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The third day of the debate at the 81st United Nations General Assembly kicked off in New York on Thursday as world leaders continue to discuss main challenges. Our colleague, Jorge Gestoso, has the latest updates on today's session.
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00:00And now we go live to the United Nations recorders at this hour.
00:03Mia Amor Motley, Prime Minister of Barbados, is at this moment taking the podium to offer her statements
00:09before the United Nations General Assembly in its 81st session.
00:13So let's listen to her statements.
00:20Mr. President, Excellencies, my friends.
00:25We meet at a time when the obstacles confronting human progress are multiplying.
00:32Obstacles to peace, obstacles to food and clean water, obstacles to finance, medicine and education.
00:41Obstacles to movement and opportunity, obstacles to technology, to the knowledge and infrastructure needed to use it.
00:49And increasingly, obstacles between nations, between communities and between people who no longer agree on the same facts
00:59or trust the same institutions.
01:02War continues to destroy lives and communities, even though the international community possesses more tools than ever,
01:10ever before, to prevent conflict and to facilitate dialogue.
01:15The climate crisis is accelerating, even though the science is clear enough for us to act,
01:23and many of the solutions are already known.
01:27And despite unprecedented global wealth, millions remain without reliable access to food, water, health or shelter.
01:39These challenges, my friends, are creating the polycrises of which we constantly speak.
01:45And at the same time, new challenges are emerging.
01:49Artificial intelligence is opening extraordinary possibilities in health, education, science and productivity,
01:57while also creating new risk of exclusion, exploitation, surveillance and the distortion of truth.
02:05And yet, the cooperation needed to confront these challenges is under strain.
02:12It is why I believe the theme this year is so apt, restoring trust, managing transformation, a united nation that
02:21delivers for all.
02:22The theme reminds us that we have institutions created to preserve peace, to advance development and, yes, to protect human
02:31dignity.
02:32The institutions are these very united nations.
02:37We have shared principles grounded in sovereign equality and in the recognition that our responsibilities extend beyond borders.
02:46The reality is that we understand that there is, regrettably, enough for us to be able to invest in prevention
03:00rather than waiting to finance reconstruction.
03:05We understand enough about the climate crisis to reduce the emissions that are warming our planet and take the necessary
03:13steps for our populations to adapt.
03:16We equally now understand enough about the rapid development of AI to know that as we welcome its promise,
03:24we must anchor its development in a universal humanizing framework that does not imperil our existence as human beings.
03:35The failure, my friends, to address these challenges, therefore, is not one simply of knowledge or capacity.
03:43It is our repeated failure to convert what we know into what we do, to turn principle into practice and
03:51global capacity into solidarity.
03:55So beneath our many crises lies yet another one.
03:59And yes, it is a crisis of responsibility.
04:03Mr. President, that responsibility begins here in these halls.
04:08The transformation we seek for a better world will only happen when we trust each other and we accept our
04:14responsibility for each other.
04:17We in the Caribbean understand something about the necessity of living together.
04:23We had no choice.
04:26Barbadian novelist and essayist George Lamming once described the Caribbean as perhaps the first global world.
04:33It is a global experiment in human history bringing together and I quote every branch of the human family from
04:40the indigenous peoples of the Americas to the diverse peoples from Africa, Europe, and Asia.
04:45It is as though that we through this torturous and shared history of migration, conquest, slavery,
04:52and the difficult work of constructing a common national and regional destiny, that we give the world an example to
05:00follow.
05:01Against all the odds, the Caribbean produced what Lamming called a new kind of global family.
05:08Our history has taught us that difference need not mean division, that coexistence requires dialogue and negotiation,
05:19and that those without the power to compel must learn the power of persuasion.
05:27These are not merely Caribbean lessons, they're universal.
05:31And it is in this spirit I'd like to thank Her Excellency Annalena Birbock for her leadership of the General
05:38Assembly's 80th session
05:39and for helping to advance the work of the member states on UN reform.
05:44And to you, Mr. President, Barbados extends its warm congratulations.
