I. Introduction 1. At the Sixteenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; 27th January to 1st February 2008), necessary agreements were adopted in order to proceed with the implementation of the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development (ILAC), which is part of the Implementation Plan of Johannesburg. Seven priority areas of action were selected, and the specific activities that form part of the Regional Action Plan (RAP) 2008-2009 were identified and thus a fourth biennial period of implementation of the ILAC was initiated. 2. Seven years have passed since the ILAC was approved. In this period, the countries in the region have made progress on the implementation of the ILAC and have developed experiences to make the RAP an instrument to carry out operations and focus on regional priorities in order to move towards environmental sustainability, as outlined in objective 7 of the Millennium Development Goals, and the implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity- Building. II. Objectives of the Meeting 3. The High-Level Preparatory Meeting of Experts of the Seventeenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean was held from 26th to 28th April, 2010, in Panama City, Panama. 4. The main objective of the High-Level Meeting of Experts is to make an assessment of the lessons learned and the challenges posed by the implementation of the RAP and to consider a conceptual revision (1) of its structure and modes of execution during the intersessional period, as well as to make recommendations in this regard. In addition, the experts will review the reports of the Secretariat on the implementation of the decisions (2) adopted at the Sixteenth Forum of Ministers and of the RAP 2008-2009(3). 5. It is worth noting that the Secretariat has prepared the working documents that shall allow for the discussion of the items on the agenda, as well as the reports that describe the progress of initiatives and activities of interest to the Forum, which took place since the Sixteenth Meeting of the Forum held in the Dominican Republic. III. Attendance 6. The Preparatory Meeting of Experts was attended by 35 Government representatives from 23 countries of the region, as well as 9 attendees from 4 programmes, Secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, 3 representatives from Intergovernmental Agencies, 3 representatives from 3 Governmental Organizations, and 2 special invitees. The List of Participants of this Meeting is available as Annex II to this document.
I. Introduction 1. At the Sixteenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; 27th January to 1st February 2008), necessary agreements were adopted in order to proceed with the implementation of the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development (ILAC), which is part of the Implementation Plan of Johannesburg. Seven priority areas of action were selected, and the specific activities that form part of the Regional Action Plan (RAP) 2008-2009 were identified and thus a fourth biennial period of implementation of the ILAC was initiated. 2. Seven years have passed since the ILAC was approved. In this period, the countries in the region have made progress on the implementation of the ILAC and have developed experiences to make the RAP an instrument to carry out operations and focus on regional priorities in order to move towards environmental sustainability, as outlined in objective 7 of the Millennium Development Goals, and the implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity- Building. II. Objectives of the Meeting 3. The High-Level Preparatory Meeting of Experts of the Seventeenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean was held from 26th to 28th April, 2010, in Panama City, Panama. 4. The main objective of the High-Level Meeting of Experts is to make an assessment of the lessons learned and the challenges posed by the implementation of the RAP and to consider a conceptual revision (1) of its structure and modes of execution during the intersessional period, as well as to make recommendations in this regard. In addition, the experts will review the reports of the Secretariat on the implementation of the decisions (2) adopted at the Sixteenth Forum of Ministers and of the RAP 2008-2009(3). 5. It is worth noting that the Secretariat has prepared the working documents that shall allow for the discussion of the items on the agenda, as well as the reports that describe the progress of initiatives and activities of interest to the Forum, which took place since the Sixteenth Meeting of the Forum held in the Dominican Republic. III. Attendance 6. The Preparatory Meeting of Experts was attended by 35 Government representatives from 23 countries of the region, as well as 9 attendees from 4 programmes, Secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, 3 representatives from Intergovernmental Agencies, 3 representatives from 3 Organizations, and 2 special invitees. The List of Participants of this Meeting is available as Annex II to this document. Governmental