The Government of Grenada in partnership with the Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD), the National Council for Reconstruction and Development (NCRD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has organized a national consultation to build consensus on the way forward for Grenada, for Tuesday December 7th, 2004, at the Granada Trade Centre, Morne Rouge, St. George’s. The theme for the consultation is “Towards Sustainable Recovery for Grenada”. This consultation is part of the support that UNDP is providing to the Government of Grenada in the recovery process after Hurricane Ivan. The consultation is envisaged as the beginning of an ongoing process to facilitate the participation of key national stakeholders in the articulation, implementation, and monitoring of the recovery process. It also seeks to build consensus and coordination among different stakeholders at the national, international, and community levels for an efficient and sustainable recovery. In order to help build a common vision for Grenada’s future, the consultation will seek to establish a common understanding of the challenges Grenada faces, as a starting point, a joint framework within which stakeholders will work to shape the recovery process, and common criteria to monitor and evaluate progress. The process will emphasise the need to factor disaster risk considerations in the recovery and development programmes to avoid rebuilding previous or new vulnerabilities and reduce future risks. The consultation will be built around sectoral roundtables that will analyse and define the challenges and identify the main lines of work to be addressed by the recovery plan, as well as the coordination/consultative mechanisms. It is expected that this consultation will be part of an ongoing set of consultations on the recovery process, and help to refine the reconstruction programme and the long-term development plan that the Government will formulate. The strength of the consultation is in the capacity to convoke key stakeholders, as well as facilitate a participatory process for the recovery. The objective of the exercise is to generate a shared understanding of the challenges that confront Grenada and a process of general consensus around the recovery plan, its implementation and follow up between the government and involved stakeholders at national, international, and community levels. It is intended that the consultation also results in the establishment of an ongoing mechanism for reporting to the citizenry, through the Agency for Reconstruction and Development. Participants for the exercise would include decision-makers involved in recovery and development process in the Country: Members of the Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD), representatives of line ministries and national institutions, political parties, and civil society, including youth, trade unions, the private sector, religious organisations, the academic and scientific community, mass media, and community-based organisations, and other development partners. The expected results of the consultation are to have: A “Grenada Declaration” setting forth consensus principles to guide Grenada’s recovery. A National Recovery Plan enriched with inputs from involved stakeholders and consensus-building process, as well as mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the recovery plan established. Improved understanding of the impact of Hurricane Ivan and its linkages with the levels of vulnerability and risk in the country. The output of the consultation will be disseminated to the public through creative radio and TV communications and also through easily understandable print materials that can be used in schools. Source: Ministry of Finance