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Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 26, 2016 (SKNIS)—Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, in his address to the 193-member body of the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2016, said that in several parts of the world today, “we see masses of people losing faith in the ability of established institutions to defend their interests or to respond adequately to their needs.”

According to Dr. Harris, the root cause of this loss of faith has to do with social and economic injustice.

“It is clear that the root cause of many of these problems can be attributed to years of social neglect and entrenched economic inequities,” he said.

“Almost on a daily basis we witness increasing incidents of violence perpetrated against innocent people. We look on seemingly helpless, as large groups of people are alienated and isolated in their own countries; some forced to uproot with their families and risk their lives to escape armed conflicts in search of security and better opportunities,” Prime Minister Harris added.

The prime minister said that in order to resolve problems created by “social neglect and entrenched economic inequities”, we cannot do so by dismissing people’s fears, stereotyping or resorting to isolationism, xenophobia and protectionism.

“Our response must be to forge greater partnership and find common ground. Global challenges demand that we build bridges not walls. We must strengthen our commitment to multilateralism and cooperation. We must empower international institutions, civil society and the private sector to play a much greater role,” Dr. Harris said. “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), prove a perfect platform and framework for achieving this in partnership.”

The 71^st Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York convened on Tuesday 13^th September, 2016, under the theme: “The Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push to Transform Our World”. The General Debates began on September 20 and will run until September 26, 2016.

 

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which were adopted by world leaders in September last year officially came into force. Over the next 15 years, the focus of the 193-member body will be to end all forms of poverty; fight inequalities; and tackle climate change.