Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the Organisation of American States, Sir Ronald Sanders is again raising concerns about the financial capabilities of the grouping saying this is hindering its ability to carry out its mandate effectively.

“We will attempt to sustain with 91 million dollars an organization that needs 120 million to perform optimally. How could that be right this imbalance has resulted in a significant backlog of mandates as the Secretariat struggles to meet its obligations with limited financial resources,” he said.

He spoke at a recent OAS meeting where Antigua and Barbuda recorded history when it joined with other territories in issuing a joint declaration calling on international financial and development institutions to “prioritize the provision of funds and resources to support the efforts of Central America and the Caribbean in addressing climate change.

Sir Ronald drafted the original declaration which had the support of 19 other states in the Caribbean and Central America.

“I describe this declaration as historic because it is the first time that active member states of two regional groups are joining together to issue a shared declaration,” he said.

“We make this declaration on our own behalf but with the profound understanding that no nation of this hemisphere or the world is immune from the impacts of Climate Change, we are all in this together,” he added.

The 20 countries that made the joint declaration at the OAS General Assembly on June 21, were the 14 independent states of CARICOM and six Central American countries – Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama