U.N. adopts CARICOM resolution on slavery

Partnerships submit a report to the General Assembly on the status of the Trust Fund, launched in June 2009, for the permanent memorial in honor of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

Estimated to cost US$3.5 million, CARICOM said the permanent memorial will be an “architecturally designed sculpture, embodying each affected region of the transatlantic slave trade.”

It will be built on the grounds of the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

Trinidad and Tobago diplomat Ruenna Haynes also introduction a resolution on behalf of CARICOM calling for cooperation between the U.N. and CARICOM aimed at improving the quality of life in the region.

CARICOM urged increased aid as regional states grapple with the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the “harmful effects of drugs, violent crime and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.”

The resolution also called for “strengthened cooperation in order to make the international development framework more responsive to Caribbean Community States.”

Wrapping up the main part of the 66th session, General Assembly President Joseph Deiss of Switzerland hailed the “constructive and cooperative spirit” that had prevailed over “three months of critical, and at times challenging, deliberations” on a range of issues, from poverty eradication and human rights to sustainable development and disarmament.