Press conference at the OECS Commission Headquarters on September 26th.
WHAT
Commissioner of Grenada to the OECS H.E. Ambassador Patrick Antoine came back from an evaluation assessment after the passage of hurricane Maria in Dominica. He will give a realistic overview of the situation in the neighbouring country. WHO
Officials speakers:
H.E Ambassador Patrick Antoine, Comissionner of Grenada to the OECS
Director General of the OECS Commission Dr. Didacus Jules
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The media houses in various OECS Member States WHEN
September 26 2017 from 3:00 P.M to 4:30PM WHERE
The OECS Commission headquarters, Morne Fortune. MEDIA CONTACTS
media@oecs.org Tahira Carter
+1758-285-6250 Doris Nol
+1758-285-7399
Saint Lucians are encouraged to gather at the square (next to the cathedral) in Castries tomorrow, Tuesday September 26, to donate much-needed items for hurricane-stricken Dominica.
The community drive is geared towards children and babies affected by the hurricane, as such a special focus is placed on relief items such as baby food, baby formula, diapers, milk, baby wipes, canned food and clothing.
The Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) in the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Commerce in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) through the Regional Coconut Development Project hereby informs the public that stakeholder sensitization sessions will be carried out for the following standards:
Coconut Standards: Specification and Code of Hygienic Practice for Pre-Packaged Coconut Water.
Coconut Standard: Specification for Coconut Oil.
Stakeholder sensitization sessions will subsequently be held during the following dates with the morning session commencing at 8:30 am to 12:00 noon catered for processors/packagers of natural coconut water and in the afternoon commencing at 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm for processors of coconut oil. Stakeholders are to note relevant session and one in most proximity to their establishment.
On September 26, 2017 at Parish Hall in Dangriga Town;
On September 28, 2017 at Aquaculture Conference Room, Baking Pot Road in Central Farm, Cayo District; and
On October 11, 2017 at La Inmaculada Credit Union Ltd in Orange Walk Town commencing at 8:30 am.
The informative sessions will allow for stakeholders to be aware of the requirements of the CARICOM Regional Coconut Standards. With the advent of the growing coconut industry in Belize, it is hoped that stakeholder interest may lead to the eventual establishment and implementation of National Coconut Standards. The sessions will ultimately strengthen knowledge and disseminate information on the standard development process and the important role that stakeholders play in the development of standards. Furthermore, the sessions will increase awareness among key stakeholders of the technical requirements for coconuts. An invitation is extended to farmers and processors of pre-packaged natural coconut water or any individual with interest or expertise in the subject matter and processors of coconut oil to attend the relevant sessions.
For further information please call our office at 822-0446 or 822-0447.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has offered a grant to the Commonwealth of Dominica following the passage of Hurricane Maria, and is fast-tracking a grant for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
The Bank is making an Emergency Relief Grant of USD200,000 available to Dominica, which will assist with costs associated with damage assessments and the provision and transportation of emergency relief supplies, water and sanitation resources, roofing materials for emergency shelters and community buildings, and temporary shelter for displaced persons.
Dominica is also eligible to receive an Immediate Response Loan of up to USD750,000. The Loan, available on highly concessionary terms, is designed to support the clearing and cleaning of areas damaged by Hurricane Maria, and the emergency restoration of services.
The Bank is also in the process of providing a USD150,000 grant to CDEMA to support the ongoing mobilisation and coordination of disaster relief, given the number of recent hurricanes. Dr. Wm. Warren Smith, President of CDB, reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to provide and mobilise resources for relief and response after Hurricane Maria. “We express our deepest regret at the loss of life and damage to infrastructure in Dominica, as a result of Hurricane Maria. CDB stands ready to support the Government and people of the country in their recovery and reconstruction efforts. We take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to making the infrastructure increasingly more resilient and to minimise losses following the disaster,” he said.
Dominica is also eligible to receive a Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan. The Loan is designed to help governments with their recovery efforts, to rehabilitate social and economic infrastructure, and restore key economic sectors to better than pre-disaster operating levels. This financing also assists in reducing countries’ vulnerability to future disasters. Following Hurricane Irma, the Bank sent a team of technical specialists to Antigua and Barbuda to conduct a preliminary damage assessment, and identify national priorities for recovery and rehabilitation, and is preparing to send similar teams to other Borrowing Member Countries affected by recent hurricanes.
