A great summary piece on PM Mottley’s recent UN speech by Janine Mendes-Franco, Caribbean Editor for Global Voices.
‘We need a reset’
Written by Janine Mendes-Franco
Posted 29 September 2024
On Friday September 27, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. A gifted orator, her speeches are generally made more compelling by the warm lilt of her voice, but judging from her first words at the 79th session of the Assembly — “We need a reset” — the situation she was about to speak to was dire.
The big picture
The world, Mottley began, has been reeling from four years of “poly-crises”: the ongoing climate catastrophe and continuing ripple effects of the pandemic, further complicated by “multiple theatres of war and scenes of horror and famine […] instead of pursued development.” Added to her list of pressing issues were the rising cost of living, and “the second but silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance together with a growing incidence of death and disability from chronic non-communicable diseases”…
… “We cannot afford the distraction of war,” Mottley cautioned. “If ever there was a time to pause […] it is now.” Her words packed even more of a punch considering that she addressed the Assembly immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who quelled any hope of a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza…
Creating a new world order
Mottley maintained that “collectively as an international community and individually,” it was the responsibility of world leaders to present people with opportunities and find solutions to the problems that negatively affect economic growth. Criticising neocolonial structures “that reflect the old world order” of racism, classism and misogyny, she also pleaded for an end to all forms of discrimination, and nurtured a vision of an “inclusive and responsive” international order.
Part of that new order, as she has said before in her speeches about the climate crisis, must be to give small island and middle income states “a seat at the table where we can be seen, heard, become active agents in our own cause and lead our own development paradigms”…
The principle of ‘Ubuntu’
The other aspect of the reset, Mottley continued, must be rooted in institutional reform, starting within the United Nations Councils. The current configuration of permanent and non-permanent members, she said, “has no place in the 21st century.” Going a step further, she said that the mistrust of citizens in leaders, institutions, and processes which yield “much talk and little action” is real, especially when it comes to the global financial architecture:
Restricted access to capital; its disproportionately high cost barring us for doing that which we must; its inadequate scale and the overwhelming burden of debt often imposed on us by circumstances beyond our control are now combining to force governments in the world’s poorest countries [and] many vulnerable middle income countries to devote more resources to debt service than to health and education, and in some instances, even infrastructure.
The reset the world needs, according to Mottley, is one that “enforces our shared humanity.” Calling on the African principle of Ubuntu, she continued, “My well-being is tied to yours, and our collective well-being is connected to Mother Earth.”…
Source: Global Voices
Read the full article and the various links… Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley lays global issues bare in a stunning speech at the UN · Global Voices