Parallel Event

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND INTERAGENCY CONSULTATION

8 June 2001
12:30 to 13:30

Organizers
ECLAC, Habitat, MINURVI

Opening statements by the Secretary of MINURVI (Salvador Gomila-Cuba), Ronald Bajraj (Deputy. Executive Secretary-ECLAC), Roberto Ottolenghi (Habitat), stressed the importance of the meeting which gathers multilateral agencies and Government representatives for the purpose of establishing an Interagency Committee in support of the regional ministerial constituency, MINURVI.

Roughly 70 participants which included representatives of the World Bank, IADB, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, were in attendance.

The presentations by ECLAC and Habitat stressed the necessity to strengthen the multi-sectoral approach to human settlements issues by increasingly involving multilateral agencies in the regional policy dialogue of MINURVI.

Governments' statements by Heads of Delegations (Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Jamaica, Cuba, Chile) strongly supported the initiative. All agencies' representatives, after briefly describing their involvement in human settlements issues and the scope for collaboration, indicated their acceptance of the offer to be part of the Committee about to be constituted.

There was agreement on the fact that all agencies represented in the meeting will participate in the forthcoming MINURVI meeting in Venezuela (17-19 October) where the Committee will be officially established. Follow-up will include contacting other important agencies which could not be present on this occasion.