In December 2015, CDB approved a loan of USD30 million to assist with reconstruction after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika, which was estimated to have caused approximately USD483 million in damages and losses—the equivalent of 90 percent of Dominica’s Gross Domestic Product.
Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris’ Post-Hurricane Maria Address.
My Fellow Citizens and Residents:
With courage and resilience, our Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has braved two powerful Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, within a span of two weeks, and we have come out of them without sustaining eithercatastrophic damage or loss of life. For this we give every praise, honour and glory to Almighty God.
My Government and I express our gratitude to the public for your heightened level of preparedness and cooperation. These undoubtedly helped to mitigate the damage caused by both Hurricanes Irma and Maria.For this, we again give thanks to Godwhose Divine Providencebrought us through.On “National Clean-Up Day,” we saw the resilience of our people at work. Kittitians and Nevisians from all age groups and sectors of the population demonstrated our capacity to recover quickly as we coalesced around the common goal of returning our country to normalcy by participating in cleanup efforts on both individual and collective levels in our various communities. This was an excellent example of patriotism at work – especially at a time when our usual Independence celebrations would have been overshadowed by the passage of Hurricane Maria.
My Government commends all those patriotic and involved citizens and residents who contributed to the National Clean-up, including our security forces and other essential service employees. Our Police and Defence Force officers continue to render yeoman’s service, as well as our Fire and Rescue officers who work tirelessly to clear roads and assist homeowners. I also commend the rapid response of our Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Utilities, et al. for their efforts to bring us back to a state of normalcy. Commendations are also in order for our medical and health personnel, in particular those working in institutions such as our hospitals and The Cardin Home, who remained on the job from Monday through Wednesday to ensure that our sick, elderly and indigent citizens received the humanitarian care they so consistently need. These workers would have sacrificed personal time with their families at a time when most of us were in our homes. To all of these essential service employees we say a hearty “Thank You.” We commend that wonderful civic mindedness displayed by the numerous volunteers across St. Kitts and Nevis including the Hurricane shelter managers.
We have decided to incentivize and to provide a monetary reward for our essential services workers who went beyond the call of duty during and immediately after the hurricane. Those workers to benefit are employed with:
The Police, Defence Force, Fire and Rescue Services
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Health Department
Public Works Department
Water Department
St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd (SKELEC)
St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA)
ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation
As I drove and walked the length and breadth of our beautiful Country, I was cognizant of the fact that although St. Kitts and Nevis was battered by the protracted storm, we were spared the tragedy that too often accompanies natural disasters. It was indeed a privilege for me to have visited a number of sites and assist with the clean-up efforts.Doing so just one day after what was to be the highlight of our 34thIndependence Anniversary Celebrations was of particular symbolic importance to me.
As I reflected upon God’s never-ceasing grace and assisted in the rehabilitation of our Bay Road and Frigate Bay Strip by helping to shovel up debris along with the Minister of Public Infrastructure and employees of Public Works, the following did not escape me:
Born out of our Nation’s struggle for Independence was our majestic National Anthem, which recognizes God’s omnipresence especially during our moments of struggle.
A product of our Independence, too, is our visually appealing National Flag: with the green triangle at the top that pays homage to our fertile and verdant land –of which our forebears bequeathed stewardship to usas proud citizens and residents of this Federation.
Upon attaining Independence, we adopted “Country Above Self” as the motto of our Coat of Arms out of the recognition that vested in the future and fortunes of our great Country is the willingness of its people to place it above their own hopes, dreams and ambitions. For it is through successful nation-building and patriotism that our collective and individual desires and aspirations can attain self-actualization.
There is no Mother Britain to which we can turn for help and consideration even in the face of adversity and disaster.
All we have is us, and it is to our own ingenuity, industry and discipline to which we must look to ameliorate our conditions and advance our agenda of progress and development.
Given the significance of Independence, the Cabinet after consultation with H.E. S W Tapley Seaton ouresteemed Governor General has decided to hold the commemorative Independence Parade, Toast to the Nation and the Independence Cocktail Reception on Saturday, October 7th, 2017. More information will be provided. say that the 7th of October 2017 will be proclaimed a National Holiday.
