Hurricane Beryl, which left a trail of destruction from the Caribbean to Mexico – and now the United States – has once again underscored the urgent need for robust early warning systems, the UN meteorological agency (WMO) said on Monday.
The island of Carriacou in Grenada has been virtually “flattened” by the devastating Hurricane Beryl, a senior UN official there reported on Friday, as humanitarian teams ramp up their support to communities affected across the Caribbean.
The UN Secretary-General has reiterated his solidarity with countries affected by Hurricane Beryl, releasing $4 million from the Organization’s emergency response fund to kickstart relief efforts.
The UN chief expressed his “deep solidarity” with Jamaica and all other Small Island Developing States on Monday, outlining what he termed the “moral, power and practical problems” that are preventing the current dysfunctional international financial system from supporting fair and sustainable development.
Leaders from the Caribbean, in pre-recorded addresses to the UN General Assembly, stressed that their small economies are largely dependent on one or just a few industries, and called for strengthened global cooperation and financing mechanisms to overcome the health crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and recover from its massive socio-economic fallout.
Drought is a bigger, more “insidious” problem for vulnerable farmers in Jamaica and the Caribbean than the more headline-grabbing disasters such as hurricanes.
That’s the firm view of Jamaica’s top civil servant at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry, speaking at a recent UN conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Canada.
Jamaica is firmly committed to growing its economy and creating jobs to lift people out of poverty, even going as far as creating a ministry to deal with this matter.
That’s what Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Tuesday, on the first day of the United Nations General Assembly debate.
Globally, two out of every five young persons of working age are either unemployed or working jobs that don’t pay enough to escape poverty, the UN says.
The story of former African slaves who led a revolt over British rule in Jamaica “had to be told” according to the producer of a movie celebrating the historical event.
"Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess" recounts the story of the one-time leader of the Maroons, the group that fought the British Empire for their freedom.
The movie had its world premiere at UN headquarters in New York.
Daniel Dickinson reports.
Duration: 3'00"
Senior government ministers are meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, later this week to discuss ways to unlock economic growth in the Caribbean region.
The meeting from 23 to 24 October is being hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government of Jamaica.
The issues to be discussed include the reliability and efficiency of energy provision and a tax regime to encourage investment and steps to strengthen the financial sector.
Caribbean economies have been slow to recover from the global financial crisis.
Violence against women is pervasive and harms not only women but their families and their communities.
At a two-day forum at the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, UN officials, government representatives and other stakeholders discussed how to prevent it.
Sandrea Falconer, Jamaica’s Minister of Information with responsibility for gender affairs, told Gerry Adams that she is head of a specific committee addressing the problem.
Duration: 2'52"
