President Jovenel Moïse for Haiti and 11 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean ratified Thursday in New York, the Escazú Agreement, the first binding treaty on environmental policy in the region, which contains provisions on access to information, public participation and access to justice on environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On Thursday, Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said in a press conference that today a two-year process was under way for the 33 countries of the region can adhere to this treaty.

Recalling that this Regional Agreement which protects the activity of environmentalists and provides for actions to "prevent, investigate and punish attacks, threats and intimidation against human rights defenders" was adopted on 4 March 2018 in Escazú (Costa Rica) and had to be ratified by at least 11 states to enter into force. Moreover, Bárcena stressed that each new ratification or signature, in the case of the Caribbean countries, the agreement becomes a national law, which will pose problems of access to information for some institutions, because it could be challenged and resorted to non-transmission of data information

The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, which will provide the secretariat for the process, indicated that governments may be called upon to provide information to the private sector, but the idea is that the legislative and judicial powers guarantee access to data for Civil Society.

Télécharger le texte de l’accord d'Escazú (PDF) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/S1800428_en.pdf

SL/ HaitiLibre