussion on the Role of Civil Society in the Caribbean Community (Project) and the proposed meeting of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians(ACCP) set for Trinidad, July, 2010
Ø Operations and Functioning of the COFCOR
More than forty (40) delegates comprising Ministers of Government from each CARICOM Member State and the CARICOM Secretariat are expected in Dominica for the two-day meeting.
The COFCOR meeting is also expected to attract guests from a number of countries and institutions including Australia, Portugal and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Dominica’s hosting of the 13th Meeting of the COFCOR comes only weeks after Dominica hosted a successful Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community. (CARICOM).