Damage Assessment For Maria – EC $88.5 million and counting
The preliminary damage assessment reports for St. Kitts and Nevis are currently being finalized post-Hurricane Maria. Public sector infrastructure suffered significant damages. Some critical infrastructure such as our electricity and waters services, our road network at Old Road, our fisheries complex and the Irish Town Bay Road, the agricultural sector, our coastline and environment sustained serious damages. Our sporting facilities at Challengers and the Kim Collins Stadium also sustained damages. The Housing stock also suffered, as did several schools. Preliminary estimates put damage to the Federal Public sector at around EC $38.5 million and counting. That on Nevis has been put by the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) at EC $50 million for a total preliminary assessment of EC $88.5 millionin Public sector damages as a consequence of Hurricane Maria.
The Public sector received damages then of over $140 million (preliminary estimates) as a consequence of the two Hurricanes. It should be noted that so far, apart from insurance claims approved by CCRIF of US $2.29 million we are faced to carry this burden of recovery alone.
Assistance To Our Neighbours
Notwithstanding our own fiscal challenges of treating with our recovery efforts, Cabinet on Friday, September 22, 2017 approved some measure of monetary support to our neighbours:
Dominica $1million – additionally, we have declined EC $0.5m pledged by Dominica to us after Hurricane Irma. This sum was never received. We nonetheless thank Prime Minister Skerrit for his kind consideration.
British Virgin Islands $0.5 million
Anguilla $0.4 million
Antigua& Barbuda $0.4 million
St. Maarten $0.2 million
I take this opportunity to pledge the support of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis to the Commonwealth of Dominica. My Cabinet and I have reached out to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and his Government, and – as was extended to Anguilla and other islands that were previously impacted by Hurricane Irma – we have offered the use of the RLB International Airport as a staging platform for relief efforts into Dominica in the wake of Hurricane Maria. In addition to this, all four hospitals on St. Kitts and Nevis will be made available should the need for health services be required. Places will also be made available to accommodate displaced students in Dominica who are registered for upcoming CXC exams. They will be offered free enrollment into our schools until their own high schools are ready to accommodate them. Furthermore, our Federation will assist in the restoration of electricity supply to Dominica, and our Coast Guard vessels will assist with transportation where possible.
The Lord God has given the people and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis His boundless mercy and grace, and in return for His protection we offer ours, as well as compassion, to the least fortunate and the most vulnerable of our neighbours. My Fellow Citizens and Residents, today it is they who are in grave need. Tomorrow it could be us. Let us not take our good fortune for granted. We are able to help because our fiscal situation is strong.My Cabinet renews its pledge to manage the economic and fiscal affairs well.
Concessions At Home
We understand that while we help those abroad we must help those at home who suffered, too.In this regard, my Government, in an effort to help our citizens and residents deal with their damages in an expedited manner, has offered the following:
Duty-free concessions on the purchase and/or importation of building materials to repair damages to residential properties.
The Programme will be initiated immediately and will continue for a period of six months -+until the end of March 2018.Applications should be made via the Ministry of Finance. Application Forms will be available early next week and can be collected at the Ministry ofFinance (Golden Rock), Treasury Department, Inland Revenue Department, NEMA or the Ministry of Finance Website www.mof.gov.kn.
For verification of the damage claimed by each Applicant, the Ministry of Finance will rely on the list prepared by NEMA. In cases where the damage was not reported to NEMA, the Building Inspectors at the Ministry of Sustainable Development and/or Public Works Department would be consulted to verify the information provided by the Applicant.
Residents who suffered damages to their property are therefore asked to contact their construction professionals to assist with preparing estimates of the materials to repair their property. The Government is intent on helping to restore normalcy to the lives of all persons in the quickest time possible. We also hope that the repairs would result in a much stronger and more resilient housing stock in the Federation.
In closing, I must remind our Citizens and Residents that we are still in the Hurricane Season. Please continue to heed the public advisories issued by the National Disaster Mitigation Council, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Met Office, the Ministry of Health and our other Government agencies during this very active 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
May God continue to protect and bless our people. May He continue to watch over us all.
I Thank You!
CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque (in light shirt) poses with regional hurricane relief workers in Dominica
The Governments and people of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States continue to actively support their sister country Dominica following Monday night’s devastating passage of Category 5 Hurricane Maria.
“We’ve lost all that money can buy”, Prime Minister Roosevelt had disclosed after surveying the widespread damage to houses and infrastructure. A number of deaths have also been reported.
