SG/T/3045

Activities of Secretary-General in Barbados, 1-3 July

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Barbados on Wednesday, 1 July, to attend the thirty-sixth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

On Thursday, 2 July, the Secretary-General met with President Freundel Stuart and Foreign Minister Maxine McClean of Barbados.  Together with the President, he unveiled a plaque in appreciation of the country for hosting the first United Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States in 1994.

Following that, he delivered opening remarks at the Caribbean Sustainable Development High-level Symposium, in the margins of the CARICOM Meeting.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16905.)

The Secretary-General participated in an event on ending violence against women and children, where the Government of Barbados and UN-Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost joint efforts to end gender-based violence.  The Government also pledged to join the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) #EndViolence campaign.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16907.)

Later that day, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening of the CARICOM Meeting, urging Caribbean leaders to continue to be voices for vulnerable, not just in the region but for the globe.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16908.)

On Friday, 3 July, the Secretary-General launched the joint UNAIDS and Lancet Caribbean HIV/AIDS Report, calling AIDS “fundamentally an issue of human rights”.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16910.)

He met with President David Granger of Guyana and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago.  He also held an interactive session with students at the University of the West Indies, whom he referred to them as the “leaders for tomorrow” and the “torchbearers for today”.  (See Press Release SG/SM/16911.)

Speaking to the press about the ongoing concerns in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Secretary-General stressed that protecting the rights of affected persons and preventing the deprivation of nationality is a matter of human rights and human dignity. 

While in Barbados, the Secretary-General visited the Caribbean LED Inc., which produces eco-friendly and low-cost lighting bulbs, as well as the Hastings Boardwalk, designed to prevent coastal erosion along the coastline of the country.

The Secretary-General departed for New York in the afternoon of 3 July.

For information media. Not an official record.