Browne Pushes Small-State Priorities at UN General Assembly

Prime Minister Gaston Browne is in New York leading Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation to the 81st United Nations General Assembly, with meetings planned on climate vulnerability, renewable energy, investment and the treatment of Caribbean citizenship by investment programmes.

Browne is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene, Health, Wellness and Environment Minister Michael Joseph, and Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Walton Webson.

On Wednesday, Browne is scheduled to take part in Global Citizen NOW: Impact Sessions before joining an Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States meeting with the European Union. The OECS–EU talks are expected to focus on citizenship by investment programmes, which are important to several member states.

His Wednesday schedule also includes a meeting with Democratic Republic of the Congo Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka and former UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa. Browne is due to participate in a discussion on eye health and host a reception with Espinosa, Antigua and Barbuda’s candidate for UN Secretary-General.

On Thursday, the prime minister is expected to address a leaders’ meeting of the Alliance of Small Island States and take part in a roundtable on the OECS renewable energy transition. Other planned engagements include meetings with India’s foreign minister, representatives of the Open Society Foundations, a Saudi businessman interested in investment opportunities in Antigua and Barbuda, and senior officials from the United Arab Emirates.

Browne said the meetings are intended to turn diplomatic engagement into practical gains for the country.

“Our diplomacy must deliver tangible benefits for our citizens. Whether we are discussing climate vulnerability, investment, energy, connectivity, health, development financing or the international treatment of our economic programmes, our objective is to build partnerships that strengthen the resilience and prosperity of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.

The UN General Debate runs from September 22 to 28. This year’s session is being held under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.”

“Small states cannot afford to be spectators in the international system,” Browne said. “We must participate, we must advocate, and we must build strategic partnerships.”