UN commends Jamaica for taking leadership role in Haiti crisis

Prime Minister Andrew Holness this morning held bilateral discussions on a range of issues, including the situation in Haiti, with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

Guterres is in Jamaica for a two-day visit, which ends today.

Holness said the crisis in Haiti requires greater efforts from the international community.

“We lamented that there has not been more action to address the situation in Haiti, and as we do have this platform, we repeat our call for greater attention to be paid by the international community to the very urgent security and humanitarian situation in Haiti,” said Holness.

“CARICOM is doing its part within its resources to assist. We led a mission to Haiti which I led, and we had very meaningful discussions with the stakeholders there and that process is advancing. I take the view that with greater effort we can see a breakthrough towards a better broader consensus towards a solution in Haiti. The inescapable fact is that Haiti needs security support.”

While commending Prime Minister Holness, Jamaica and CARICOM for taking a leadership role in rallying support for Haiti, Secretary General Guterres said: “I would like to pay tribute to Jamaica. Jamaica was the first country that immediately expressed its readiness to be a part of this operation. And second, Jamaica in the context of CARICOM, is involved in a very important political process, trying to bring together the different stakeholders to find a way out of this political crisis.

“I know of the visit that was paid to Haiti and I know that a new meeting is scheduled and that eminent personalities were put in charge of leading this process of dialogue. I would like to express my full support to the initiative of Jamaica and CARICOM and I want to once again ask the international community to understand that an effective solidarity with Haiti is not only a matter of generosity, it is essentially a matter of enlightened self-interest because the present situation of Haiti reflects a threat to the security of the region.”

In the meantime, the UN Secretary General also acknowledged and commended the courageous choices Jamaica has made to achieve fiscal sustainability after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Prime Minister Holness and Secretary General Guterres agreed on the importance of a comprehensive approach to address vulnerability to climate change, natural disasters, and external economic shocks.

Prime Minister Holness stated, “Secretary General, you also articulated the need for urgent reform and the overall international economic and financial architecture to support reforms and to address unique risks and challenges faced by Small Island Developing States like Jamaica.

“In this regard, I thank you for your steadfast support for the development of the multi-dimensional vulnerability index to more accurately assess the true state of Small Island Developing States and increase their eligibility to receive greater financing to address their unique vulnerabilities.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister underscored that international financial institutions have been responsive to calls for reform in the international financial systems which gives hope to address funding gaps, and to provide emergency liquidity to developing countries for resilience building and climate change. However, Holness noted that there is still more to be done in these areas.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister assured the Secretary General of Jamaica's strong commitment to the work of multilateralism and the central role the United Nations plays in ensuring that important matters of the reform of the global financial architecture is undertaken successfully and is beneficial for developing countries, in particular, Small Island Developing States like Jamaica.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.