Barbados ministers meet UN Secretary General
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| Published on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 |
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: The facilitation of the advancement of small island developing states (SIDS) is what Acting Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, hopes will be representative of the stewardship of United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
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| Mia Mottley, Acting Prime Minister of Barbados |
Mottley shared this expectation with the Secretary General during a courtesy call at Government Headquarters today, noting that the perspective of citizens from SIDS needed to be incorporated more in discussions held at the level of the UN.
She said that in spite of the achievements of these states, there were still many challenges to be overcome, stressing that the conditions necessary to sustain the quality of life to which persons had become accustomed, could change quickly.
The Acting Prime Minister pointed to the impact of climate change and increased economic volatility due to increasing oil prices, as two of the areas that needed to be addressed, and with which the United Nations could assist.
Secretary General Ban mentioned the challenges with HIV/AIDS, natural disasters and narcotic trafficking, noting that at a high-level meeting on September 24, the opportunity would be provided for the leaders of SIDS, such as Barbados, to share their concerns about these issues.
He applauded the Government of Barbados for taking the lead in the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the attainment of the millennium development goals; noting that the latter would be one of his priorities. Ban also commended this country for becoming one of the success stories as a middle income developing state (MIDC). To which, Mottley pointed out, that there was a danger in reaching this stage since it was felt that the country would no longer experience challenges. She said “the status of a MIDC could change overnight if there was a natural disaster”.
Meanwhile, in earlier talks, Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dame Billie Miller, and the Secretary General discussed a number of issues of concern to Barbados.
These included the phenomenon of climate change, the presence in the Caribbean of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, international tax cooperation, functional cooperation and UN support for the regional integration process, and CARICOM’s activities in Haiti. | | | | Reads : 347 | | | |
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