The Commonwealth Foundation, in collaboration with the Barbados-based NGO Caribbean Policy Development Centre, will host a regional civil society consultation in Grenada at the Grand View Inn, from June 15th - 17th, 2009. This consultation is one of the several civil society consultations/seminars and workshops taking place across the Commonwealth in preparation for the Commonwealth People’s Forum which will take place in Trinidad in November, one week prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting also taking place in Trinidad. The outcome of these pan-Commonwealth consultations/seminars will feed into the reports that will inform the final communiqué of the Commonwealth People’s Forum to be presented to the CHOGM. The meeting in Grenada will be held under the theme “Partnerships for a More Equitable and Sustainable Future”. It will provide an opportunity for Caribbean civil society to reflect on and evaluate the crisis in the region as well as to share information on the various responses at the levels of civil society, public, and private sector. Among the special challenges for the region at this time are the management of health services, social justice for persons with disabilities, respect and guarantee of human rights, debt servicing, care and prevention re HIV/AIDS, issues of gender inequality and environmental governance. This regional consultation has four main objectives: 1. To identify the manifestations and impacts of the economic and financial crises in the Caribbean 2. To share information on climate change initiatives to cope with threats such as food security 3. To revisit and propose alternatives to the ideological underpinnings of current models of development 4. To forge current partnerships based on common goals and complimentary resources as a basis for long term development in the Caribbean The Commonwealth Foundation and the Caribbean NGO Policy Development Centre will also host a public lecture on “Partnerships in Food Sovereignty for a Sustainable Future – Caribbean Imperatives” at the Grenada Trade Centre at 7.30 p.m. on Monday, June 15th. Some 30 Caribbean civil society delegates along with officials from the Commonwealth Foundation are expected to join their counterparts in Grenada. The local 7-member NGO grouping, the Inter Agency Group of Development Organisations, is an affiliate of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre. Logistical support to the meeting is being provided by the Agency for Rural Transformation Ltd.(ART).