Improved social services including youth development assistance expected as OECS Secretariat and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sign Memorandum of Understanding

OECS Secretariat, Castries, St. Lucia, July 5th 2011. The OECS Secretariat and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support ongoing and planned collaboration between the two organisations on population related issues.

Youth Health Issues

The primary purpose of the agreement is to strengthen the coordination of technical assistance to support the dissemination of information from OECS Member States, particularly from their ongoing population and housing censuses, the strengthening of reproductive health services within OECS countries, including services for young people, and raising awareness of and providing services to victims of gender-based violence.

Sean Curtis Mathurin at the OECS Secretariat says these coordinated efforts are expected to contribute to the harmonization of the targeted programmes at the OECS level: “The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for mutual collaboration and exchange of information relating to the organization of events and activities in line with the areas identified. As well, the Memorandum of Understanding will strengthen coordination of those events and activities in order to maximize impact and avoid unnecessary duplication.”

Social Services

The MOU recognises the specific linkages between the mandates of the respective organisations and is designed to further strengthen those ties through collaboration on population programmes, including demographic data collection and analysis, reproductive health, and gender.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the OECS Secretariat and the UNFPA provides a broad framework for cooperation, and serves as a basis for future collaboration and reinforcement of joint initiatives in response to priority needs.