Capacity development for The Carribean Forum for ACP States

This EU-funded project, which started in January 2015 and will run until mid 2017, will support the beneficial integration of the Caribbean Forum for ACP States (CARIFORUM) states into the world economy. Specifically, the project will contribute to the effective implementation of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement with particular reference to obligations relating to Competition, Public Procurement and Customs and Trade Facilitation.

The successful implementation of the project is also expected to enhance progress towards the achievement of regional integration, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The project will be implemented by a consortium consisting of Maastricht School of Management (responsible for Competition thematic area), Equinoccio (Spain; lead partner), London School of Economics (UK; Procurement) and SGS (Netherlands; Trade Facilitation). The project will be based on site in Georgetown, Guyana, close to the headquarters of CARIFORUM and the CARICOM Secretariat, and managed by a dedicated project management team.

Project activities are mainly orientated around the design and development of focused training programs at different levels within the three thematic areas mentioned. The initial activity, currently underway, is a comprehensive needs assessment that will result in baseline measures and identification of needs in fine detail that will shape the design phase of the series of training programs planned to roll out from mid 2015. Capacity building activities include both classroom training, blended/e-learning learning approaches and the development of manuals and booklets that will provide ongoing reference and guidelines. The project implementation team is guided by a sustainability-enhancing ethos that seeks to ensure that continuous learning and institutional change are strongly promoted through effective partnerships not only with CARIFORUM and CARICOM, but also including Higher Education Institutions and other key stakeholders in the region, such as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the CARICOM Competition Commission in Paramaribo. Important sustainability related actions include sharing and transfer of knowledge and training-of-trainer processes linked to the training with the aim of ensuring effective repeat usage.