United Nations, New York (9 July 2025) – St. Kitts and Nevis this week participated in the United Nations one-day meeting to “Promote the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” The meeting, held under the aegis of H.E Philemon Yang, the President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly was keynoted by H.E. Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation of Senegal and H.E. Mr. Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability of the United Arab Emirates.
St. Kitts and Nevis was duly represented by H.E Dr. Mutryce Williams, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Mr. Eustace T. Wallace, Minister Counselor and 2nd Committee (Economic and Financial Affairs) lead at the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations.
Dr. Mutryce Williams in presenting the perspectives of the federation underlined, “our indigenous names for St. Kitts and Nevis are Liamigua and Oualie – land of fertile ground and land of beautiful waters. Our ancestors bequeathed us an inheritance of bounty. Yet, that bounty has been threatened, and in some cases reduced or erased all together by runaway climate change, severe biodiversity loss, and crippling plastic pollution.” The Ambassador further reminded the world that “owing to prolonged droughts in the Caribbean, increased sea level rise and resulting saline intrusion into national aquifers and clogged waterways from pollution not of our making St. Kitts and Nevis has gone from being water rich to water scarce, in mere decades.”
Ambassador Williams also used the opportunity to express gratitude to the Federation’s multilateral partners for scaling up investments in the Federation’s public infrastructure by highlighting that St. Kitts and Nevis remains hopeful for the 2026 UN Water Conference due to the collaborative spirit of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – both of whom have partnered with the federation to scale up investments for geothermal energy and desalination plants– contributing to pivotal pillars of the SDGs and Sustainable Island State Agenda 2040. Dr Williams asserted that, “this is a true expression of friendship, and a true telling of the potential and promise of south-south cooperation. “
According to the United Nations, “achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation is an essential end and it is also critical to progress on the 2030 Agenda as a whole. As we enter the final 5 years of the 2030 Agenda, the world must surge investment, innovation, political will and a spirit of solidarity into SDG 6.”
The 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal, and convened in UAE 2-4 December 2026, will bring this spirit of solidarity to life and help to build a water-secure future for all.
