Foreign Affairs Minister navigates heavy schedule of engagements at UN General Assembly

NEW YORK, 25th September…Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has completed another busy round of engagements at the United Nations General Assembly as he represent the country’s position on a number of crucial matters that are receiving global attention.

Earlier today Minister Greene was in attendance at a meeting convened by the United States to discuss the situation in Haiti where armed gangs have literally taken over the capital of the French Caribbean country. Leading the discussions at the meeting, which was held under the theme  “Building progress to restore peace in Haiti” were the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Also in attendance were Minister Greene’s Ministerial counterparts from a number of CARICOM countries to include Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Belize, Guyana as well as African, European and Latin American countries.

His diplomatic tour de force continued where he addressed meeting of the G20, a grouping of some of the world’s richest countries. Minister Greene brought attention to a glaring omission in their report on the “Call to Action on Global Governance Report.”

“Alarmingly, this “Call to Action” contains only a solitary mention of climate change, entirely omits references to Small Island Developing States. This must be glaring oversight, correct?” Minister Greene intervened.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also delivered remarks at two other major events – a multi stakeholder panel on the legal dimensions of sea level rise and a crucial side event themed, United by Water: Securing Our Collective Water Future Amidst Rising Seas and Melting Glaciers.

Yesterday, the Foreign Minister attended bilateral meeting with Azerbaijan, which will be hosting the global climate summit, COP29, later this year. He was joined by Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of the Environment Sir Molwyn Joseph in pressing home the needs of island states, especially coming after the historic role Antigua and Barbuda played in bringing to life the 10 year framework for Small Island Development States known as the ABAS.

Minister Greene  was also encouraged by the bilateral discussions with the Phillippines. He emphasized his eagerness to strengthen ties between their countries, where the shared experiences as island nations could help in fostering closer collaboration in the maritime sector, renewable energy, and tourism.

With the high level portion of the United Nations General Assembly in full swing, Minister Greene has a few more packed days ahead of him as he continues the work of building positiveand mutually beneficial relations for Antigua and Barbuda with the international community.