On Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th of December 2017 in Cayenne (French Guiana), the European Program of territorial cooperation "InterReg Caribbean 2014-2020", organizes its 4th Monitoring Committee and its 3rd Selection Committee.

Recall that the InterReg program (Interregions) Caribbean, is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the tune of 64.2 million euros and supports cooperative actions to strengthen the economic development of the Caribbean.

It is intended to support projects involving actors from the Ultra Peripheral Regions (RUP) of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Saint Martin involved in a partnership with organizations from the Caribbean region, ie nearly 40 Overseas Countries or Territories (OCT).

The Committee is meeting in order to review 14 projects, including 3 in partnership with Haiti. These 14 projects focus on the following thematic priorities :

• Competitiveness, innovation, employment, development of a business flow in the area ;

• Strengthening natural hazard response capacities ;

• Protection and enhancement of the natural and cultural environment ;

• Concerted response to public health issues ;

• Support for renewable energy development initiatives ;

• Strengthening human capital (training, mobility, language learning).

This is also the first time that the first Selection Committee on the European Development Fund (EDF) will be held for the benefit of operators from the Caribbean States. With a budget of € 2.9 million, the EDF has been delegated to the Regional Council of Guadeloupe in its capacity as managing authority of the InterReg Caribbean program thus enabling a strengthening of the political, economic and technical dialogue between the CARICOM / CARIFORUM, the RUP and the PTOM.

Let's clarify that the Monitoring Committee, which validates the strategic decisions intended to ensure the smooth running of the program, is composed of representatives of the Guadeloupe Regional Council assisted by the Joint Secretariat, local authorities of Guyana and Martinique, the community of Saint-Martin, of prefectures, the network of embassies of the zone, the European Commission, representatives of civil society, representatives of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), CARICOM (Caribbean Community) and the OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States).

The selection committee, of tighter composition, decides on the programming of projects submitted to it. On Thursday 14 December, 12 projects will be presented to the selection committee for an ERDF application and 6 for an EDF application.

HL/ HaitiLibre