The government of close neighbour Antigua and Barbuda, while still itself in recovery mode from another Category Five Hurricane, Irma’s destructive passage over Barbuda, made an immediate pledge of US$300,000, to which Tourism Minister Asot Michael added a further US$100,000. Antigua-Barbuda’s state and private broadcast media, in particular ABS Radio and TV have been providing a critical connection between Dominica’s residents and the rest of the world, especially during the period when all broadcast and internet services were down. ABS TV provided the first broadcast by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to the world after his initial aerial tour of the devastation.
Barbados was also quick out the blocks, putting two coast guard vessels at Dominica’s disposal to help transport technical personnel and supplies. The vessels left Bridgetown loaded with water and other emergency supplies donated by Barbadians in heavily supported collection drives. Barbados has also arranged to provide much needed doctors and nurses to assist with critical medical services. Barbados coast guard vessel arrives in Dominica with supplies
With rural communities cut off by damaged or blocked roadways, Trinidad and Tobago’s helicopter service proved critical for transporting emergency personnel and assessment teams to the remote villages for damage assessment, to extract the injured and stranded, and to deliver emergency supplies. Trinidad and Tobago had previously provided its helicopter to the Antigua and Barbuda government to assist with emergency services between Antigua and sister-island Barbuda which lost more than 90 percent of its houses to Hurricane Irma and which, as a result, had to be totally evacuated. The Trinidad and Tobago government also announced that it will waive the immigration requirements for residents of Dominica for a period of six months as the CARICOM Member State rebuilds.
The Dominica Government welcomed contingents of police officers from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Jamaica among others to assist with security during this recovery period. Grenada announced that a detachment from its Special Services Unit has joined an earlier team of communication and logistics officers supporting the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU). Jamaica made available 120 members of its Defence Force Disaster Response Team to help with maintaining public order, engineering, relief distribution and damage assessment. Saint Lucia’s police contingent was joined by fire and rescue officers as well as disaster assessment officials from the country’s National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO).
The Saint Lucia Government also activated Bank accounts at major banks to collect public contributions. Grenada’s NADMA (National Disaster Management Agency) also shipped a large donation from Grenadians, including tarpaulins, water, food and other emergency supplies.
The Guyana Government donated the sum of US$100,000 to the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Management Agency (CEDEMA, the lead CARICOM Institution coordinating the Region’s response to the devastation caused by Maria, and before her, Irma and Harvey. The Government also announced the shipment of food and medical and sanitary supplies via a British C-130 military plane and a further ten containers filled with building materials for the hurricane affected islands. Two bank accounts were activated to receive public donations and the State-owned TV and Radio stations were staging a telethon on Saturday to raise further support from the Guyanese public.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines used a visiting Venezuelan military aircraft to airlift its contribution of emergency supplies to Dominica. The country’s radio stations were scheduled to have a joint radiothon on Sunday to mobilise public contributions.
CEDEMA continued its coordination though deployment of regional response teams including the Rapid Needs Assessment Team (RNAT), the CARICOM Disaster and Assessment and Coordination (CDAC) Team, Search and Rescue (SAR), and the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU). A Team from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA’) also added its expertise to the water, sanitation and hygiene component of CDEMA’s evaluation, and is helping to assess Dominica’s health facilities and water infrastructure. CDEMA’s Executive Director Ronald Jackson, and the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque have conducted first hand assessments of the damage and are providing on-location coordination. Executive Director of the Regional Security System RSS, Captain Errington Shurland is also leading his organisations work on the ground in Dominica.
CARICOM Member States used their statements to this week’s 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the need for international support for the recovery effort in Dominica and other affected islands and to reiterate their position that serious and urgent global attention must be paid to the issues surrounding climate change.
Prime Minister Skerrit of Dominica told the world body:
“The time has come for the international community to make a stand and to decide; whether it will be shoulder to shoulder with those suffering the ravages of climate change worldwide; Whether we can mitigate the consequences of unprecedented increases in sea temperatures and levels; whether to help us rebuild sustainable livelihoods; or whether the international community will merely show some pity now, and then flee….; relieved to know that this time it was not you.”
CCRIF to make payout to Dominica of US$19 million Following the Passage of Hurricane Maria.
CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) announced today that Dominica will receive a payout of US$19,294,800 under its tropical cyclone policy following the passage of Hurricane Maria on
September 19. This payout will be made within 14 days of the hurricane. CCRIF was designed to provide quick liquidity to governments of the Caribbean and Central America following catastrophic impacts from tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall. Dominica also holds an excess rainfall policy with CCRIF and assessments as to whether that policy was triggered are ongoing and will be determined in the next few days.
This payout brings the total CCRIF payouts since the start of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season to about US$50.7 million and CCRIF’s payouts since its inception in 2007 to approximately US$120 million.
CCRIF is an example of an ex-ante financing instrument and allows immediate injections of liquidity in the aftermath of disasters ensuring continuity of government operations and enabling critical infrastructure to be quickly restored and most importantly addressing humanitarian needs. For countries, an effective budget management strategy should allow for rapid mobilization of resources in case of a disaster, while protecting fiscal accounts. When a disaster occurs, governments must mobilize resources quickly without jeopardizing their fiscal balance. This is generally done by building a financial protection strategy that combines a number of instruments in a risk-layering approach to match potential financial needs and manage volatility
on the fiscal accounts. The strategy incorporates budget allocations and reserves, as well as risk transfer instruments such as CCRIF. It therefore follows that in defining an optimal national disaster risk financing strategy countries should combine both ex ante and ex post financial instruments.
CCRIF CEO, Mr. Isaac Anthony states, “While we are saddened by the devastation from both tropical cyclones Irma and Maria, we continue to be pleased to support our member countries in their time of need and are encouraged by the annual renewal of policies by our members. This provides some strong evidence that our model is a benefit to the region as well as a template that can be adopted and adapted by other regions of the world”.
The Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica addresses the general debate of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the UN.
Dominica holds dear the ideals of the United Nations;
Dominica stands in solidarity with all nations affected by recent Hurricanes and the earthquake in Mexico;
Thousands of storms now form to pound the Caribbean;
Only been two years since Tropical Storm Erika devastated Dominica;
To deny climate change is to procrastinate while the earth sinks;
We did not start the war on nature – the war has come to us;
While the big countries talk the small islands suffer;
The Caribbean does not produce greenhouse gases or contribute to global warming but we are the victims on the front line;
Our livelihoods are part of the eco-system, it is how we survive, but the reality is pure devastation;
We are shouldering the consequences of the actions of others;
We have buried loved ones and are likely to discover more fatalities;
We are declaring a national humanitarian emergency;
72,000 Dominicans lie on the front line in a war they did not choose with extensive casualties in a war they did not start;
We needs all of humanity to come together to save our planet;
A new paradigm of green economic development is needed
New Zealand pledges aid to Caribbean Countries impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The Government of New Zealand has announced that it is contributing NZ$250,000 to the immediate relief efforts for Caribbean countries affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The funding will be disbursed through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support governments in early recovery activities such as debris management and rehabilitation of basic services such as water and electricity. “New Zealand and the Caribbean have longstanding links which have been deepened by the opening of our mission in the region in 2014. I have spent time in both Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, getting to know the countries and the people, and it is heartbreaking to see the damage done by Hurricanes Irma and Maria”, said New Zealand High Commissioner Her Excellency Mrs Jan Henderson. “I am pleased that New Zealand is able to assist the Caribbean in what will be the difficult task of rebuilding lives and societies. I am however absolutely convinced that Barbuda and Dominica will build back betterwith the resilience and sense of community that embodies the Caribbean”.
New Zealand remains committed to continuing long term support in the agriculture sector in Antigua and Barbuda, and to the geothermal development project in Dominica when recovery efforts move to economic revitalisation.
The New Zealand High Commission serves Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
OECS Chairman The Hon. Allen Michael Chastanet, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, addresses the general debate of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the UN.
devastation caused by Hurricane Irma and Maria;
impossible to avoid the facts of climate change;
Small Island Developing States have repeatedly warned the international community;
multilateral discussions on development, on resilience and the sustainable development of our countries must be equitable and just;
our global reality is an increasingly integrated one;
we live in a world of imperfect choices – choices between clinging to the old systems that do not serve us, and rethinking new ways to secure a better future;
we have to harness new ideas and technology, and invest in the individuals and the generations that will build our future;
unconscionable to see our peers have to beg and plead for goodwill, and to have to depend on commercial rates to rebuild broken economies – all because the traditional system is so unyielding, archaic in its design, and at times heartless;
fortunate to receive support from friends near and far, as we seek to make a better world for those who will follow us.
