St. Vincent • United Nations • Diaspora
Godwin Friday to make his UN General Assembly debut as St. Vincent presses climate and investment case
The prime minister will lead the delegation to New York for the 81st session’s high-level week, deliver his first address to the General Debate, and court the Vincentian diaspora and investors, with the government declaring the country “open for business.”
Prime Minister Godwin Friday will lead St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, marking his first appearance on the world body’s biggest stage as head of government. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, he will travel from Friday, 18 September, to Sunday, 27 September, and will deliver his inaugural address to the General Debate of the 81st session.
The trip is the New Democratic Party administration’s first UN high-level week since it took office in November 2025. It comes under the session theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all,” with Bangladesh’s Khalilur Rahman presiding over the assembly and the General Debate running from 22 to 26 September and on 28 September.
Climate at the center
For a Small Island Developing State on the front line of climate change, the climate meetings are the heart of the visit. Friday is set to attend the Climate Vulnerable Forum Leaders Meeting, where the government says St. Vincent and the Grenadines will join the forum as a new member; the High-Level Event on Climate Action and the Just Transition on 23 September; and the High-Level Plenary Meeting on sea level rise, a forum that gives low-lying island states a rare platform.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which held a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2020 and 2021, has long sought to punch above its size in international forums. The government says this week’s engagements will let it push for greater access to climate and development financing, deepen partnerships, and advance its message that the country is ready for investment.
“The question for us must always be: how does this help us make life better for Vincentians?”Prime Minister Godwin Friday
In a statement, Friday framed every engagement around a single test. “We are going to New York to represent the interests of our people,” he said, adding that whether the talks concerned climate financing, investment, jobs or development, the country had to be present and “prepared to turn those conversations into opportunities for our people.”
Investment and the diaspora
Beyond the assembly hall, the government is using the week to pitch investment and to court the Vincentian diaspora, a community with deep roots in New York. Friday will take part in a Diaspora Outreach and Investment Forum organised with Invest SVG, and a town hall with Vincentians in the city. The Prime Minister’s Office says the aim is to promote St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a destination for serious investment and to draw overseas Vincentians more directly into the country’s development agenda.
Who is travelling, and who holds the fort
The delegation includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble; Senator and Deputy Speaker Jemalie John; Senator Chelsea Alexander; and senior advisers to the government. In New York the team will be supported by St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Permanent Representative to the UN, Vynnette Frederick, and the country’s Permanent Mission.
While Friday is abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Major St. Clair Leacock will act as prime minister.
The government has set its own benchmark for the trip, saying it intends to turn discussions into tangible benefits for Vincentians. For a small country that has often been more visible at the UN than its size suggests, the measure of the week will be what follows the speeches.
Vincypowa News • Power to the People. Based on a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office; UN session details verified against the United Nations General Assembly programme for the 81st session.