05:50We look forward to your stewardship of this Assembly, and we move to restore trust, and indeed to carry reforms
05:59from proposals to implementation.
06:02But reform cannot be selective.
06:06We cannot move swiftly to reorganize offices and reporting lines while allowing the most consequential questions of power and representation
06:15to remain unresolved.
06:18Transformation and development, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid cannot succeed if member states are unwilling to fund it.
06:26Let's be very clear.
06:28No organizational chart can overcome the refusal of states to respect decisions that they find inconvenient.
06:36We cannot continue to ask international organizations to do more, while failing to provide them with the resources necessary to
06:46fulfill the mandates that we ourselves have agreed.
06:50And if member states believe in the institutions that they have created, then we must also be prepared to sustain
07:00them.
07:02Barbados has consistently met that responsibility, and I give this body the assurance that we will continue to do so.
07:10Our commitment to multilateralism, to an international rules-based order, must be measured not only by what we ask of
07:18these institutions, but by our willingness to support them.
07:21So, yes, let us improve the machinery, but let us also reform the exercise of power.
07:29The Security Council still has 15 members, five of them permanent and armed with that veto.
07:38Africa, with 54 states, has no permanent seat.
07:42And you've heard speaker after speaker after speaker come to this platform to say that this must change.
07:52Small island developing states equally confront threats that now reach squarely into the Council's mandate,
08:00from climate insecurity and illicit armed flows to organized crime and displacement.
08:06And yet, despite constituting one-quarter of the world's states, we have no assured representation within the Councils.
08:16This, too, my friends, must change.
08:20And the world, we know, has already changed.
08:25The Council has not changed with it.
08:28But reform is not only about who sits at the table.
08:33It is about how power is exercised.
08:36Barbados is therefore joining 123 other member states in supporting the Franco-Mexican initiative on the use of the veto
08:45in the cases of mass atrocities.
08:49Its principle is fundamental.
08:53Where populations face genocide, crimes against humanity, or large-scale war crimes,
09:01the veto should not be allowed to paralyze the Security Council when action is most urgently needed.
09:10This is why people are losing trust in the United Nations and its Council.
09:15And, Mr. President, it's not fair to the majority of member states who still believe in the promise of this
09:22body.
09:23Even as we call for greater equity with the reform of the Security Council,
09:29we must equally reform the secretariat to better support peacekeeping and the resolution of conflicts.
09:36We've been told that there are more conflicts today than at any time since the United Nations was established.
09:44And, regrettably, these conflicts are in almost every corner of the planet.
09:47The Oslo Peace Institute reported that in 2025, last year,
09:56245,000 individuals faced battle-related deaths.
10:02That is almost Barbados' population.
10:07I'm told that this makes it the third most violent year in the post-Cold War era.
10:15My friends, the scale of human tragedy is mounting.
10:21And whether it is in Gaza, or the West Bank, or Lebanon, or Yemen, or Sudan, or Ukraine, or elsewhere,
10:30last year, we feared that there was a risk of conflicts in the Middle East widening even further.
10:39And the conflicts continue.
10:42These fears, regrettably, have come to pass.
10:46And with a global impact, nevertheless.
10:52Indeed, conflicts are more protracted and more fragmented.
10:56And when coupled with hunger and unsustainable debt and a warming planet,
11:01it becomes a veritable hell for the citizens of those countries.
11:09Increases in energy and transport costs and in interest rates have spurred inflation.
11:16It means that no one, even on the other side of the world,
11:22can escape the hardships in meeting their daily needs.
11:26The truth is, until there is a two-state solution that respects the rights and territories
11:34of both the Israelis and Palestinians, we will continue to live on the edge in this work.
11:50And you may well ask, how have we gotten here?
11:53We need to address with laser-like focus each and every one of these conflicts.
12:01Legitimacy demands that of us.
12:03And let us let the UN deliberately and systematically deploy nimble mediation teams,
12:10led by political leaders, current and retired,
12:15on behalf of the Secretary-General and enjoying the Secretary-General's confidence and authority
12:21and the respect of member states.