PERMANENT MISSION OF SAINT LUCIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS STATEMENT BY THE HONOURABLE ALLEN M. CHASTANET
PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT LUCIA AND MINISTER FOR FINANCE, ECONOMIC GROWTH, JOB CREATION EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE
TO THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 72nd SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
NEW YORK FRIDAY 22, SEPTEMBER, 2017 Please check against delivery
Mr. President
Saint Lucia congratulates you on your assumption of the Presidency of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, and assures you of the full support and cooperation of our delegation during your tenure.
We thank your predecessor H.E. Ambassador Peter Thompson of Fiji for his able stewardship of this Assembly during the past year.
Mr. President
For Small Island States like my own in the Caribbean region, the promise of the United Nations is being tested today more than ever. The world is experiencing extraordinary change at a breathtaking pace – change that is reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our planet and the very nature of peace and security.
I arrived in New York earlier this week after a tour of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma on islands in the Caribbean and for the entire week I have been engaged in discussions focused on the region’s recovery efforts. I have also watched from afar and with a heavy heart, further destruction to my region – with Hurricane Maria’s crushing blow to the sister Isles of Dominica and Puerto Rico – claiming many lives, and saddling them with hundreds of millions if not billions in damage.
I have also listened in dismay to the silence of many and the weak acknowledgment by others, on the crisis in our region. It has awakened in me the fear that we may be on our own to chart a path forward for our region.
Mr. President
While some continue to doubt and deny the assessments of science, it is impossible to avoid the facts of climate change. In less than a month – Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Cuba, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, the Dominican Republic, St. Barts, St. John, St. Thomas, the Turks and Caicos, St Maarten, St. Martin, Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida – have all been victim to the ravages of Hurricanes that have left death and carnage in their wake. The impact has been without discrimination.
Let us acknowledge the fact that Small Island Developing States have repeatedly warned the international community that the failure to adequately respond to climate change would betray our children and condemn future generations to certain doom. I daresay that we do not have the luxury to be silent on this front anymore – we must act.
The future is now and the challenges are profound. What is fast becoming the “new normal” is the intensification of extreme weather events, which demands from us real solutions in real time. No longer can we depend on old mechanisms with dense bureaucracies that delay or limit a nation’s ability to safeguard its citizens during a crisis and slow the rebuilding effort.
I remind all here that Saint Lucia along with most of our sister CARICOM member states are anchored at the heart of hurricane alley, with our people on the front line, and too often the first to endure the ravages of mother natures fury when the storms come off the Atlantic Ocean. Today, as we look to the world for leadership and partnership, we thanks France, China and Germany for their continued leadership on climate change issues.
The Government and people of Saint Lucia offer our most sincere condolences and whatever support that we can to those in need. The ties that bind our people run deep; the pain of one is the pain of all. We ask that the global community follow this ethos – never forget that we are once global ecosystem that demands that we all be our brothers keeper.
Our Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Walcott speaks to the sense of responsibility to one’s neighbor that is rooted in our cultural DNA and the imperative of helping. Not out of a sense of duty but out of a sense of community. This Mr. President was most poignantly exemplified by Premier Dr. Orlando Smith of the British Virgin Islands as Dominica faced the imminent threat of Hurricane Maria. Dr. Smith whose own island had already been brutalized by hurricane Irma offered his unwavering support to Prime Minister Skerritt of Dominica. Even in our destitution we in the Caribbean open our hearts and means to those in need.
I pause here to also share our condolences to others in our hemisphere, notably Mexico, who has long been of support to us, but now faces a mounting death toll from earthquakes that have struck that country.
Mr. President,
I stand here and ask that we revisit many of our lofty goals, as we see inequity as the heart of all of our discussions and seek to address it. That all multilateral discussions on development, on resilience and the sustainable development of our countries – be equitable and just.
We must acknowledge that the UN will never succeed when few do well and a growing many do not.
• How can we, when the progress we make is fragile and unequal?
• How can we when we indulge our differences to the exclusion of the work we must do together?
• How can we, when inequity remains the driving force of our international system – propelling some forward and leaving too many behind?
