IICA To Take Part In The Fifth Summit Of The Americas

17-APR-2009

Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, will lead a five-man delegation to the Fifth Summit of the Americas being held in Trinidad and Tobago from Friday, April 17, to Sunday, April19.

Since 2001, IICA has been an institutional partner of the Summit of the Americas process, and it has been committed to working with the leaders of the Americas to reposition agriculture and rural life on the development agenda of the region.

Discussions by the Heads of State and Government of the Americas will include human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability, with an eye to drafting a development programme for the hemisphere.

According to the Director General: “One of the pillars of such a programme must be food security and the sustainable development of agriculture, given their contributions to the sustainable production of energy, the provision of nutritional foods, the mitigation of the impacts of climate change, and the reduction of unemployment and poverty.”

Dr. Brathwaite noted that “in light of the current global crisis, we must reassess the contribution that the rural economy makes to the comprehensive development of our countries, as we need a new development model that will `view agriculture and rural life from a holistic perspective”.

In addition to engaging in talks with the Heads of Government of the Americas, IICA will also participate in two parallel activities organised by the National Secretariat of the Fifth Summit of the Americas.

Other members of the delegation are Director of the Office for Follow-up of the Summit of the Americas process, Bernardo Badani; the Director of Regional Operations and Integration for the Caribbean, Trevor Murray; IICA’s representative in Trinidad and Tobago, Gregg Rawlins; and the Honorary President of the International Women’s Association of IICA, Rossana Brathwaite. (TB)

Return to Previous Page

Latest News