12:24This, my friends, will help lift the heavy weight necessary to end these multiple conflicts
12:31and to bring peace and dignity to those affected populations.
12:37We know that many hands make light work.
12:40And we can't ignore it.
12:42These conflicts need to be supported by a quicker and technology-enhanced observer force,
12:48capable of rapid deployment to monitor and support ceasefires and peace agreements,
12:55to be given the resources.
12:58These peacekeeping forces must be given realistic mandates,
13:03predictable financing, and true partnership.
13:07Let us work, my friends, together with the parties to these conflicts,
13:13to build dialogue and to bring opportunities for investment and jobs to the affected populations
13:19so that they, too, can live properly.
13:22And as for the wider international legal order,
13:26we know that countries of every size and capacity depend on a system
13:31in which rules are made collectively and applied consistently and fairly.
13:35But if we don't act early enough, we have trouble.
13:39And that is why we say that the UN must receive the resources and the resolve to act
13:45before the guns speak and not after the guns start to fly.
13:51My friends, without an equitable rules-based order,
13:56smaller states like mine will simply cease to exist in this world.
14:02And that is why Barbados is a co-sponsor of the P4M,
14:05a group focused on strengthening multilateralism
14:09and to beat back the undertakers who are waiting to bury it.
14:14Mr. President, I would like to express profound appreciation
14:19to the Secretary-General, my brother Antonio Guterres.
14:23His voice has been constant, steady,
14:28and absolutely right on all of the critical issues facing humanity.
14:35And to his deputy, Amina Mohamed,
14:39we also say thank you for taking the journey
14:42without diverting from the principles and the core values of this Charter.
14:49As the United Nations undertakes the important task
14:52of selecting its next Secretary-General,
14:55Barbados joins its sister member states in the Caribbean community
14:59in pledging its full support for the candidature
15:03of Ambassador Carolyn Rodriguez-Burkett of Guyana.
15:12At a moment when the international community is being called upon
15:17to renew its faith in multilateralism,
15:18we believe that Ambassador Rodriguez-Burkett brings to this task
15:24the experience, the skills, and the understanding
15:27to serve the entire membership of this organization.
15:31Indeed, Mr. President, I believe that others think so too.
15:41I'd like, sir, to turn to the topic of artificial intelligence,
15:45which is one of our new challenges.
15:47AI is already transforming how we work, learn, and govern.
15:51And it is clear that its potential is extraordinary.
15:55We have found that it has great capacity to detect disease earlier,
15:59predict disasters, improve agriculture,
16:01and expand access to education and public services.
16:04And yet, these same extraordinary systems
16:08can just as quickly reproduce discrimination,
16:11widen surveillance, and spread falsehoods
16:13faster than institutions can respond.
16:17We must not allow a new technological age
16:21to reproduce all hierarchies of access and power.
16:25And this is why Barbados is so honored
16:28to host the second in-person meeting
16:30of the Independent International Scientific Panel
16:33on Artificial Intelligence,
16:35which will be held in November of this year.
16:38We recognize that yesterday's Security Council encounter
16:41may well and should speed on
16:44the question of how we as a global community
16:47deals with this issue.
16:49In the growing age of AI,
16:51governance cannot be left
16:53to voluntary corporate practices
16:55or to a small number of technologically advanced states.
17:01We need globally agreed rules
17:03that protect human dignity,
17:04preserve meaningful human oversight,
17:07and ensure that the benefits of AI
17:09are shared widely and equitably.
17:13I caution,
17:14a technology that will affect every state
17:17must be governed by the rules
17:19that every state has had the opportunity to shape.
17:23Mr. President,
17:25exactly 65 years ago,
17:28that great Caribbean, French,
17:30African intellectual and psychiatrist,
17:31Franz Fanon,
17:32published what has now become a classic,
17:34The Wretched of the Earth.
