Mr. Nelson Andrade Colmenares, Coordinator of UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme received the ceremonial cup from the Mediterranean Partnership Programme to be host for the next International Waters Conference of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which takes place in 2013.  

This followed the successful conclusion of the 6^th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from 17^th – 20^th October.   It marks the first time that this international conference will be hosted in the Wider Caribbean Region and comes at a time when two of the more successful GEF International Waters Projects in the region – the GEF Reducing Pesticide Run-off to the Caribbean Sea (REPCar) and the Integrating Watershed and Coastal Area Management (IWCAM) for Caribbean SIDS are coming to an end.  

Both of these projects contributed significantly to the recent entry into force of the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol).  The hosting of this conference further recognizes the continued commitment by the countries of the Wider Caribbean to address several interrelated issues of coastal zone management, pollution prevention, water resource management and their linkages with land use planning and climate change.  All these efforts are being coordinated within the framework of the Cartagena Convention for the protection and sustainable development of the Wider Caribbean Region for which the Caribbean Environment Programme is the Secretariat.