"Declaración Conjunta Centroamérica - USA" (CONCAUSA)

In 1994 Central American leaders established the Alliance for
Sustainable Development (ALIDES) committing themselves to transform a
war-torn region into peaceful, prosperous, open, participative
democratic societies managing their resources in a sustainable manner.
In the two months following the signing of the Alliance, Central
American experts and U.S. government officials crafted the "Declaración
Conjunta Centroamérica - USA" (CONCAUSA). President Clinton and all
seven Central American heads of State signed the CONCAUSA agreement at
Summit of the Americas in Miami later that year. The CONCAUSA Agreement
is both a Declaration and an Action Plan designed to jointly achieve the
objectives of the Alliance for Sustainable Development, specifically,
protection of the region's rich biodiversity, strengthening
environmental legislation, expanding energy efficiency and promoting
more open trade.

These trade, labor, privatization and environmental themes formed part
of the agenda for the San Jose CA-US Presidential Summits in May 1997
and the Antigua Summit in March 1999. These themes also structured the
agendas for various Secretary of State meetings with CA Foreign and
Environmental Ministers and the November 1997 meeting between CA Labor
Ministers and the U.S. Secretary of Labor that reiterated our shared
interest in protecting core labor standards. On May 15, 2000, the
parties met in Panama and reviewed progress under the CONCAUSA Action
Plan. Given the progress in raising Central American environmental
standards and management of environmental issues and the opening of
markets to trade and investment, the parties decided to expand the
CONCAUSA Action Plan by adding climate change and disaster preparedness
as two new areas of cooperation.

On June 7, 2001 the Secretary of State and his counterparts in the
region signed an expanded and renewed CONCAUSA Declaration in Washington
D.C.. This action demonstrates United States support to the Central
American region, strengthens United States/Central American relations,
and supports the sustainable development of Central America through
increased competitiveness in global markets and improved environmental
management. It also reiterates the Administration's support for Central
America's economic integration, trade liberalization, and other
economic, social, and environmental objectives. The expanded CONCAUSA
now includes both disaster preparedness and climate change. It calls for
new approaches such as intensified cooperative efforts to address
climate change through scientific research, estimating and monitoring
greenhouse gases, investing in forestry conservation, enhancing energy
efficiency, utilizing new environmental technologies, enhancing capacity
to adapt to climate change, and cooperating to better understand its
regional impact. .

**Current Status:** The Central American Foreign Ministries, led by the
President Pro Tempore of SICA, currently the Nicaraguan Minister of
Foreign Relations are completing final high level approvals. GON has
informed Embassy Managua that countries are in overall agreement with
Honduras confirming its approval. Substantive technical input and
clearance has been provided by 17 USG agencies, with support by STATE/
(WHA, OES and the Environmental Hub in San Jose) and USAID/G-CAP.