17:36And across the vast range of observations
17:39and analysis that he made
17:40in that extraordinarily lucid and prescient book,
17:45he said the following,
17:47What matters today
17:49is the issue which blocks the horizon
17:52is the need for a redistribution of wealth.
17:57Humanity will have to address this question
17:59no matter how devastating the consequences may be.
18:04My friends,
18:05this was harringly true in 1961
18:08and sadly remains manifest today.
18:12This is why Barbados throws its full support
18:15behind the establishment
18:16of the International Panel on Inequality
18:19that is being proposed.
18:21Growing inequality
18:22is at the centre of geopolitical discussions,
18:27tensions,
18:28distrust in institutions,
18:30and indeed,
18:31the increasing number of conflicts that we see.
18:34It is for this reason
18:35that we reject the notion
18:36that governments must refrain
18:38from policy interventions
18:39that are essential to creating
18:41a level and fair play and feel
18:43for ordinary citizens.
18:45We know that it is the policy choices
18:48of government
18:48that has led to this injustice
18:50and it is the policy choices
18:53of governments
18:54that must now remove it.
18:56For us,
18:57this is as important a battle
18:59as the climate crisis.
19:02And Mr. President,
19:04that brings me to that crisis.
19:07Minister Murat Kuram,
19:09representing the incoming
19:11COP31 presidency,
19:12has put the challenge plainly.
19:14The time
19:15for simply setting out goals
19:18is behind us.
19:21Anyone who experienced this summer
19:23in Europe
19:24and elsewhere
19:25knows that.
19:27It was the hottest on record.
19:29And the super El Nino
19:31has not even yet hit.
19:34The proposed action agenda
19:36places methane reduction
19:38at the center
19:39of climate implementation.
19:41And we welcome that focus.
19:42It is true
19:43that carbon dioxide
19:45must remain central
19:46to the global energy transition.
19:48But emissions
19:49are not falling quickly enough.
19:52And the full benefits
19:53of action
19:54will take time
19:56to emerge.
19:57So, Mr. President,
19:59under Barbados' presidency
20:01of the CVF Climate Vulnerable Forum
20:04and its V20 countries,
20:0774 countries
20:08got together
20:10and advanced the call
20:12to pull
20:13the methane
20:14emergency brake.
20:16At the V20
20:17ministerial dialogue
20:18in April of this year,
20:19the finance ministers
20:20agreed that
20:21methane reduction
20:22must be treated
20:23not only as
20:24an environmental priority,
20:26but also an economic,
20:27fiscal,
20:28and public health
20:29opportunity.
20:31We must now
20:32implement.
20:33the climate
20:35vulnerable countries
20:35need
20:36to mobilize
20:37approximately
20:38$490 billion
20:41each year
20:42by 2030.
20:44And yet,
20:45the current
20:46inflows
20:47are roughly
20:48$90 billion.
20:50As the young people
20:51in Barbados
20:52would say,
20:53the math
20:54simply
20:54ain't mathin'.
21:02We must also
21:03correct the inequity
21:04of the borrowing
21:05costs that
21:06these countries
21:06face.
21:07It is almost
21:081.2 percentage
21:10points higher
21:11for climate
21:12vulnerable countries
21:13than for advanced
21:14economies.
21:14Now, that figure
21:15seems small to you,
21:17but that actually
21:18generates an estimated
21:20$62 billion
21:21more a year
21:22in excess
21:23interest payments
21:24each year.
21:26This cannot be fair.
21:28So that,
21:29believe me,
21:30when I say
21:30that change
21:31is possible,
21:32as we have seen
21:33consistently with
21:34measures from
21:35the Bridgetown
21:36Initiative.
21:36In less than
21:37one year,
21:39Barbados,
21:39as chair of the
21:40climate-vulnerable
21:41countries,
21:42the V20 countries,
21:43along with the
21:44OPEC Fund
21:45for International
21:45Development,
21:46designed and
21:47launched the
21:48Vulnerability to
21:49Viability Compact
21:50on four pillars,
21:52bringing about
21:5374 countries
21:54along with
21:5616 development
21:57finance institutions
21:58globally
21:59to expand access
22:01to affordable
22:02long-term capital
22:03for education
22:04projects,
22:05health projects,
22:06and water
22:07infrastructure.
