By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN head António Guterres on Wednesday announced a potential plan to support an “effective force” in Haiti as armed gangs continue to terrorize the population in his address to Caribbean leaders summit in Barbados,
Mr. Guterres was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean Community Heads of Government Meeting in the Bridgetown, where he called for unity to achieve progress in peace and security, climate and sustainable development.
“A unified Caribbean is an unstoppable force,” he said. “I urge you to keep using that power to push the world to deliver on its promises.”
He noted that the region’s “exquisite beauty is famed the world over, but there is trouble in paradise.”
Guterres told leaders that “wave after wave of crisis is pounding your people and your islands with no time to catch your breath before the next disaster strikes.”
UN said that CARICOM nations are experiencing uncertainty fuelled by geopolitical tensions, along with the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring debt and interest rates, and a surge in the cost of living.
Guterres noted that these are all happening “amidst a deadly swell of climate disasters ripping development gains to shreds, and blowing holes through your national budgets,” and as countries “remain locked-out of many international institutions – one of the many legacies of colonialism today.”
He stressed that “the cure for these ills is global,” and the world needs to deliver on hard-won global commitments to address the immense challenges the international community is facing.
Guterres listed three key areas “where, together, we must drive progress.”
He called for unity for peace and security, “particularly to address the appalling situation in Haiti where gangs are inflicting intolerable suffering on a desperate and frightened people.”
He said CARICOM and its Eminent Persons Group have provided invaluable support in this regard.
“We must keep working for a political process – owned and led by the Haitians – that restores democratic institutions through elections,” he said.
UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission is on the ground to assist the Haitian National Police, he noted.
He said he will report to the Security Council on the situation in Haiti including proposals on the role the UN can play to both support stability and security, and address the root causes of the crisis.
Guterres will present a proposal for Somalia, in which the UN assumes responsibility for the structural and logistical expenditures necessary to put the force in place. Salaries are paid through a trust fund that already exists.
“If the Security Council will accept this proposal, we will have the conditions to finally have an effective force to defeat the gangs in Haiti and create the conditions for democracy to thrive,” he said.
Secondly the unity on the climate crisis which he underlined “a deplorable injustice” as Caribbean countries “have done next to nothing” to create it. Moreover, they have “fought tooth and nail for the global commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.”
Mr. Guterres said countries must deliver new national climate plans ahead of the COP30 UN climate conference later this year.
The plans must align with the 1.5 goal, with the G20 group of industrial nations leading the way, he said.
“This is a chance for the world to get a grip on emissions,” he said.
“And it’s a chance for the Caribbean to seize the benefits of clean power, to tap your vast renewables potential, and to turn your back on costly fossil fuel imports.”
He underscored that the funds are required the need for confidence that the $1.3 trillion agreed at the previous COP will be mobilized. Developed countries also must honor their promises on adaptation finance and make meaningful contributions to the new Loss and Damage Fund.
“When the Fund was created, the pledges made were equivalent to the new contract for just one baseball player in New York City,” he made remarks.
He said that the Sustainable Development Goals “are starved of adequate finance, as debt servicing soaks-up funds and international financial institutions remain underpowered.”
Guterres said Caribbean nations have been at the forefront of the fight for change, pioneering bold and creative solutions.
He said the Pact for the Future, together with the Bridgetown Initiative, marks significant progress.
Mr. Guterres hailed CARICOM leaders for supporting the Pact, which UN Member States adopted last year.
He outlined the key deliverables include support for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion annually and commitment to reform international financial institutions to allow greater participation by developing nations.
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