High-level Meeting to Commemorate the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations
21 September 2020
Antigua and Barbuda
His Excellency Gaston Alfonso Browne
Statement Summary
GASTON ALFONSO BROWNE, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said the dismantling of colonial rule, carried out under the law-making capabilities of the General Assembly, assisted many States including his own. Founded as a colony in 1634, he said Antigua and Barbuda owes its independence to resolution 1514 (1960). The multilateralism which defines the United Nations is embedded in the approach of Member States when achieving their goals, he said, underscoring the pragmatism of the principle that “global problems demand global solutions”. Even as nationalism has become a new reality worldwide, his Government remains pledged to fight poverty, guarantee the rights of women and girls and “unrelentingly tackle global climate change”. Noting that there are six hurricanes currently brewing in the Atlantic Ocean threatening lives and livelihoods, he said “Let me remind everyone that there is no Planet B.”
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