22:08The CVF
22:09also had its
22:11governors of the
22:13central bank
22:13meet to
22:15establish the
22:16Lifeline Fund
22:18which will
22:19shortly be
22:20operationalized.
22:21It seeks to
22:22provide rapid
22:23liquidity when
22:24climate shocks
22:25create balance of
22:26payments pressures
22:27for countries.
22:28So we are moving
22:30to help ourselves.
22:31We have been
22:31resolute.
22:32And the reason
22:33for it is that
22:34we know that
22:35you cannot build
22:36hospitals and
22:37schools and
22:38water infrastructure
22:39with 10- and
22:4015-year money.
22:42It crowds out
22:43critical investments
22:44for our people
22:45and leaves you
22:46flat-footed.
22:47And that is why
22:49this important
22:49initiative represents
22:51real progress.
22:53But mechanisms
22:54such as this one
22:55cannot on their
22:56own address the
22:57underlying flaws
22:58of the international
22:58financial architecture.
23:00I repeat that
23:02for almost five
23:03years the
23:04Bridgetown Initiative
23:05has consistently
23:06argued that
23:07climate resilience,
23:09debt sustainability,
23:10and access to
23:11affordable finance
23:12cannot be treated
23:13separately.
23:14For many
23:15vulnerable countries,
23:17the problem is not
23:18simply the availability
23:19of capital, but
23:20whether we have
23:21the fiscal space
23:22to borrow and
23:23to invest on
23:23reasonable terms.
23:26Mr. President,
23:27as I turn to my
23:29region in the
23:29Caribbean, I'd like
23:31to highlight a
23:32series of crises
23:33that continue to
23:34threaten our peace,
23:35stability, and
23:36development.
23:38Let me say at the
23:39outset that when I
23:40speak about letting
23:42many hands make
23:43light work when it
23:44comes to conflict
23:45resolution, that
23:46this is one of the
23:47areas in which the
23:48political leaders of
23:49the Caribbean can
23:50play a pivotal role
23:52in its own region.
23:54Firstly, Haiti.
23:56The security crisis
23:57continues to retard
23:59political renewal
24:00and economic recovery.
24:02And still, the
24:03preparations for a
24:04return to
24:05constitutional
24:05government, yes,
24:06are moving forward,
24:08even with great
24:09difficulty.
24:10But those efforts
24:11cannot succeed
24:14unless security
24:15improves, particularly
24:17in the areas
24:18containing more
24:19than half of
24:20Haiti's electorate
24:21in the capital
24:23and surrounding
24:23areas.
24:25Barbados, therefore,
24:26supports the full
24:27deployment that
24:28has been too, too,
24:30too long promised
24:31and the renewal
24:32of the mandate of
24:34the gang suppression
24:34force.
24:36Let me remind you
24:37that it was in
24:372022 that this
24:39recent, more
24:39heightened state
24:40of insecurity
24:41began with the
24:42fuel riots just
24:44before the General
24:45Assembly met in
24:462022.
24:48And in 2026, we
24:50have not kept
24:52faith with providing
24:53the level of
24:54security that would
24:55minimize the loss
24:56of life.
24:57At the same time,
24:59we have to give
25:00thanks where thanks
25:01is due.
25:01And there are
25:02member states who
25:03have contributed in
25:04whatever way to
25:05helping Haiti find
25:06its path.
25:07This includes, of
25:08course, the
25:09Caribbean community's
25:10eminent persons
25:11group, which has
25:12been helping to
25:13build consensus
25:14and maintain
25:14engagement with
25:16key international
25:16partners in the
25:17last few years.
25:19In addition, Mr.
25:20President, we are
25:21deeply concerned by
25:24the worsening
25:24humanitarian
25:25pressures facing the
25:26people of Cuba.
