At the end of its second regional conference, the Caribbean Forum of Local Government Ministers (CFLGM), has ratified and endorsed the draft policy document for enhancing local governance in the region.

 Honourable Robert Montague, minister of state with responsibility for local government, states that the policy will now be taken by member states to respective countries to be adopted by their respective governments. After which CFLGM we will be moving forward to have it adopted by the Caricom heads of government.

 More than nine ministers of local government from across the region, as well as a slew of other local government officials attended the three-day conference which ended at the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club yesterday.

 The Minister, who chaired the confab, said the document will now form the basis of a negotiating position with international aid agencies to support the work of local governance in a number of member countries.

 “We are going to speak to the FCM (Federal Confederation of Municipalities) in Canada, the Caribbean Local Government Association and the Caribbean Local Government Forum to apply for funding for a number of training and capacity- building programmes,” he said.

 The draft Regional Policy and Cooperation Framework was prepared by a technical working group, and is the product of extensive consultations at both the regional and national levels. In addition to being reviewed at the First Regional Consultation, the initial draft outline of the policy document was the subject of intense scrutiny.

 The policy has also benefited from research undertaken to determine the current status of local governance reform initiatives in the various member states; and also into the full range of international treaties, protocols and mandates relating to decentralisation, local government and local democracy, to which Caricom states are signatories or are otherwise obligated.