JAMAICA Talks to the UN on Guns, Drugs, Cuba, Haiti and Climate Change

UNITED NATIONS,  New York, NY, -September 28, 2023 - Jamaica has again called on the international community “to assist Small island states like ours with porous borders, who  rely on global partnerships to combat trafficking in persons, arms and drugs.”

Guns and Drugs

Addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith reiterated that “Jamaica does not manufacture guns or ammunition. Countries that do, and which serve as major consumers of drugs, must do more to prevent their high powered weapons from coming into the region,  and to fight these elements of transnational organized crime, which have a massive impact on developing countries like ours in the region.”

The Jamaican Foreign Minister echoed the words of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, that “the  war on drugs must be reciprocated, complemented and fought in parallel with the war on guns… Our joint efforts not only seek to combat illegal firearms and drugs, but also to fortify international collaboration, reinforcing our pursuit of justice and security".

She said Jamaica was honoured to lead CARICOM’s work towards the conclusion of a UN Convention on Cybercrime which have direct implications for the efforts by governments of developing countries, like Jamaica, to deliver safe communities in which families can live, work, go to school and achieve their dreams.

End the Cuban Economic Embargo

The Jamaican Foreign Minister announced that Jamaica was again joining the international community in the unanimous call for  the United States to end its six decades long economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against the government and people of Cuba in February 1962 crippling the Cuban economy.

Senator Johnson-Smith said  the  “residual impact of the immorality of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade has lingered for far too long, and justice and accountability are long overdue. 

She said  “the systemic imbalances caused by centuries of exploitation constitute the foundation of the persistent under-development, which countries like Jamaica have worked hard to overcome.”

“Jamaica, therefore, reaffirms its determination to further the call for the international recognition of reparatory justice as a necessary path to complete healing, restoration of dignity, and progress for people of African descent. 

“Together, we must stride confidently forward in good faith, building on the lessons of that horrific past, and moving purposefully towards a common future. Furthermore, Jamaica supports the call for an extension of the International Decade for People of African Descent as insufficient progress has been made to address racial injustices worldwide,” the Jamaican Foreign Minister said.

Jamaica calls for Shpport for Haiti

On the vexing matter of Haiti, Johnson-Smith called on the international community to help restore order in Haiti.

“Jamaica supports the call for a multinational security support mission to bolster the Haitian National Police in their efforts to vanquish ever strengthening criminal gangs. Prime Minister Holness has made clear, that subject to the relevant Security Council resolution, Jamaica will contribute personnel to participate in such an effort. We listened in Port au Prince when the CARICOM mission visited earlier this year.”

Jamaica urged the permanent members of the Security Council to adopt “A UNSC Chapter 7 resolution, authorizing a multi-national security support mission without further delay. 

“We join CARICOM’s commendations of President Ruto, for Kenya’s steadfast commitment to lead such a mission and welcome the offers from other countries, including from our own region. We call on other capable countries, other capable regions, to lend their, financial, human, logistical and in-kind support, to ensure that the mission on which we must embark will be effective in delivering peace and stability for the people of Haiti,” Senator Johnson-Smith said.

The Jamaican Foreign Minister lamented that “ The situation can and will become even worse if we do not act. Peace and reasonable stability are indisputably necessary preconditions for each and every aspect of support, short, medium and long-term development needed in Haiti, including the holding of free and fair elections. 

Rest assured that only chaos will reign if the international community remains distracted. We must meet the moment., she said.

“We want Haiti – the first independent black republic – to be able to deliver, for its people, the prosperity they have always deserved,” Senator Johnson Smith declared.

Climate Change

Turning to COP28, the Jamaican foreign Minister recalled the breakthrough agreement secured at COP27, to establish a Loss and Damage Fund. "The work of the Transitional Committee will be vital to ensuring that the Fund can be properly structured and operationalized.

SIDS are counting on meaningful progress in this regard. We also expect that all States will commit to the achievement of net zero fossil fuel production and to keeping 1.5 alive,"
Notwithstanding our efforts, the responsibility for effective action is a global one, as the wide-ranging consequences of inaction are equally global.

Having just completed the Climate Ambition Summit, we urge major and emerging economies to elevate their ambition, and to deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement. This is a matter of survival for all our countries and peoples, especially small island developing states."

-30-