Senator the Honourable Dennis Moses, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs advanced the inclusive and integrative outlook of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on the requirements for strengthening multilateralism in the Americas at the 49th Regular Session of the General Assembly (GA) of the Organization of American States (OAS), held in Medellin, Colombia from 26th to 28th June 2019.
Minister Moses highlighted four (4) key requirements for creating a hospitable geopolitical environment for multilateral relations in the Americas in his statement on the theme for the Dialogue of Heads of Delegations of OAS member states, “Innovating to Strengthen Hemispheric Multilateralism”. Identifying those four (4) imperatives as: improved access, greater inclusion, increased resilience, and more equity, in his contribution to the dialogue of Heads of Delegation, Minister Moses noted that: “… a transformational paradigm of truly integrative, innovative and inclusive multilateralism must be developed that accepts and respects the sovereign integrity of every member state, without prejudice to the collective responsibility of our commitment to hemispheric solidarity”.
The outlook shared by Minister Moses was framed in the context of Trinidad and Tobago’s Vision 2030 National Development Strategy, and the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He emphasized the priority given by Trinidad and Tobago and the other Small Island and low-lying coastal developing member states of the Caribbean to integral development assistance and multidimensional security cooperation in their multilateral relations at the OAS.
Barriers to access for affordable development financing, debt sustainability, and support for rebuilding fiscal space featured among the challenges cited specifically by Minister Moses. These challenges were echoed in statements by other CARICOM Foreign Ministers at the 49th OAS GA, in advancement of the hemispheric multilateral cooperation interests of small developing countries at the OAS. Download full article.
