Dominica: President Burton opens UNGA address with greetings in Kalinago language

President of Dominica Sylvanie Burton opened her UNGA address with greetings in the language of her Kalinago ancestors. She started her speech by welcoming everyone by saying “Mabrika, Mabrika”. 

Sylavnie Burton who is the first Indigenous, and female President of the Commonwealth of Dominica said that she is proud of her heritage.  

While calling Dominica the homeland of Olympic gold medalist Thea Lafond Godson, the President extended her warmest greetings to everyone on behalf of the Nature Isle.  

Concerns over Sustainable Development Goals  

One of the key points highlighted by the President was the concerns regarding the lack of progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  

She said, “We remain concerned that despite the resources and publicity given to UN agenda 30, its outputs so far do not inspire confidence that we are on track to realise the much heralded goals.” 

Alarmingly, the 2024 Sustainable Development Goals report indicates that far from building on the progress achieved during the first five years, half of the 17 targets are only making minimal or moderate progress, while more than a third are either stalled or going backwards, noted President Burton. 

While citing this example, she said that Dominica along with other Caribbean nations hopes that this year’s UN assembly will renew a global commitment to achieving the SDGs.  

Growing Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases 

The President further emphasised the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases which accounts for 75 percent of global deaths.  

She called upon all the world leaders to join hands against this and said, “The fight against NCDs is not one that any nation, particularly a nation as small as ours, can win alone. That fight requires strong leadership, innovative strategies and collaboration at every level.” 

Sylvanie Burton shared Dominica’s progress in enhancing healthcare systems while saying that the island has made significant strides in enhancing its healthcare to better meet the needs of those at risk or living with NCDs.  

While saying that Dominica is proud to play its part in this global effort, the leader reiterated her commitment to working with international partners to share knowledge, resources and best practices in fight against NCDs.  

Impacts of Climate Change  

In her address, she also highlighted the devastating impacts of climate change on small island developing states like Dominica. She cited the 2015 Tropical Storm Erika and 2017 Hurricane Maria, which destroyed 96% and 225% of the country's GDP, respectively. 

"We stand today at a critical juncture in human history, climate change is not just an environmental challenge; it's a threat to every aspect of life as we know it," outlined Burton.  

She continued to say that this is why this year, Dominica watched in agony as Hurricane Beryl swept through the island states of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Jamaica. 

The President urged the international community to come together and take decisive action on climate change saying that, “We need urgent, bold and decisive action to limit global warming to 1.5°C as science clearly dictates.” 

“But to do this, we must drastically reduce emissions, boldly honour financial commitments and built critical resilience infrastructure in regions particularly vulnerable in relation to climate change,” she said while stressing the solution toward limiting global warming. 

President Burton outlined Dominica’s and other Caribbean islands strategies towards their fight against climate change. She noted that the countries have already prioritized the development of national climate adaptation strategies, invested in resilient infrastructure and agriculture, community education and in renewable energy.  

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While calling out the developed world to play their part in this fight, the Dominican leader shed a light on the reality saying that as important as the interventions in this crucial space are, they will remain ineffective if partners in the industrialized world do not honor their commitments to reduce global warming and provide the funding that is required to enable the low emitting states to become resilient.  

She urged the high emitting countries to recognize and accept responsibility for their destructive practices and do the noble thing.