Activities of Secretary-General in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, 29 February-4 March

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday afternoon, 29 February.

He was welcomed at the airport by Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines; Keisal Melissa Peters, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; and Rhonda King, Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The Secretary-General held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Gonsalves at the airport lounge, which was followed by a joint press encounter when the Secretary-General praised Latin America and the Caribbean as a continent of peace and commended its commitment to find solutions to the conflicts that arise, including the one in Haiti.

Immediately following the stakeout, the Secretary-General gave a short interview to the Spanish news agency EFE.

The Secretary-General then went to his hotel which was also the venue for the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, also known as CELAC.  That evening, he attended a cocktail reception there hosted by Prime Minister Gonsalves.

The next day, the Secretary-General had an early call with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union Commission.

He then, headed to the conference hall and spoke at the opening of the CELAC Summit.  He paid tribute to the resilience shown by the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines a few years ago in the aftermath of the devastating eruption of the La Soufrière volcano.  He praised the solidarity shown in the region to help those impacted.  “We need that spirit more than ever,” he said.  The Secretary-General outlined four areas in which solidarity is needed which include:  solidarity for peace and security, sustainable development, social cohesion and in addressing climate crisis.  (See Press Release SG/SM/22145.)

The Secretary-General remained in the conference hall throughout the day and listened to all the speakers.  He only left in the afternoon for two bilateral meetings.  The first was with Javier González Olaechea, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru, and the second one with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil.

On Saturday, the Secretary-General had breakfast with Prime Minister Gonsalves in his private residence and then the two of them visited several sites in Saint Vincent that were impacted by the eruption of La Soufrière volcano in 2021, as well as areas that have suffered from climate change.  The Secretary-General was able to see recovery efforts, including new housing in the Orange Hill resettlement area, and the collection of volcanic ashes and sediment that the Government now collects and reuses for infrastructure purposes.  The Secretary-General also visited the Georgetown Sea Defence in the Sandy Bay community, which is a sea defence wall that is helping the country combat the effects of coastal erosion and rising seas.  In Sandy Bay he also spoke to journalists and underscored the need to have stronger support from the international community in the form of adequate financing at low cost to protect small island developing States.

“The people of the small island developing States are on the front lines of climate change,” he told reporters who accompanied him on the visit.  “They did not contribute to global warming, but they are paying the price.”

That afternoon, the Secretary-General flew to the island of Mustique where he remained until Monday morning on a private visit.

On Monday, he had a virtual meeting with the UN country team in the Caribbean before heading back to New York.  The Secretary-General arrived in New York late at night on Monday, 4 March.