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The 35th FAO Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean concluded today in Montego Bay, Jamaica, after four days of intense debates on hunger and malnutrition, rural poverty and change climate.

St.Kitts-Nevis Minister of Agriculture, Health, National Health Insurance, Human Settlement, Community Development, Gender Affairs, Social Services, Cooperatives and Lands Hon. Eugene Hamilton was among Ministers and Senior Officials representing a record 37 Member States. The unprecedently high level of participation included 37 ministers and vice ministers, the vice president of the Dominican Republic and 8 ambassadors, and 35 high-level representatives from ministerial delegations and 50 non-governmental observers, civil society, private sector and academia making the conference the largest in its 35 year history.

The Regional Representative estimated that the total participation will be approximately 250 people, double the average number of past conferences, and includes 50 observers, among them other United Nations agencies.

On the closing day Hon. Eugene Hamilton was invited to participate as a panelist in a roundtable dicussion on  The theme ‘Green Financing: Green Climate Fund and GEF-7’, . The day also included discussions on global and regional issues related to regulatory and programmatic policies and budget.

The Conference  also analyzed the alarming rise in obesity, which has become an epidemic throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Countries also discussed rural development, the promotion of family agriculture, the challenges and opportunities of migration and the policies needed to improve food security for women and indigenous peoples.

The International Women’s Day was also celebrated.  Hon. Hamilton along with other Ministers, Senior Officials and  participants in the event reviewed and approved the Conference report.

Important debates about a transformation agenda towards sustainable rural development, agricultural food trade in Latin America and the Caribbean in the current international situation, were held during the conference .