Jamaica’s Andrew Holness made it clear that the country is seeking to protect the future without having to wrinkle his forehead in the directions of world leaders at the United Nations Summit of the Future that took place in NY. In an address on the pedestal on Saturday, Holness was say that although there are challenges that Jamaica still has like climate change and economic stability. Still, Holness added, there is already something in place to protect the interests of future generations.
The summit scheduled for September 20-23 was held to seek common ground on ways by which decision making processes can accommodate the interests of generations not yet born. Besides, there was a proposal to create a “Declaration on Future Generations,” which the heads of states are expected to endorse.
Holness, who was at the sitting, admired how the Global action plan: Schols For Peace was being implemented and more so co-facilitating formulation of the declaration. He, however, expressed gratitude to the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the “excellent cooperation during the tough policy development process’.
‘What this summit, and the action days leading up to it, proves is that if the government of this country thinks that individual nations can achieve this aim without the United Nations and its collective and collaborative engagement, they are misguided. This is the attitude which has rendered the multilateral system ineffective and obsolete in today’s world, with the UN at the centre,’ Holness said.
Uniting for Future Generations
The prime minister emphasized that everyone should work together. “The member states and UN system are unable to do this on their own. We have to tap into the knowledge, skills and the willingness of civil society, young people, academia, private sector and so on in order to create a better scenario for everyone,” he said.
Holness drew attention to the importance of Sunday’s declaration adoption. “We have a moral responsibility to safe guard the present and future generations assets and the people to come should be left with a planet that is livable.”
Still, Holness noted the necessity of holding on to the help because the declaration is only the beginning. “The activity that lies ahead is to convert that motivation into action and implement the provisions of the declaration,” he remarked.
Jamaica, he said, has started this process but this should be in the long term. The country has improved her debt to gdp ratio, increased foreign exchange reserves, risen the employment rate and kept inflation under single digits.
Holness also suggested reforms of international financial institutions in order to enhance opportunities in the sphere of development financing accessibility. In this regard, he called for a need for transfer of technology and knowhow through arrangements made in contribution for the developing countries to be able to address the challenge.
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