(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has welcomed the election of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the Security Council of the United Nations (UN), as an opportunity for a small state to bring a unique perspective to threats to international peace and security.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Gonsalves and his team and the diplomats of our Member States on this successful bid by a CARICOM candidate”, Ambassador LaRocque said. The country became the fourth CARICOM Member State to be elected to the Security Council when it garnered 185 votes of the 193 available for the non-permanent seat reserved for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States for the two-year term 2020-2021. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has become the smallest state ever to be elected to the Council.
The Secretary-General noted that at this time, a voice for Small Island and low-lying coastal Developing States (SIDS) in the Security Council was much needed, adding that historically it was a voice that had been the least heard on the Council.
“I am confident that St. Vincent and the Grenadines, whose candidature was endorsed by the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean at the UN (GRULAC), will be a strong advocate on behalf of the Region and the wider SIDS community, particularly for the issues that are important to us”, Ambassador LaRocque added.