(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and Natural Resources Management and Biodiversity will be the focus of Germany’s assistance to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the programming period to 2018.

This was reiterated recently when a German delegation met in Georgetown, Guyana, to review the CARICOM-Germany technical cooperation programme. The German delegation was led by Mr. Ullrich Kinne, Deputy Head of Mission for the German Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, while the CARICOM team was led by Mr. Percival Marie, Executive Director, Resource Mobilisation and Technical Assistance (RMTA).

While outlining the areas of focus for the current programming period, the German delegation also pointed out that the CARICOM Secretariat was regarded as Germany’s major development partner in the Caribbean for the planning and coordination of regional projects.

Projects which have been approved over the last three years under the CARICOM-Germany cooperation programme have involved the provision of German resources in excess of sixty million Euros.

The current portfolio of German-funded regional projects includes three projects in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, two in Renewable Energy, two in Climate Change, and one in Natural Resources Management.

The meeting was notified of the priorities of the Community and in particular of recently approved policies for Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Security, Crime and Security, Aid for Trade, and ICT4D.

With regard to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the German delegation pointed out its awareness of the special developmental constraints of the Region and indicated an interest in holding discussions on an appropriate definition of development which took into consideration those constraints.