Is the world listening?

THE UNITED Nations (UN) General Assembly, which formally closed on Monday, was a palpable reminder of the need for nations to work together, and not in isolation, to address the biggest challenges we face. The participation of Caribbean leaders at the assembly as well as ancillary events was a show of faith in the UN itself. But while good use was made of the UN pulpit, the question is whether the world was listening.

Today’s observation of the International Day of Non-Violence is a good occasion to assess what was achieved over the last few days in New York. Annually the International Day of Non-Violence falls on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence. The principle of non-violence is at the very core of the UN. The rationale for the entire organisation is to prevent nations from descending into chaos.

That storm clouds are looming was made clear by the presentations of several Caricom leaders, including Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Rowley’s statement that poverty, climate change, inequality, terrorism, and disease demand a multilateral approach chimed with presentations from our closest neighbours. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley put things in stark terms when she warned that mass migration by climate refugees could destabilise the world.

“We refuse to be relegated to the footnotes of history and to be collateral damage for the greed of others,” a passionate Mottley told those gathered in the UN’s General Assembly hall.

Caricom leaders took the opportunity to participate in important side meetings, including one with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi’s announcement of a US$14 million community development grant and a US$150 million line of credit for solar, renewable energy and climate-change-related projects threw down the gauntlet to developed countries around the world to respond to the need for highly vulnerable small island states to be supported financially despite favourable GDP rankings.

Rowley also attended the Climate Summit, held talks with the UN under-secretary-general for counter-terrorism Vladimir Voronkov and had a photo-op with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. It was announced that a key anti-terrorism conference will be held in this country next year. The broad participation showed multilateralism is far from outmoded and remains an accepted and reliable method of managing relations among nations.

It’s important for all of the countries that attended these events to now follow-up and focus on deliverables. It is good that Caricom has, more or less, signalled its clear stance on several vital issues. When it comes to resolving the major issues of our time including climate change, the crisis in Venezuela and the rise of cross-border criminal networks, that unified approach must now be leveraged.