Regional
Headquarters, Jamaica. Friday, November 8, 2019—According
to The UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, “St
Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean islands that effectively
defied with arms Europe’s colonization of the region for three
hundred years, finally falling to the British in the 1790s, is now
the smallest nation ever to be elected to the UN Security Council.
Once again, in its modern history the tiny nation is situated at the
centre of the international dialogue about security and justice.”
He was commenting during a Vice-Chancellor’s Forum hosted by The
UWI on Thursday, November 7.

Vice-Chancellor
Beckles stated, “This election of St Vincent and the Grenadines is
historic on two levels—it illustrates the power and confidence of
Caribbean leadership to engage in global diplomacy to build bridges
across the world and to win the moral and political argument and this
is a triumph to Prime Minister Gonsalves.”

The
Vice-Chancellor’s Forum which examined the significance of St
Vincent and the Grenadines’ elevation to the United Nations
Security Council and what it means for international relations in the
region, was part of an ongoing series facilitated by the activist
university on conversations relevant to regional development. It
included an address by Prime Minister, St Vincent and the Grenadines,
Dr. The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, as well as a discussion featuring
Ambassador of Trinidad & Tobago to the United Nations, Penelope
Beckles; former Ambassador of Jamaica to the United Nations, Raymond
Wolfe; former Ambassador of Grenada to the USA and OAS, Gillian
Bristol and former Representative, Jamaica United Nations Mission,
Joan Thomas-Edwards.

Delivering
welcome remarks, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs at The UWI and
Chair of Forum, Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal contextualised the
purpose of the event. He said its intent was to “celebrate this
momentous achievement, discuss what are the opportunities and
implications of ascending to this important role, and to remedy a
serious defect in our recording of history.” He added, “We have
very little diplomatic history although the Caribbean has certainly
exerted an influence way beyond its size. Small states have always
had a unique role in global affairs.”

Vice-Chancellor
Beckles positioned the importance of the opportunity, noting that the
United Nations Security Council is “Arguably an institution that
has the potential to craft new development paradigms for this 21st
century.” He continued, “Not only in respect of the economic
relations of the world but also in terms of the political narratives
of social justice, the equality of nations and the infrastructure of
democracy and at the core of it, the security of all nations
including the most vulnerable—those that are vulnerable in terms of
their economic structures and those vulnerable in terms of their
exposure to the catastrophes associated with global warming.”

In his
address, Prime Minister Gonsalves stated, “At the global level, our
campaign carries the tagline: Friends
of all striving for a better world
and this fits with how we see foreign policy. In our representation
on the UN Council we are advancing the interest of the Caribbean and
Latin America and of course the world.” He emphasised, “At the
top of our agenda would be the security consequences of climate
change…and second, which is in fact, fundamental to everything is
to make sure that international law is upheld and preserved. He noted
that St Vincent and the Grenadines is small but will raise its voice
against injustice from more powerful countries.

Prime
Minister Gonsalves also mentioned that among the delegation appointed
to represent St Vincent and the Grenadines is UWI academic, Dr.
Halimah DeShong. Dr. DeShong who heads the Institute for Gender and
Development Studies at The UWI Cave Hill Campus is expected to
oversee matters related to women’s issues. The St Vincent and the
Grenadines will officially take up the two-year Council seat in
January 2020.

-End-

About
The UWI

For
over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has
provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider
world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in
Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally
respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five
campuses: Mona
in Jamaica, St.
Augustine
in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave
Hill in
Barbados, Five Islands
in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust
globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with
universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa
including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the
Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de
los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information
Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African
and Diaspora Studies and the
Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of
Johannesburg (UJ).
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and
postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering,
Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science &
Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the
region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective
is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The
world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times
Higher Education,
has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for
2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the
Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only
Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more,
visit www.uwi.edu.