Ambassador Lilian Chatterjee confirms Canada’s support for hurricane ravaged CARICOM Countries

​New Ambassador Lilian Chatterjee has confirmed Canada’s support for CARICOM Countries that were ravaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Her Excellency Lilian Chatterjee made that commitment while presenting her Credentials to CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on Tuesday.
 
CARICOM will hold a High-Level Pledging Conference on 21st November at UN Headquarters in New York, with the help of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The objective is to mobilize support and commitments of pledges, to help the devastated CARICOM countries to build back better, and fulfil the vision of being the first climate resilient countries in the world.
 
Hurricanes Maria and Irma devastated Dominica, Barbuda, the South-Eastern Bahamian Islands, The BVI, Anguilla and Turks & Caicos Islands. Housing, Agriculture & critical infrastructure, including electricity and telecommunications, suffered major hits.
 
Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque praised Canada’s unwavering commitment to combating climate change, noting Prime Minister Trudeau’s position that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) “should not be punished for a problem they didn’t create”.
 
Ambassador Chatterjee noted that while Caribbean nations and other SIDS have taken some important steps to develop more climate resilient infrastructure, there is clearly more work to do.
 
She assured LaRocque that “Canada remains committed to working with partners in the region, to build the best possible future for the Caribbean”. Canada has already made significant contributions to the affected countries, and to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which is the CARICOM Institution at the forefront of the relief and recovery effort.