The Conference of Plenipotentiaries to Adopt the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region was held in Oranjestad, Aruba, between 27 September and 6 October 1999, as a result of a decision taken by the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (the Convention) in June 1998 as reflected in UNEP(WATER)/CAR IG.15/7. The Conference was convened by Mr. Nelson Andrade Colmenares, Coordinator of the Regional Coordinating Unit of the Caribbean Environment Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme and was co-hosted by the Government of Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands) and the United States of America.