Senator the Honourable Dr Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs met with Mr. Roberto Valent, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Development Coordination Office on 21st May, 2024 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, during Mr. Valent’s maiden visit to Trinidad and Tobago. Ms. Joanna Kazana, UN Resident Coordinator; Ms. Tracey Hutchinson, Head of Office, UN Resident Coordinator Office (RCO); and Mr. Mark Thomas, RCO Partnership and Development Finance Office, accompanied Mr. Valent to the meeting.
During the meeting, Minister Browne underscored the importance of the United Nations in consistently reinforcing its value through the promotion of global order and in serving as a ready platform for engagement. Discussions also centred on the global repositioning of the UN’s development system to better leverage its responses to the needs of Member States. Mr. Valent identified key focal areas of his office as part of that transition for greater development support to Member States. These areas included transforming education, food security, social protection that is linked to productive engagement, climate and energy, and digitalization. Minister Browne and Mr. Valent also discussed the situation in Haiti, and triangular cooperation, including in the area of security cooperation.
The meeting ended cordially with Minister Browne reiterating the need for multidimensional solutions and commending the UN Secretary-General for his significant courage, fortitude and vision in coalescing the international community toward that end.
