Kamla Persad-Bissessar is back from what was described in Thursday's Express editorial as a successful trip to New York.
And no doubt, the trip was successful in the sense that the Prime Minister, in presence of world leaders, shone the spotlight on Trinidad and Tobago and took centre stage with her remarkable appearance and interventions in and outside of the United Nations. Beyond that, there are some other reasons why her mission to New York deserves due credit.
First of all, her discussions and speeches at the UN represent a new and coherent approach to foreign policy, something that was missing for so long in Trinidad and Tobago's conduct of external relations. The Prime Minister has clearly opted for a new beginning.
Her statements at the UN constitute a new commitment to multilateralism and recognition of the importance, especially for small states, of the "indispensable" UN system. Her interventions met the two basic criteria essential for any meaningful and effective foreign policy:
And no doubt, the trip was successful in the sense that the Prime Minister, in presence of world leaders, shone the spotlight on Trinidad and Tobago and took centre stage with her remarkable appearance and interventions in and outside of the United Nations. Beyond that, there are some other reasons why her mission to New York deserves due credit.
First of all, her discussions and speeches at the UN represent a new and coherent approach to foreign policy, something that was missing for so long in Trinidad and Tobago's conduct of external relations. The Prime Minister has clearly opted for a new beginning.
Her statements at the UN constitute a new commitment to multilateralism and recognition of the importance, especially for small states, of the "indispensable" UN system. Her interventions met the two basic criteria essential for any meaningful and effective foreign policy:
- foreign policy initiatives must invariably and ultimately be of benefit to the people
- foreign policy in the multilateral context must always contain an element of solidarity with the wider international community.
These basic criteria are well reflected in her statements at the UN.
Let's look at her intervention at the MDG Summit.
While admitting that Trinidad and Tobago has some catching up to do, there is a renewed commitment to achieving these goals by the target date 2015, be it in the area of poverty reduction, child mortality, women's empowerment or environmental sustainability.
What is remarkable in the PM's speech to the General Assembly are the clearly stated goals, initiatives and targets that constitute T&T's foreign policy agenda.
Apart from pledging strong supportive leadership in global governance through the United Nations and other multilateral forums (Commonwealth, CARICOM) for the benefit of developing countries, a direct call was made to bring the UN back into the centre of the international development debate, i.e. into the deliberations of the G20 which seems to operate outside the UN's confines. After all, she stated, the UN is representing the G192, and not only the G20.
The Prime Minister chose a number of carefully selected priority items which the Government intends to use as vehicles for foreign policy initiatives.
While announcing the establishment of the Children's Life Fund, she extended its scope and invited other members of the international community to join and called on UNICEF to enter a collaborative arrangement within CARICOM.
While recognising the importance of combating HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, she called on the UN membership to pay renewed attention to non-communicable diseases and proposed the holding of a UN Summit in 2011.
The Prime Minister committed Trinidad and Tobago again to actively participating in the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit on climate change in preparation for the Cancun Conference, pleading for the opening of a special financing window to meet the needs of the Small Island Developing Countries.
Similarly, she called for the strengthening and replenishing of the Central Emergency Relief Fund to confront and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, including flooding, be it at home or in faraway places like Pakistan and Russia.
Let's look at her intervention at the MDG Summit.
While admitting that Trinidad and Tobago has some catching up to do, there is a renewed commitment to achieving these goals by the target date 2015, be it in the area of poverty reduction, child mortality, women's empowerment or environmental sustainability.
What is remarkable in the PM's speech to the General Assembly are the clearly stated goals, initiatives and targets that constitute T&T's foreign policy agenda.
Apart from pledging strong supportive leadership in global governance through the United Nations and other multilateral forums (Commonwealth, CARICOM) for the benefit of developing countries, a direct call was made to bring the UN back into the centre of the international development debate, i.e. into the deliberations of the G20 which seems to operate outside the UN's confines. After all, she stated, the UN is representing the G192, and not only the G20.
The Prime Minister chose a number of carefully selected priority items which the Government intends to use as vehicles for foreign policy initiatives.
While announcing the establishment of the Children's Life Fund, she extended its scope and invited other members of the international community to join and called on UNICEF to enter a collaborative arrangement within CARICOM.
While recognising the importance of combating HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, she called on the UN membership to pay renewed attention to non-communicable diseases and proposed the holding of a UN Summit in 2011.
The Prime Minister committed Trinidad and Tobago again to actively participating in the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit on climate change in preparation for the Cancun Conference, pleading for the opening of a special financing window to meet the needs of the Small Island Developing Countries.
Similarly, she called for the strengthening and replenishing of the Central Emergency Relief Fund to confront and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, including flooding, be it at home or in faraway places like Pakistan and Russia.
The Prime Minister made a strong appeal to bring to an end the negotiations on a Conventional Arms Trade Treaty and to include provisions to ban and outlaw the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons which, in the Caribbean and many other regions, have become "weapons of mass destruction."
Most interesting was the proposal to pursue action, together with like-minded states, to expand the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to allow it to include drug trafficking.
Finally, the Prime Minister lent her voice and concrete support to the newly created UN Women's Agency, to be headed by an Under Secretary General in the person of Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile. According to the Prime Minister, T&T will introduce in the First Committee of the current General Assembly a resolution on "Women, Disarmament, Peace and Security".
This is a first in the sense that a direct link is made between the empowerment of women and the maintenance of peace and security.
Traditionally, women's issues and resolutions are not introduced in the First Committee which focuses on issues relating to disarmament, international peace and security.
The Prime Minister and her team deserve high marks for their performance in New York.
The fact that she was accompanied, in addition to the Foreign Minister, by two line ministers concerned with sustainable human development, points to the necessary link that is now being made between the pursuit of the national development agenda and meaningful and effective advancement of foreign policy objectives and initiatives.
One caveat has to be placed: What about the capacity to implement? Ultimately and like always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating!
Hans Geiser | Former head of the UN/UNDP in Port of Spain
(Reproduced from the Trinidad Express)
(Reproduced from the Trinidad Express)
Read PM Kamla's presention to the NG General Assembly: PM Kamla tells UN "too many fences" continue to divide global community
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