CARICOM has noted the decreased United Nations (UN) representation in the Region,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, and is calling for a stronger presence in the Caribbean community.This was disclosed at the opening ceremony of the Sixth General Meeting of the Caribbean Community and the United Nations System at the CARICOM Secretariat, Pattensen, East Coast Demerara, yesterday.Addressing the participants, Secretary-General (ag) of CARICOM, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, called attention to the closure of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Barbados “even while it was simultaneously being acknowledged that crime posed one of the biggest threats to our Region”; and the closure of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Office in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She also pointed out that the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) Sub-Regional Headquarters in Port-of-Spain, had been without a Director since Mr. Neil Pierre demitted office early last year.“We in CARICOM are of the firm belief, that while we enjoy very good working relations with our counterparts at the Head Office in New York, much more can be achieved by having a stronger UN presence in the Region,Cheap Jerseys, with the appropriate level of representation. We trust that this is a matter which the UN will take into favourable consideration and we look forward to positive feedback in the near future, regarding the re-opening of these critical agencies and the relevant appointments,Chris Culliver Dolphins Jersey, which, we are confident, will enhance an already strong partnership,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” Ms Applewhaite said.She also expressed appreciation of the UN System’s significant support and cooperation that assisted the Community’s efforts to achieve sustained social and economic development in what she characterised as an increasingly hostile international environment.The biennial meetings between CARICOM and the UN System, she said,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, represented an invaluable forum to review cooperation between the two parties,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, and, through frank exchanges, facilitate strategic planning to enhance collaboration.Discussions at the two-day meeting will provide an opportunity to assess the progress made in the four areas which were identified under the Regional Strategic Framework, adopted at the Fifth General Meeting in 2009, as the main focus for collaboration. Those areas are: (i)?? ?momentum towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; (ii) support to regional economic integration, growth and development; (iii) the creation of a safe and secure environment for citizens and respect for the rights of all; and? (iv) enhanced governance, transparency and accountability in CARICOM.