Regional integration mechanisms to draft CELAC’s agenda in the social area

Caracas, 18 June 2014.- Regional and subregional integration mechanisms will meet in Caracas from 18 to 20 June to draft the strategic agenda for regional cooperation in the social area of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The First Meeting of Regional and Subregional Integration Mechanisms, aimed at outlining CELAC’s strategic agenda for regional cooperation in social matters, was convened by the Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), as part of the Work Plan of CELAC.

The event will take place at the headquarters of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), a regional body for consultation, coordination, cooperation and joint economic and social promotion, which groups together 28 Latin American and Caribbean States.

The opening session will include speeches by Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, Permanent Secretary of SELA; Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez, Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP; and Ms. Ingrid Mora, representative of the Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC.

According to the agenda, the People’s Minister of Education and Vice-President of the Social Area of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Héctor Rodríguez, will make the keynote presentation on CELAC’s Action Plan on Public Policies in the social area.

Later on, the Deputy Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Raúl Benítez, will analyze the situation of food and nutritional security in Latin America and the Caribbean. Then, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, will talk about the current social situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. And the Secretary-General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Alí Rodríguez Araque, will deliver a presentation on UNASUR’s experiences and contribution to eradicating hunger and poverty.

The second session will focus on outlining the strategic agenda for regional cooperation and will include presentations on various experiences and proposals, starting with one on access to education, literacy and post-literacy in the region by Saadia Sánchez Vegas, Director of the UNESCO Office in Quito and representative for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Afterwards, the Executive Secretary of Petrocaribe, Asdrúbal Chávez, will make a presentation on Petrocaribe’s Action Plan for eradication of hunger and poverty. Then, the Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP, Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez, will present some ALBA-TCP proposals with emphasis on the contributions to the Latin American and Caribbean Programme on Literacy and Post-literacy and the Project for Comprehensive Ophthalmological Care in CELAC countries.

A visit to a social mission is also scheduled.

The third session will be centred on the contributions of regional and subregional integration mechanisms to CELAC’s strategic agenda for regional cooperation within the framework of the Action Plan on Public Policies in the social area.

In the final session, participants will discuss the conclusions and recommendations; and the speakers for the closing session will be Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, Permanent Secretary of SELA, and Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez, Executive Secretary of ALBA-TPC.

Since the creation of CELAC, SELA has provided technical support by contributing to organizing various events, seminars and meetings. It has also drafted studies and documents for initiatives coordinated by CELAC, in accordance with a mandate issued by the Latin American Council of SELA and ratified at its latest meeting in November 2013, as well as the mandates of CELAC.

The Work Programme of SELA for 2014 envisages support to CELAC’s initiatives in areas such as international relations, economic and industrial development, social development and regional integration. In the area of intra-regional relations, the programmes to be developed this year are aimed at supporting integration and policies for economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the field of economic and technical cooperation, the objective is to strengthen economic and technical cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. And in the area of extra-regional relations, programmes are geared to monitoring and making analyses and proposals for the promotion of external economic relations of Latin America and the Caribbean, in line with CELAC’s mandates.