PRESIDENT David Granger made his inaugural address on Saturday to the 7th Summit of the 32-member Association of Caribbean States (ACS) in Havana, Cuba.Mr Granger, accompanied to the summit by his Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge, underscored the importance of peace in achieving sustainable development- a concept that is featured prominently in the 2015-2030 Global Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September.
“Security is essential to peace. Peace is essential to sustainable development. Development cannot be sustained in situations of threats to a country’s territory, sovereignty and independence,” he stated.
The President lauded Cuba for hosting the event while celebrating the island’s history of resistance.
“We meet here in Havana, the capital of a country which has been undaunted in defending the rights of all countries to pursue their own course of development, free from threats and intimidation.”
President Granger emphasised this nation’s commitment to addressing the security challenges which affect the region’s approach to sustainable development, climate change, and peace in the Caribbean Basin.
Even as the Caribbean outskirts brace for what is believed to be an intense hurricane season, President Granger called on member states to draw a nexus among rising sea levels, floods, droughts, increases in ocean temperatures and the strength of tropical storms with the climate change phenomenon.
“Food shortages can result from these disasters. They can trigger conflict and mass migration. They can occasion unmanageable security crises,” Mr Granger said, adding, “Security cannot be dispensed with easily or ignored. It is essential to any strategy to promote sustainable development and to arrest the adverse effects of climate change.”
On the part of Guyana, President Granger boasted this country’s setting aside some 371,000 hectares of “pristine rainforests to the Commonwealth to promote the sustainable management of our forests.”
“Guyana is part of the ‘lungs of the earth.’ Guyana provides ecological services to all humanity. Every country of our region must contribute to sustainable development and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Granger continued.
Gender Equality features prominently as Goal 5 in the overall 17 Global Goals, formally dubbed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of Goal 5, global leaders have committed to ensure women are given fair and equal access to leadership opportunities.
At the ACS’s Havana summit, participating members welcomed the body’s new Secretary- General, Dr June Soomer, a St Lucian diplomat and the first woman to be elected to the post. Soomer’s appointment was made earlier this year via a meeting of the ACS’s Ministerial Council, and will last for four years.
“We welcome the election of Dr June Soomer as the incoming Secretary-General. We wish her success and we pledge our support in her tenure,” President Granger acknowledged in his address.
President Granger not only reiterated the support of this country to the work of the body, but emphasised the need to promote a “zone of peace.”
The President also called for preservation of the resources of the Caribbean Sea, which he believes “must be preserved and protected against environmental damage and must be sustainably developed for the benefit our peoples.”