United Nations, New York (28 July 2025) – Leveraging the opportunity provided by the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent the Hon. Dr Joyelle Clarke, Minister for Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate and Constituency Empowerment met with H.E Sima Sami Bahous, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women. According to her biography, “before her appointment as Executive Director, she served as the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations in New York and held several significant roles within the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the League of Arab States.”
The meeting occurred as UN Women also celebrates “15 years of impact as the leading voice and trusted ally in the global journey towards gender equality and women’s rights.” According to the United Nations, “fifteen years ago, UN Women was created with a bold mission: to become the United Nation’s powerhouse for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Rooted in the energy and vision of women’s movements and governments, shaped by the realities of our time, UN Women was born not just to exist – but to spark real and lasting change for all women and girls.”
The Hon. Dr. Joyelle Clarke in reflecting on the high-level engagement opined that, “at the forefront of the many developmental vulnerabilities faced across the Federation- such as climate change and environmental loss – are women and girls. We hope to build on the strong intervention of UN Women around the world to shore up strategic partnerships and targeted projects for women and girls nationally. From farming to fishing, from nursing to education women lead and they require support. UN Women is an ideal partner to build out that support as the UN, and indeed, our own administration mainstream and privilege women and gender equality for sustainable development.”
Dr. Mutryce Williams, the Federation’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations who also co-facilitates the Commission on the Status of Women revitalization process with Ireland at the United Nations added that, “while we have registered successes and breakthroughs such as parliamentary parity critical gaps remain, including violence against women. In the federation we have seen severe cases and part of our diplomacy at the United Nations is to shine a light on progress but also position the federation as an ideal partner for UN agencies who are at the fore front of this critical fight. We believe St. Kitts and Nevis can be a model for scaled up action, resulting in access to capacity building programs, training and indeed financing to ensure support for community and constituency empowerment. We will lead this demarche on behalf of our women and girls, and indeed our vulnerable men and boys too for in the end this is an all of society process to build resilience and sustainability.”
Mrs.Sherlita Dore-Tyson, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Mr. Eustace T. Wallace, Minister Counsellor accompanied the Honourable Minister to the meeting.
