From the CARICOM Secretariat (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Meaningful and lasting partnerships are critical to an effective response to HIV and AIDS in the Pan Caribbean region, particularly in the face of stern social and economic challenges. These were the views expressed when the 65-member Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) opened its ninth Annual General Meeting on 28 October in St George’s, Grenada. Under the theme “Towards Universal Access: Enhancing the Multi-sectoral Response to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean”, the three day meeting, the largest-ever convened in the eight-year existence of PANCAP, received addresses from the Honourable Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister and Minister of Legal Affairs, Grenada; Honourable Mme Justice D.P. Bernard of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary General, Caribbean Community (CARICOM); and Dr. Kevin Harvey, Chair, Caribbean Coalition of National AIDS Programme Co-ordinators (CCNAPC). It was noted that an enhanced coalition of forces involving all sectors was a key ingredient in the pursuit of a successful response to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, and that a multi-sectoral response was not an option but an urgent development imperative. Chair of the opening ceremony, PANCAP Coordinating Unit Director, Mr Carl Browne in his remarks, noted that the number of partners and supporters of PANCAP was seen as indicative of a universal recognition of the enormous prospects and possibilities as the Region sought to respond to the epidemic. On this score, collaborating partners were commended for their efforts and contribution in the fight against the HIV and AIDS epidemic, but were cautioned not to become oblivious to the fact that the HIV prevalence rate in the Region was still one and a half times that of the global average, twice that of North America and Eastern Europe, and more than five-fold that of Western and Central Europe. Participants at the meeting were reminded that in a region as small as the Caribbean, the occurrence of as many as 20,000 new HIV infections and more than 14,000 HIV-related deaths per year, “must keep us sober” and the projection of a decline in life expectancy at birth attributable to the disease “must keep us honest.” The global financial crisis and its effects on the region’s response called for stepped up political response to resource mobilization, Dr. Harvey noted. Multi-sectoral collaboration has been identified as one of the six Priority Areas to be addressed through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS, 2008 – 2012 (CRSF) which defines the medium-term strategic priorities and programmatic outreach of PANCAP. A key highlight of the opening ceremony was the Caribbean Coalition of National AIDS Programmes (CCNAPC) Awards, which recognized persons who had made outstanding contributions to the development of the CCNAPC and to their national programmes. Awards went to Minister of Social Development, Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Dr Amery Browne and former Director of the National AIDS Coordinating Committee, Mrs. Patricia Baird of Anguilla and Mrs. Ruth Jamarillo of Belize. The symbolic signing of the second Partnership Framework Agreement for the Caribbean under the United States President’s Emergency Plan for HIV and AIDS (PEPFAR) was done during the opening ceremony. The Framework will see 12 Caribbean countries benefitting from approximately US$100 million over the next five years for regional and national efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Signing on behalf of the Caribbean was Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat and on behalf of the United States Government was Mr. James Goggin, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Barbados Representative.