How can we, as leaders talk about sustainable development goals when the people of our countries are stuck in a quagmire, every day struggling to survive
Fundamentally, our global reality is an increasingly integrated one. No one is spared the perils of the convulsions in our world. Our economies, natural environment and people are all connected. We in this hemisphere are not impervious to the impact of war and starvation in the Middle East and Africa; of persecution in Asia; and of the rise of nationalistic tendencies in Europe. We are stacked in a global row of dominoes, where a disruptive event in one country begets similar or worse events in neighboring countries, and spreads, impacting us all and testing our social, political and economic systems.
We live in a world of imperfect choices – choices between clinging to the old systems that do not serve us, and rethinking new ways to secure a better future. We must not turn away from the hard choices; we must not fear change. Our challenges are real, serious and many. We, the United Nations must get better at the policies that strike at the root of the problem and ground our 17 Sustainable Development Goals in one word – equity.
I must reiterate a point stated earlier, that in a time where inequity pervades every aspect of our international order, what hope do we have to successfully implement the SDGs when the deck is stacked against many of our people. How do we ensure that every one of our citizens have the most basic needs like food on their plate when we struggle from crisis to crisis. We must agree that
there should be a minimum standard of living for each and every one of our citizens;
and we must maintain base standards that provide adequate healthcare, education, housing, security and economic opportunity for every citizen in our countries.
Without establishing such standards we cannot enaggein any meaningful discussion or action plan for sustainable development.
o This is what will stem the flow of migration;
o This is what will keep our children in school and offer opportunities for them to be productive members of society;
o That is what will dull the urge that drives some to crime and others into the arms of groups that foment evil
Any overhaul of the UN system must be founded the principle of equity without which the sustainable development goals are dreams that go away when we open our eyes to our constant state of crisis.
Mr. President
I take this moment to assure the Secretary General of my country’s support in the necessary effort to reform this institution to address a new era of responsibility. At the heart of any reform of this nature, we must all – nations large and small play our role to protect the rights of individuals everywhere. In the face of mounting challenges, we must seek the courage and wisdom to act boldly and collectively – to revise outmoded programs that are so glaringly inadequate to the needs of our time.
We have to harness new ideas and technology, and invest in the individuals and the generations that will build our future. We must see more in terms of outcomes and less in terms of bureaucracy. We must come here to make a difference; and be able to return to our homes delivering on the promises that we make. The mobilization of the leadership of the world to come here is all for naught if we don’t deliver. We must come here to make a difference and not get carried away by name calling but instead, ground our discourse in common respect and a commitment to deliver to those we lead.
Mr. President
We must understand and acknowledge that when times change, so must we. Our claims to the fidelity to the words of the Charter mean nothing if we do not create new responses to old and new challenges. We must be the source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, to ensure peace and a decent life for all our citizens on a sustainable planet. This requires the constant advance of the principles our Charter prescribes. The commitments we make to each other must be honoured, thereby strengthening our trust.
Within and beyond this organization, we must look more honestly on how we categorize each other, and how the development and donor community rank us. How can we call a country a middle income one today based on its per capita GDP, when we know that its location means it likely that at some point within a decade or two, it will be impacted by a natural disaster which will bring it and its people to their knees.
It is unconscionable to see our peers have to beg and plead for goodwill, and to have to depend on commercial rates to rebuild broken economies – all because the traditional system is so unyielding, archaic in its design, and at times heartless.
This model must to change to one that allows small and developing nations the real opportunity to survive and thrive in an increasingly cold global environment. The model has to change to allow us all the opportunity to build back stronger and more resilient, the infrastructure that can secure our futures and that of our people.
Mr. President
In closing, the people of my region are resilient, we have gone through this before and will go through this again. We are a people and region committed to working together and rebuild stronger and better. We have come time and time to each other’s aid and have provided to each other the scarce resources – truly being our brother’s keeper.
We have also been very fortunate to receive support from friends near and far, as we seek to make a better world for those who will follow us. In our case, friendships like those that we have with Taiwan, Cuba and Mexico amongst others, allow us to envision a positive future.
I ask that while we may come from different places, and with different priorities, we must never forget that we share a common future – a future that will only be secure if we meet threats, challenges and opportunities together, with greater cooperation and understanding.
Our generation’s task is to engage in a common effort and towards a common purpose to answer the call of our times. Let it be said by our children’s children that we were tested and we did not fail, but we delivered to future generations a better world.
We have that obligation to our people and to our world.
Thank you Government of Saint Lucia
