conference magazine - Caribbean Environmental Health Institute

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Message from Mr. Vincent Sweeney
Regional Project Coordinator, GEF-funded Integrating
Watershed and Coastal Areas Management Project
It gives me great pleasure, both personally and professionally, to be involved in CEF-5. Many years ago I was part of the
team that organized the first CEF, in 2002, and I am therefore pleased to know that the concept of a CEF has grown from an
“experiment” to a sustained reality, through the hard work of CEHI and its partners. I am also pleased, on behalf of the GEF-
IWCAM Project, to again be a part of organizing and being involved in this event. The GEF-IWCAM project has been intimately
involved in conceptualizing each of the last three CEFs. We have integrated our programme of activities into this well
established regional forum, as part of the project’s “Partnership Forum”, which had envisaged to bring relevant partners and
stakeholders together to discuss issues, share ideas, and build a constituency behind the project’s efforts.
The GEF-IWCAM project involves thirteen Caribbean SIDS (see www.iwcam.org), including Antigua and Barbuda (which
hosted CEF-3), Grenada (which hosted CEF-4), Saint Lucia (which hosted the first CEF), and Trinidad and Tobago (which
hosted CEF-2).
The overall objective of the GEF-IWCAM project is to strengthen the commitment and capacity of the islands of the Caribbean
to implement an integrated approach to the management of watersheds and coastal areas. Through the CEF, we will be sharing
a number of the various lessons and best practices which have come out of the GEF-IWCAM project, to date. We will also
be highlighting some of the project activities that have benefitted the participating countries and which can be replicated elsewhere,
potentially. To date the project has conducted nine Demonstration Projects in eight of the Participating countries.
These demonstration projects focus on thematic issues related to Water Resources Conservation & Management; Wastewater
Treatment & Management; Land-Use Planning, Zoning & Alternative Practices; and Targeted Model IWCAM. The project
has also focused on preparation of a relevant Legislative Toolkit, laboratory capacity assessments and strengthening and
regional training in areas of greatest needs. Training has also been conducted in project management, waste management,
water resources management, and communications.
A major set of activities have involved support for regional IWRM planning.
We are particularly interested in the theme of CEF-5, and our efforts are consistent with the international consensus on what
is needed to improve water and coastal zone management, both of which are directly influenced by climate change. The U.N.,
through its Secretary-General, has urged the world to put the looming crisis over water shortages at the top of the global
agenda and take action to prevent conflicts over scarce supplies. He reminded that shortages of water contribute to poverty
and social hardship in many countries, including the Caribbean. "We need to adapt to this reality, just as we do to climate
change," said the Secretary General. As a project we intend to continue to collaborate and support efforts to move the climate
change and related agendas forward.
Thank you for your presence. We look forward to a successful CEF-5.
FIFTH BIENNIAL CARIBBEAN ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM AND EXHIBITION