UN Secretary-General For Caribbean Visit

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for Barbados Today.

News Americas, UNITED NATIONS, NY, Weds. July 1, 2015:  Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban-Ki-moon, is set to arrive in Barbados today, July 1st for a three-day visit.

The secretary general will be in Barbados from Wednesday July 1st  to Friday July 3rd to address the Opening Ceremony of the 36th Regular Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

This will be the second time Ban will attend a CARICOM summit. His 2010 address to the Heads of Government Meeting in Jamaica was the first by a United Nations Secretary-General to such a high-level meeting in the Caribbean.

During his two-day visit, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Barbados and incoming Chair of CARICOM, Freundel Stuart, and with Heads of the regional organizations coordinating CARICOM’s response to climate change.

He is also expected to open the Caribbean Sustainable Development High-level Dialogue, a partnership between the United Nations and CARICOM focusing on the climate change issues within the Post-2015 development agenda.

On Thursday, Ban will visit two local initiatives that support efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable development in Barbados and the wider region: Caribbean LED Lighting Inc, which manufactures and exports energy efficient lighting across the Caribbean; and the Hastings Boardwalk, a public-private partnership project that aims to mitigate disaster risk and protect the coastline.   He will also attend an event on ending gender-based violence in Barbados, organized by UN Women and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Secretary-General is scheduled to deliver remarks at the launch of the Lancet Caribbean HIV/AIDS report, on Friday; and to hold an interactive session with Caribbean youth on the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.