By Demion McTair
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is again making waves in the international community and representing the interests of the developing world, this time as Pro Tempore President of CELAC.
This country will have an opportunity to speak to, and hear from, fifty-nine (59) other States at the upcoming summit in Brussels between leaders of the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC) and the European Union (EU).
The summit is scheduled for July 17th – 18th, 2023, in Brussels.
“Representatives of the sixty States (33 of CELAC and 27 of the EU), almost one-third of the membership of the United Nations, and comprising some 1.2 billion people, will arrive at conclusions which are likely to impact the lives, living, and livelihoods of the people of these two regions and perhaps influence the unfolding human condition elsewhere,” according to information from the Office of the Prime Minister.
According to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the agenda for a “new world” partnership between CELAC and the EU at the Brussels Summit in July 2023 necessarily includes seminal items:
Social Inclusion-Poverty Reduction, Social Equality, Reparations, the relevant Sustainability Development Goals; Climate Change, Biodiversity, Land Degradation; Health, Pandemics, and Wellness; Financing for Development, inclusive of the Bridgetown Initiative; Connectivity–Air, Sea and Digital; People-to-People linkages in Education, Culture, Sports; Investment and Economic Partnerships; Crime and Citizen Security; Political Dialogue on the contemporary issues of conflict, peace, mature diplomacy, and regional integration.
“To be sure, both CELAC and the EU have their own priorities and emphases; that is understandable. Still, the urgent challenges extant in the contemporary circumstances globally, for Europe and our America, compel us to focus on an agreed bundle of matters to make a difference for the better, for all of our respective peoples,” Dr. Gonsalves stated in a recent article.
Feature photo by: Permanent Mission of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations
