Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 21, 2021 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs): On Tuesday, 19 January 2021, St. Kitts and Nevis participated virtually in its 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the 37th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), based in Geneva. Ms. Kaye Bass, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head of the delegation, introduced St. Kitts and Nevis’ National Report and highlighted, inter alia, St Kitts and Nevis’ response to Covid19. In her intervention during the interactive dialogue, Ms. Bass highlighted human rights-related initiatives the government has undertaken within the last four and a half years on areas such as Social Protection, Gender Empowerment, Education, Health, and its fulfillment to obligations under Human Rights Instruments which it has ratified. At the end of the review, St. Kitts and Nevis received recommendations from 63 UN Member states which will be taken into consideration.
“The timely submission and content of our current National Report as well as our participation in this important Review, reiterate St Kitts and Nevis’ commitment not only to this process but to human rights in general,” said Permanent Secretary Bass.
“This is evidenced by St. Kitts and Nevis’s diligent efforts and subsequent success in implementing more than half of the recommendations of its previous review. This is a significant achievement for the smallest country in the Western Hemisphere and considering the ongoing exogenous and economic challenges it continues to face,” she said.
This unique UPR process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States, began in April 2008 to 2011 (1st Cycle) followed by another from 2011-2016 (2nd Cycle). At each successive cycle, States are expected to highlight the steps they have taken to implement recommendations supported during their previous reviews, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country.
The other members of the delegation included Ms. Janelle Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Gender Affairs and Social Services, Ms. Asha DeSuza, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the UN, Mr. Sheldon Henry, and Mrs. Natasha Burt, Foreign Service Officers.
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, January 14, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Ambassador His Excellency Ian Patches Liburd will serve as the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
This was revealed by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris when he addressed the nation at his Thursday, January 14 press conference held at the NEMA Conference Room.
In making the announcement, Prime Minister Harris said that Ambassador Liburd has an outstanding record of service in both the private and public sectors.
“The United Nations is the premier global organization with over 193 member states and a large number of entities accredited to it. Ambassador Liburd has served the Country well as its Minister of Public Infrastructure, et al. He is well versed in a range of public and private sector matters and will be an asset to our Country,” Dr. Harris said.
The Honourable Eugene Hamilton, Minister responsible for Human Settlement, National Health Insurance et al., offered words of congratulations to His Excellency Ian Patches Liburd on his appointment, noting, “I know that he will do a fantastic job in that position and the country would be proud of his representation.”
A number of Foreign Service Officers are being transferred to postings at the Federation’s Embassies and Missions abroad. Among them are Mr. Sheldon Henry who will join Ambassador Liburd at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations as the Second Secretary; Ms. Shanelle Simmonds who has been approved for assignment to the Permanent Mission to the OAS in Washington D.C. as First Secretary, while Ms. Denaula Laplace will be posted to the country’s High Commission in Ottawa as Second Secretary.
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