25:28Too many people are
25:29suffering.
25:30Too many people.
25:33Restrictions on
25:33trade, finance, and
25:36access to fuel are
25:38intensifying hardship
25:39not only for Cuban
25:40citizens, but for all
25:42others who study and
25:43live there.
25:45Barbados has each year
25:46opposed the use of the
25:47embargo and other
25:49unilateral coercive
25:50measures against Cuba.
25:51And as always, we call
25:54for constructive
25:55engagement.
25:55constructive engagement
25:58grounded in dialogue,
25:59sovereign equality, and
26:01respect for
26:02international law.
26:04That is why we are
26:05here as individual
26:07states.
26:08We will also extend
26:09our continued
26:11solidarity to the
26:13people of Venezuela
26:13who, regrettably, are
26:16recovering from the
26:17devastating double
26:19earthquakes in June.
26:20The horror was
26:22mind-blowing.
26:24Barbados was proud to
26:25stand with our
26:26neighbor in the
26:27immediate aftermath
26:28dispatching our field
26:29hospital and personnel
26:30to Venezuela.
26:31We remain committed
26:33to supporting them
26:34in their longer-term
26:35recovery.
26:37A stable, sovereign,
26:39peaceful, and
26:40democratic Venezuela
26:41is vital to the
26:43security and
26:43prosperity of not
26:44just Latin America,
26:45but the wider
26:46Caribbean.
26:48In this regard,
26:49however, I
26:50must take this
26:51opportunity to
26:52reiterate Barbados's
26:53steadfast support
26:54to its sister
26:55of CARICOM,
26:56its sister CARICOM
26:57country, Guyana,
26:59as it seeks to
27:00bring a peaceful
27:01resolution through
27:02the International
27:03Court of Justice
27:04for the long
27:05outstanding
27:05territorial
27:06controversy with
27:08Venezuela.
27:09This is in the
27:10interest of the
27:11people of Guyana,
27:12the people of
27:13Venezuela, and the
27:14wider people of
27:15the Caribbean and
27:16Latin America.
27:17The Caribbean, my
27:18friends, must
27:20remain a zone
27:22of peace.
27:23We cannot
27:24accept our
27:25region becoming
27:26a theater.
27:31We cannot
27:32accept our
27:34region becoming
27:34a theater for
27:35confrontation or
27:37for the unilateral
27:38and unjustified
27:39use of force.
27:41Mr. President,
27:43it brings me to
27:43another matter.
27:44On March 25th of
27:45this year, a historic
27:47resolution was passed
27:48in this General
27:49Assembly.
27:50The overwhelming
27:51majority of states
27:52acknowledge the truth
27:53that we in the
27:54Caribbean long knew.
27:56The trafficking of
27:57enslaved African
27:58and racialized
28:00chattel enslavement
28:01of Africans is the
28:04gravest crime
28:05against humanity.
28:14And we know it.
28:16Regrettably, we still
28:17carry the stars.
28:20I've reminded us
28:21that it was my country,
28:23Barbados, that passed
28:24the first slave code
28:25that the world knew
28:26in 1661 to deal
28:28with chattel slavery.
28:29others regrettably
28:32followed, including
28:33the infamous
28:34code noir of
28:361685.
28:37That code noir
28:39was only repealed
28:41this year.
28:42And then, hence,
28:44the wounds are
28:45still raw.
28:47We in Barbados
28:48accept the moral
28:49responsibility of
28:51removing the cross
28:52of slavery with its
28:53horrific consequences.
28:55We must effect
28:56healing through
28:57repartory justice.
28:59for it is the
29:00right thing to do.
29:06As a result,
29:08in July of this year,
29:09CARICOM heads of
29:10government approved
29:11the revised CARICOM
29:1210-point plan
29:13for repartory justice.
29:14For the Caribbean,
29:16for Africa,
29:16and for those
29:18countries concerned,
29:19the honest engagement
29:21must begin.
