United Nations Radio

Caribbean News Round-Up: a weekly 15-minute news magazine on developments at the United Nations concerning the Caribbean.

Baldwin Spencer

Antigua and Barbuda firmly believes in promoting partnerships in support of sustainable development based on principles of mutual respect and understanding, equality and a genuine desire to effect social and economic development of all.
Prime minister Baldwin Spencer told the UN General Assembly that Antigua and Barbuda looks forward to fully playing its role in ensuring that the various trade arrangements entered into with the European Union, the United States of America and Canada work in the interest of all the nations.

Rufus Bousquet

St. Lucia warns that developing countries are still struggling to meet the Millennium Development Goals

Meanwhile, St. Lucia noted that when developing countries agreed to the ambitious, but necessary Millennium Development Goals, few, if any, foresaw that the course ahead would be so challenging.  Foreign minister Rufus Bousquet said now more than halfway to the 2015 deadline to achieving the MDGs, governments in the developing world are still struggling to meet their objectives: a situation brought about by unforeseen economic hardship from crisis after crisis.

Peter David

Grenada reiterates its call for a restructuring of the global financial and economic architecture

And Grenada reiterated that the global financial and economic architecture needs fundamental and far reaching reforms.
Foreign minister Peter David said changes are needed in its rules, regulations and governance in order to facilitate effective participation of small economies which suffer the effects of the crises harder and longer.

Lead poisoning found in Jamaican children

Dangerous levels of lead poisoning are found in children Jamaica

Approximately 120 million people worldwide are exposed to lead in the environment - in air, soil and water. And dangerous levels of lead poisoning are found in children in some 80 countries. Most of this lead comes from the illegal or poorly regulated smelting of lead acid batteries which are used to power automobiles. The Caribbean island of Jamaica is one of those countries where decades of informal battery smelting have left a legacy of soil pollution in some of the lowest income areas. We have a report from Sasha Henriques of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Producer: Donn Bobb.