Above: the meeting at UN headquarters (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United Nations and CARICOM have concluded a two-day meeting in New York.

This week’s meeting, the seventh official meeting between CARICOM representatives and the UN system, aimed to “reinforce the existing partnership and improve cooperation between the UN and CARICOM,” the world body said in a statement.

It included participants from more than 30 UN departments, funds and programmes, along with CARICOM officials led by Secretary General Irwin LaRocque.

“Through the years, CARICOM has demonstrated the strength of a united voice and a common vision in shaping the future of the region,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said this week. “The concerns of the Caribbean are the concerns of the United Nations.”

Jan Eliasson, deputy UN Secretary General, said the Caribbean would play an “influential role” in shaping the so-called “post-2015” agenda, or the global development framework that will follow the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.