29:22And I thank
29:23President Mahama
29:24of Ghana
29:25for coming to the
29:26table with the force
29:27with which he has
29:28come.
29:30We do not ask
29:31for reparations
29:32without accepting
29:33responsibility for
29:34our own self-repair,
29:36which we have
29:36undertaken for decades.
29:38I want to be very
29:39clear about this,
29:41Mr. President.
29:43I make the same
29:44mistake as
29:44President Mahama.
29:46We are
29:47parliamentarians.
29:49I want to make this
29:51clear.
29:52Let there be no doubt,
29:54Mr. President,
29:55that the mindset that
29:57established,
29:58justified,
29:59and sustains slavery
30:01is the same mindset
30:03that sustains the
30:05inequities
30:05and the inequities
30:07within the power
30:08structures
30:08of this very
30:10institution
30:10and within the
30:11international financial
30:12architecture.
30:13It is the same
30:15mindset
30:22that caused
30:23a global map
30:25to remain
30:25grossly inaccurate
30:27on the size of
30:28Africa for
30:29centuries.
30:33As if the true
30:34size of Africa
30:35would intimidate
30:36the rest of the
30:37world into
30:38understanding its
30:39power.
30:39Mr. President,
30:41if we want
30:43to restore
30:43trust in
30:44these United
30:45Nations
30:46and we want
30:47to manage
30:48transformation
30:49as is your
30:50theme,
30:51and we want
30:52a UN that
30:53truly delivers
30:54for everyone,
30:56then at its
30:57core,
30:58we must treat
30:59every human
31:00being as
31:01having equal
31:02value and
31:04deserving
31:04respect.
31:06And I can
31:07find no better
31:07reference than
31:08His Majesty
31:09Hayley Selassie
31:10speaking in
31:12this very
31:13assembly on
31:13the 4th of
31:14October 1963.
31:17And those
31:18who know the
31:18words can
31:19say it with
31:20me until
31:21the philosophy
31:23which holds
31:24one race
31:24superior and
31:26another
31:27inferior is
31:29finally and
31:31permanently
31:32discredited
31:34and abandoned
31:35everywhere
31:36is war.
31:47until
31:47they are
31:48no longer
31:49first-class
31:50and second-class
31:51citizens of
31:52any nation,
31:53until the
31:54color of a
31:55man's skin
31:56has of no
31:58more significance
31:59than the
32:00color of his
32:01eyes,
32:02there will
32:03be war.
32:04But Mr.
32:06President,
32:07equally,
32:10there will
32:11be no
32:12trust and
32:13no
32:13transformation.
32:15We want
32:16peace.
32:18And in the
32:18words of that
32:19iconic song
32:20made famous
32:21by Dion
32:21Warwick,
32:22what the
32:23world needs
32:24now is
32:25love,
32:26sweet love.
32:27It's the
32:28only thing
32:29that there's
32:30just too
32:30little love.
32:31no, not
32:33just for
32:33some, but
32:35for everyone,
32:36love and a
32:37little kindness.
32:39So, Mr.
32:40President, I end
32:40this statement by
32:41returning to the
32:42beginning of a
32:44milestone of
32:45profound importance
32:46to my country
32:47and its
32:48relationship to
32:49the world.
32:51The 9th of
32:52December this
32:52year will
32:54mark 60
32:54years since
32:56Barbados took
32:57its place in
32:58this
32:58organization,
33:00emerging into
33:01independence
33:02after 340
33:04years of
33:04imperial
33:05subjugation.
33:06On a
33:07wintry 9th
33:08of December
33:081966,
33:10just nine
33:11days after we
33:12achieved
33:12independence and
33:13on the very
33:13day of our
33:14admission to
33:14the United
33:15Nations,
33:15our first
33:16Prime Minister,
33:17the right
33:17excellent
33:18Errol Barros
33:18set out what
33:19coupled with
33:20the principles
33:21of this
33:21organization
33:22has remained
33:24our guiding
33:24principle in
33:26dealing with
33:26the world,
33:27that Barbados
33:28is a friend
33:29of all and
33:31a satellite
33:31of none.
