From Caribbean News Now

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent — Representatives of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) will hold technical discussions on the seventh round of the multilateral evaluation mechanism (MEM) process on February 7, 2017, in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The one-day technical meeting will be followed by two days of intense training, February 8 – 9, with senior policy-makers and technical staff from a number of line ministries in SVG on the establishment of its National Drug Council and on the MEM.

MEM is a process designed to measure the progress of actions taken by OAS member states to address the drug problem.

The use of illicit drugs continues to rise in CARIFORUM countries and a review of the MEM points to a lack of institutional capacity.

The technical meeting on the MEM seventh round process and the training workshops with stakeholders are part of the response under the Tenth European Development Fund (EDF) crime and security programme between the European Union and CARIFORUM. The drug demand reduction component of the programme seeks to strengthen institutional capacity of national and regional drug demand reduction entities and practitioners to effectively develop strategies and implement policies and programmes in CARIFORUM.

The meetings and workshops are specifically aimed at strengthening national capacity and systems for monitoring and evaluation. In this light, stated objectives include to: “foster a deeper understanding of the MEM process, particularly its seventh round which commence in 2018; outline the impact on the design and implementation of hemispheric drug policies; provide a forum where the Caribbean countries can discuss areas of interest in counter drug efforts within the region and feasible areas of cooperation.

A number of regional and international agencies and bodies have partnered to hold these events which target permanent secretaries and technical officers from the government ministries and agencies, national coordinating entities and other technical persons engaged in illicit drug matters.

Partners include the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in collaboration with the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the European Union, Organisation of American States/ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD).

The importance of partnership and collective approaches were underscored last month at the launch of the tenth EDF CARIFORUM/EU crime and security programme, in Barbados. CARICOM and CARIFORUM secretary-general, Irwin LaRocque in his remarks called for “closer collaboration and a strengthening of the relationships in and between institutions charged with responsibility for crime and security” to respond to the trafficking of drugs, which he noted was “the driving force for the high rates of crime and violence”, in the region.

Head of EU Delegation for Barbados and the OECS, Ambassador Daniela Tramacere also noted in her remarks that “regional integration and collective security mechanisms are imperative given the scarcity of resources required to address such a multiplicity of security issues”

For more on this story go to: http://wp.caribbeannewsnow.com/2018/02/05/cariforum-states-build-capacity-respond-drug-problem/