United Nations, New York – In her third appearance before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during her Chairmanship of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM Caucus, H.E Dr Mutryce Williams vehemently called for the international community to lend increased support to conflict and crime prevention. She called for the UN to privilege this new approach instead of relying solely on conflict resolution, particularly amid a global uptick in violent crime.
This perspective was shared by St. Kitts and Nevis’s Ambassador during the UNSC’s High-Level Open Debate on Peacebuilding, and Sustaining Peace: Addressing Global, Regional and National Aspects of Conflict Prevention under the UNSC Presidency of Sierra Leone. Her Excellency underscored the Caribbean Community’s position by stating, “CARICOM firmly believes that the only pathway to durable peace is through sustainable development. CARICOM uses mediation to resolve domestic or regional disputes among its members to ensure the region remains a zone of peace.” She further insisted that St. Kitts and Nevis and its Caribbean Community neighbours view “conflict prevention as critical to safeguarding our common developmental goals and acknowledge that the Sustainable Development Goals are relevant in advancing conflict prevention and peacebuilding.”
The Ambassador’s intervention occurred when “it is estimated that the world currently faces the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War. At the same time, however, there’s been a regression in efforts to frontally address the underlying drivers of conflict and fragility with conflict prevention being severely limited.”
As Prime Minister Drew drives forward a positive Sustainable Island State agenda to tackle the scourge of conflict nationally the region’s efforts at the United Nations seek to capitalize on regional and global frameworks to secure partnerships for resolute action against crime and insecurity.
The High-Level Debate at the United Nations was a multi-stakeholder session that underlined the centrality of multilateral cooperation in addressing global peace and security.