33:33Indeed,
33:34Prime Minister
33:34Barrow spoke
33:36of a world
33:36marked by
33:37profound
33:38inequalities in
33:39wealth and
33:39opportunity,
33:40which Fanon
33:41had highlighted
33:42only five years
33:43earlier in the
33:44text I quoted.
33:45And drawing
33:46from Prime
33:47Minister Barrow's
33:47language,
33:49where he quoted
33:50from the Hebrew
33:50Bible, he
33:51warned that
33:52newly
33:52independent
33:53countries could
33:55not remain,
33:56hewers of
33:57wood and
33:58drawers of
33:58water, while
33:59the wealth of
34:00the world
34:00flowed elsewhere.
34:02He saw the
34:03United Nations
34:04as having to
34:04put the
34:05eradication of
34:06poverty at
34:07the center of
34:08its role.
34:09Do not
34:10question,
34:11therefore, why
34:11we view it
34:12as our duty
34:12to fight
34:13increasing
34:14global
34:14inequality.
34:16Much good
34:17has been done
34:18by this UN
34:19in the last
34:1960 and,
34:20in fact,
34:2080 years.
34:22During this
34:23time, our
34:24membership in
34:25the United
34:25Nations has
34:27been essential
34:28to Barbados's
34:29expression of
34:30its sovereignty
34:31and its
34:32participation as
34:33an equal
34:34member of the
34:35international
34:35community.
34:37These halls
34:38have given us
34:39a place to
34:40speak in our
34:40own name, to
34:42defend the
34:42interests of
34:43our people and
34:43others, and to
34:45help shape the
34:45decisions that
34:46affect us all.
34:47Mr. President,
34:49earlier this year,
34:50our poet
34:51laureate stood
34:52at this
34:53rostrum and
34:54reminded us in
34:55this assembly,
34:56and I quote,
34:57the very name
34:58United Nations
34:59implies a
35:00commitment to
35:01ignite the
35:02fires of
35:03conscience,
35:04empathy,
35:05unity, and
35:06equity.
35:07This UN,
35:10this United
35:11Nations, must
35:12continue to
35:13stoke those
35:14fires for a
35:16transformed and
35:17inclusive world.
35:18I say to
35:19you as I
35:20leave this
35:20rostrum, let
35:21us together
35:22ensure that
35:24the flames of
35:24hope, peace,
35:26and dignity
35:27burn so
35:28bright that
35:30in the midst
35:30of all the
35:31odds against
35:32us, that
35:33they shine on
35:34all of the
35:35world.
35:35I thank
35:36you.
35:43We are
35:44listening at
35:44this hour to
35:45statements from
35:46Prime Minister of
35:47Barbados,
35:48Myanmar Motley,
35:49as she was
35:50also making a
35:51call for a
35:52stronger stance
35:53by the United
35:54Nations in the
35:55face of urgent
35:56challenges faced
35:57by humanity.
35:58She spoke about
35:59climate change,
36:00for example,
36:01that poses a
36:02high risk for
36:03small island
36:03nations,
36:04particularly from
36:06the Caribbean.
36:07She also
36:08offered her
36:09support for the
36:10people of Cuba
36:10and made an
36:11urgent call for
36:13the lifting of
36:13all sanctions
36:14and the blockade
36:15imposed on the
36:16island by the
36:17United States,
36:18an economic
36:18siege that is
36:19hampering as
36:20well the daily
36:20lives of millions
36:22of citizens as
36:23well.
36:24And also she
36:24stood by the
36:25side of
36:26Venezuela and
36:27also offered her
36:28support in the
36:29face of the
36:30consequences after
36:31the June 24th
36:32earthquakes that
36:33suffered the
36:34nation.
36:35Those were the
36:36statements of
36:37Mia and
36:37Motley at this
36:38hour at the
36:3981st session of
36:40United Nations
36:41General.