Government of Saint Lucia Celebrates UN Day.

On Wednesday, October 27, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia the Hon. Philip J. Pierre and UN Resident Coordinator, Didier Trebucq, participated in a Flag Raising Ceremony to observe UN Day, which is celebrated globally on 24 October. The ceremony followed meetings been UN representatives and key Government officials, and marked the first meeting between the UN  Team and Prime Minister Pierre, since his assumption of office on 28 July, 2021, following his party's victory in Saint Lucia's General Election. 

In addressing the ceremony, Mr. Trebucq said the UN had  enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Government of Saint Lucia, and had recognized the Government's strong focus on putting people first which resonated strongly with the UN’s 2030 Agenda and its efforts to truly leave no one behind.

"Adaptive social protection being piloted in Saint Lucia is an example of the UN support that has proven to be a powerful tool to combating inequality and accelerating progress towards the SDGs by reducing people’s vulnerabilities. You have my assurances that we will continue to advocate at the highest level for this region to access needed resources to effectively minimize vulnerabilities; to reduce debt dependency; and to accelerate progress towards the SDGs."

Meanwhile, Prime  Minister Pierre told the small gathering that St. Lucia became a signatory to the UN Charter on August 28 1979, and on September 1979  became to 152nd UN Member State, when the Saint Lucian flag was hoisted at the entrance of the UN Headquarters in New York. He further noted that as the UN observes 76 years of service to humanity, Saint Lucia celebrates 42 years of membership to the august body, that serves as a leading promoter of world peace, supports dispute settlements, responds to disasters, both natural and man made, and provides development assistance to developing nations.

"Saint Lucia has benefitted from the work of many UN Developmental Agencies such as UNICEF, FAO, UNDP and WHO among others. Over the past four decades these agencies have provided millions of dollars of development assistance to Saint Lucia both through direct interventions and multilateral programmes. The most recent significant assistance came through the WHO COVAX facility to secure vaccines for developing countries to combat the COVID -19 pandemic."

The Prime Minister asserted that despite its small size, Saint Lucia had contributed significantly in shaping UN decisions on many important international issues. For instance, he revealed that Saint Lucia played an integral  part of the CARCOM-led charge on behalf of  Small Island Developing States, to secure a deal at the Paris Climate Agreement to cap Global Warming at 1.5 % of  pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. Prime Minister Pierre pledged the continued support of the Government and people of Saint Lucia to the United Nations.

In observance of UN Day, UN staff resident in Saint Lucia participated in a Panel Discussion entitled "Issues and Answers" to discuss the UN's Role in Response to COVID-19 in Saint Lucia. The panel included UN Country Coordinator, Dr. Lorraine Nicholas, PAHO Country Programme Specialist, Reynold Hewitt, and Lilia Ramjeawan, Coordinator, SDG Fund Joint Programme for Social Protection.