Continued Initiatives

C-TRADECOM Civil Society Outreach Program

Launched in January 2004, C-TRADECOM's regional Civil Society Outreach Program (CSOP) is a pragmatic multifaceted and multi-layered activity aimed at building public awareness about the opportunities and challenges of free trade and integration in the Caribbean. The initiative is designed to provide a response to the requests for assistance made in the region's Trade Capacity Building Strategies (TCBS ) as part of the Hemispheric Cooperation Program (HCP) on one hand, while working directly with the CARICOM Secretariat to raise public awareness of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) on the other.

  Practically every country in the region has requested assistance with constituency building in one form or another, whether public awareness programs or assistance with coordinating consultations with civil society. The following countries are eligible for C-TRADECOM assistance under this initiative: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

  Activities being carried out in each country are targeted at raising awareness on trade issues and agreements among various constituencies including the general public, policymakers, the business community, special interest groups, and the media.

  To date, the program has delivered a series of events, including a Regional Workshop on Trade for Journalists and Media Practitioners (in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, CRNM), a Regional Workshop on Trade for Youth (in collaboration with the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, CPDC), and a series of activities with the CARICOM Secretariat aimed at developing CSME “champions” throughout the region.

For more information on the Civil Society Outreach Program, please contact Ms. Bronwen Alsop, CSOP Manager, at balsop@carana.com .