The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) will host its sixth high-level forum of Ministers responsible for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Grenada. The session will be held from April 11-12, 2024, at the Royalton Hotel. Ministers from the 16 member states responsible for the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) for the Caribbean are expected to participate, along with the PISLM Executive Director and the CSIDS-SOILCARE Phase 1 Project Manager. Additionally, UN FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean: Dr Renata Clarke is also expected to deliver remarks at the forum.
The event will commence with a Gala where a pivotal milestone in the history of PISLM will be realized when the three sponsor countries, through their respective Ministers responsible for UNCCD, shall sign the instrument that would bring into being PISLM as an Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) in the Caribbean Region. The Gala will also feature an Award Ceremony where the UNCCD National Focal Points (NFP) will be honoured for their service to their countries and the region.
Notably, this high-level Ministerial Forum will be the launching pad for the first session of the PISLM Ministerial Council. The objective of the Ministerial working session is to guide the PISLM Executive Committee and the PISLM Secretariat in the rollout of the PISLM IGP. In this regard, Ministers responsible for UNCCD would discuss how to promote sustainable land and sustainable soil management practices as a climate change adaptation strategy, identify areas of action and priorities moving forward and explore the possibility of further collaboration.
The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) for Caribbean SIDS, is the inter-governmental convening mechanism for the Caribbean SIDS established by the Forum of Ministers of Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean, at their fourteenth meeting held in Panama, as part of their adoption of the Caribbean SIDS Programme, pursuant to its Decision 4 of 2003.
It is the principle body assigned, by the 25th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) , held in April 2008 in Guyana, for coordinating, on behalf of CSIDS, the Land Resources components of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA, the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action ((MSI/BPOA) and the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA Pathway) in Caribbean Small Island Developing States, as well as to serve as the framework for Caribbean SIDS for the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
In this regard, PISLM is currently the Executing Agency for the CSIDS SOILCARE Phase 1 Project.
Grenada’s Minister of Economic Development and Planning, Agriculture and Lands, Forestry, Marine Resources and Cooperatives, Honourable Lennox Andrew has expressed his appreciation for Grenada to be chosen for this historic achievement and to be the host of the Region’s first IGO Office. He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to strengthening land management systems by hosting the 2024 Ministerial Council.
The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management’s mission is to harmonize policies, provide innovative solutions and capacity building in collaboration with CSIDS, and meet their obligations on sustainable land management (SLM) and soil health. Participating member states include Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Cuba.