18 December 2010: Representatives of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and Australia met in Turkeyen, Guyana, on 17 December 2010, for the inaugural CARICOM-Australia High-level Meeting on the Development Assistance Partnership.

The meeting served to discuss areas and modalities through which the two sides could partner to improve CARICOM’s economic resilience, including climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR). Australia committed to providing A$17.5 million to support CARICOM’s efforts to adapt to climate change and manage the impacts of natural disasters, as part of Australia’s global A$599 million Fast-start Climate Change Finance Package announced in June 2010. These funds are expected to support the work of key regional organizations and community-level activities across the Caribbean. [CARICOM Press Release]