Sustainable Communities in Central America and the Caribbean

Grants Award Ceremony, December 11th, 2012

From left to right: Carmen Lomellin, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the United States to the OAS, Joel Hernandez, Chair of the OAS Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General, Albert R. Ramdin, OAS Assistant Secretary General

The Organization of American States announced today the recipients of 14 grants under the “Sustainable Communities in Central America and the Caribbean" Initiative, which aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations and community associations to build sustainable communities within the framework of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, noted that the initiative comes even as “the cities of the Americas are experiencing dramatic and accelerating changes.” In particular, he noted, the region is “the most urbanized hemisphere with cities housing seventy percent of the population.” Faced with this challenge, said Secretary General Insulza, “our objective is to foster resilient, more sustainable cities – reducing, for example, consumption of water and energy – while simultaneously improving the quality of life and the participation of the community.”

As implementer of the project, the Department of Sustainable Development issued a Request for Proposals (RfP) and received over 60 high-quality proposals from 14 different countries. With the assistance from a technical review panel made up of specialized international organizations and US Government agencies as well as civil society organizations with technical expertise in urban development, 14 proposals were selected to support sustainable development at the community level.

Proposals were selected based on: i) potential for innovation and technical approach, ii) project relevance as a direct response to a specific local need, iii) intended impact including the projects’ potential to improve local development patterns, iv) scope and inclusiveness of beneficiaries and stakeholders v) the likelihood of significant community improvements and the ability of the project to serve as a model or be replicated in communities with similar needs.

José Miguel Insulza
OAS Secretary General
 Organization of American States Remarks
H.E Carmen Lomellin
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the OAS
 Permanent Mission of the United States to the OAS Remarks
H.E. Nestor Mendez
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the OAS
 Permanent Mission of Belize to the OAS Remarks
Lawrence J. Gumbiner
U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative
 Permanent Mission of the United States to the OAS Keynote Address
Sherry Tross
Acting Executive Secretary for Integral Development
 Organization of American States Remarks


For further information on this project please contact Richard Huber at 202 458 3227 or by email at [email protected].