UN is ‘a beacon of hope’ for millions worldwide, Saint Kitts and Nevis says

The United Nations is the only hope for millions of people around the world, the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis told the General Assembly today, saying he was confident that the world body can successfully defend the rights of the poor against the often narrow national interests of UN Member States.

Denzil Douglas told the 192-member Assembly’s annual high-level debate that it was easy to side with cynics when the Security Council becomes deadlocked on an issue or political posturing by individual countries prevents the UN from taking concerted action on a crisis.

“But the history, particularly of the past two decades, instructs me that the United Nations is far more than the sum of its weakness,” he said. “Because for millions of people around the world, this Organization is their only hope – a bridge between life and death, a bastion of freedom and a beacon of hope.”

Given that responsibility, Mr. Douglas urged the Assembly to provide “a sober and unrelenting analysis of the human consequences” of the current global financial troubles, as well as the impact caused by trade and economic regimes imposed in wealthy countries.

“It is also my hope that the economic uncertainties now being experienced in some of the world’s larger economies will sensitize us all to the breadth of the uncertainty, the depth of the anxiety, and the real psychological trauma that often grip small States when policies that are formulated far beyond their shores, and are utterly unresponsive to their entreaties, are nonetheless thrust unflinchingly upon them.”

Also emphasizing the UN’s crucial role in addressing the key challenges of our time was the Prime Minister of Kuwait.

Overcoming obstacles such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and human rights violations requires “prompt, collective, unified and firm action under the umbrella of the United Nations,” Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al Jaber Al-Sabah told delegates.

However, he noted that the UN must evolve in line with “the constant changes and transformation in the world order,” calling for Security Council reform in the form of increased transparency and number of members.