- SVG PM calls for economic equity, climate action, & African-Caribbean unity at G77 Summit
Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent, spoke for enhancing the solidarity between Africa and the Caribbean during his speech at the NAM-G77 Summit in Kampala, Uganda.
Gonsalves advocated for the resolution of climate challenges, emphasising the imperative of creating a more favourable environment and securing a prosperous future for our offspring and descendants.
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent emphasised that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 (G77), representing the developing countries and the South, have a distinct and important role to fulfil in the aforementioned context.
According to Gonsalves, those who have long dominated the world have informed the South that the major contradiction in the world today is the subject of democracy versus tyranny. “Well, from the trenches of the Caribbean, that has never been the central contradiction, and it is not today,” he went on to say.
“The central contradiction is about who gets what, when, where, and how. Who owns and controls the resources, and who determines the distribution of those resources? That is how it has been, and that is how it is today, and the restless South is justifiably demanding a better share of what the world has to offer the poor, the marginalised, and the disadvantaged.”
“We are in a quest for sustainable development and peace. We want to see the climate change issues resolved. We want a better environment and a better future for our children and grandchildren”, Gonsalves stated.
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent emphasised that his government prioritises the enhancement of African and Caribbean solidarity, which is of utmost importance to the people in the Caribbean and Latin America.
“In the foundation of the NAM, Kwame Nkrumah said that we look neither east nor west, but we look forward. We look to the future. It is a long time, a long journey, and through the vicissitudes of life, living, and production, and all the changing scenes, we have arrived at a new inflection point in the evolution of human history. We are at the point where the complexities, challenges, and global turmoil are of such a nature that the old order can no longer hold, yet the new is yet to begin.”
Uganda currently heads NAM after a handover to President Yoweri Museveni from Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliye, the outgoing chairperson, at the start of the summit. Museveni will chair the organisation until 2027.
The Kampala summit, which began on January 15, concluded on January 20.
