United Nations Radio

The volume of trade in Latin America and the Caribbean will drop 13% in 2009, surpassing the 10% decline in world trade expected this year. According to the most recent report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean-ECLAC, this confirms that the sector most affected by the global economic crisis in the region is trade, which is suffering an unprecedented contraction. UN Radio's Dianne Penn reports.

The Caribbean moves on the first-phase of a region-wide tsunami warning system

The first phase of a region-wide tsunami warning system was finalized earlier this month, when technical experts met at the offices of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) in Barbados to assess and put the final touches to tsunami warning protocols. The protocols come almost five years after the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed close to 300,000 people across 8 countries. I spoke with the Technical Coordinator at CDERA Alison Brome and asked her what is this project about.

More than 30 schools in Haiti are getting a makeover for the start of the school year

Thanks to new funding of US$ 4 million from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Organization for Migration -IOM is intensifying its school rehabilitation work in Haiti in time for the new school year. The new funding, part of USAID's assistance to the Haitian Ministry of Education to improve the learning environment of Haitian students, will allow the rehabilitation of 37 schools in IOM's six regions of intervention (Port-au-Prince, Cap Haïtien, Gonaïves, Les Cayes, Petit Goâve, and Saint Marc) and will benefit more than 20,000 students. As UN Radio's Diane Bailey reports, thirty per cent of the schools are expected to be completed before the beginning of the school year scheduled for the 7th of September.

Grenada's prime minister urges a more prominent role for the UN in reforming the global financial infrastructure

Tillman Thomas

While the world has changed drastically over the years, old financial rules of accessing financing have remained, thus placing the developing countries, as borrowers, at a significant disadvantage.
That's what Grenada's Prime Minister Tillman Thomas told a conference on the World Financial Crisis and its impact on development.
The prime minister said it is Grenada's position that the time has come for the United Nations to embark upon a more prominent role in reforming and restructuring of the global financial system. He said Grenada believes there is a need for a new financial architecture with a stronger regulatory framework I order to protect the global societies and secure a better future.

Producer: Donn Bobb
duration: 15'00"