1. Mr. President, I am honoured to again address this august chamber at this the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
2. On behalf of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, I extend warmest congratulations to you on your election to the Presidency.
3. Permit me to extend also our appreciation to your predecessor, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock of Germany for her astute leadership in guiding our work in the previous session.
4. Mr. President, the aptly chosen theme for this session of “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all” speaks directly to the challenges confronting the international community today. Restoring trust in the UN will depend largely on the organization’s ability to respond effectively to the needs of the entire global community.
5. At a time when we should be strengthening partnerships through mutual respect and cooperation, confidence in international institutions is under strain.
6. For small and developing States, trust depends on institutions applying agreed rules consistently, honouring commitments, and ensuring that those most affected by decisions have a meaningful voice in shaping them.
7. Transnational organized crime continues to pose a serious threat to the security and development of small States.
8. Small States from sophisticated criminal networks that move people, weapons, narcotics and illicit finance across national borders.
face an asymmetric challenge
9. For Trinidad and Tobago, this is not an abstract threat. These networks directly endanger our citizens, our institutions and our development.
10.
Restoring trust and managing transformation must ultimately be about results.
11.
Ideally the transformation that is required involves a United Nations that is responsive, effective and capable of making a tangible difference to the safety, security and well-being of people.
12.
Since being elected to office in 2025, my government has pursued a people-centered agenda focused on safer communities, productive investment, modern public services and expanded opportunity.
13.
A central part of that agenda has been restoring security to our communities.
14.
To this end, we have strengthened cooperative efforts with the United States and other partners to dismantle criminal syndicates that have wreaked havoc across our country and our region.
15.
This is why we have profound gratitude to President Trump for his invitation to Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year to be part of the newly formed Shield of the Americas and the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition.
16. We remain confident that this partnership will continue to promote freedom, security, and prosperity in our region.
17.
Trinidad and Tobago appreciates and recognizes the responsibility bestowed on the Security Council.
18.
In this regard, we extend our deepest appreciation to the 181 Member States that entrusted Trinidad and Tobago with the responsibility of serving on the Security Council for 2027– 2028.
19. We regard that overwhelming expression of confidence not simply as an achievement, but as a solemn responsibility.
20. We return to the Council for only the second time in our nation’s history, and, for the first time in more than four decades.
21. We will carry to the Council the commitment on which we sought your support: Building Consensus for the Realization of Sustainable Peace and Security.
22.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago intends to bring the perspective and experience of a Small Island Developing State to the Council, while remaining guided by the UN Charter, international law and the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes.
23. We will bring those principles to every matter before the Council, whether the crisis lies within our region or far beyond it.
24. We will approach our tenure with an independent and practical outlook, working constructively with all members of the Council and seeking common ground wherever possible.
25. We will place particular emphasis on curbing the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, Women and Children, Peace and Security, and Artificial Intelligence and Global Security. We agree with President Trump’s practical call for Artificial Intelligence to be renamed Super Intelligence.
26.
Mr. President, the illicit flow of firearms and narcotics is a major security concern for Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.
27.
Although these weapons, their availability fuels gang violence, organized crime, drug trafficking and loss of life across our societies.
the region does not manufacture
28. While serving on the Council, Trinidad and Tobago will advocate for greater international cooperation to address the sources, movement and diversion of illicit weapons including stronger tracing mechanisms, information sharing, border and maritime cooperation, and deeper cooperation among source, transit and destination countries to disrupt weapons, narcotics and illicit financial flows.
29.
Trinidad and Tobago will bring the experience of the Caribbean to the Council, where the impact of illicit firearms demonstrates how transnational organized crime can threaten the security and stability of States even in the absence of traditional armed conflict.
30.
On the priority area of Super Intelligence and Global Security, Trinidad and Tobago will encourage greater consideration of implications of SI and emerging technologies for international peace and security, including cyberattacks, disinformation and deepfakes, autonomous the weapons, criminal misuse of SI and threats to critical infrastructure.
31. We acknowledge that these technologies can support conflict prevention, early warning, peacekeeping and the protection of civilians.
32.
Trinidad and Tobago will advocate for an approach that international security without closing off safeguards innovation, development and opportunity, and that ensures developing countries have a meaningful voice in shaping the rules for this new technological era.
33.
Mr. President, the situation in Haiti remains of particular concern.
34.
Trinidad and Tobago stands full support of international efforts to help restore security and stability in Haiti, while maintaining that the country's political future must ultimately be Haitian-led and Haitian-owned.
in 35.
Security assistance is necessary, but lasting stability will also require functioning institutions, economic opportunity and a credible political process.
36.
Therefore, as Trinidad and Tobago prepares to serve on the Security Council, we will continue to bring attention to Haiti and to the wider security concerns of the Caribbean, while working with CARICOM and other international partners towards practical and sustainable solutions.
37.
Mr. President, managing transformation must also mean ensuring that developing countries are not simply expected to adjust to changes decided or developed elsewhere.
38. Whether in technology and super intelligence, the global economy or energy developing countries must have the opportunity and capacity to participate in shaping those changes.
39.
Trinidad and Tobago brings a distinctive perspective as we understand that climate resilience, energy security, affordability and economic development must advance together.
40.
For Trinidad and Tobago, progress cannot be measured only by how quickly the world changes, but also by who benefits from that change.
41.
Consequently, transformation should create greater opportunity, strengthen security and support development, rather than deepen inequality, indebtedness or dependence.
42.
Restoring trust in the United Nations will depend on its ability to deliver on the commitments already made and to demonstrate that multilateralism can make a meaningful difference in the lives of people.
43.
Mr. President, the Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative to make the Organization more efficient and better equipped for the future is necessary and timely.
44.
should Reform strengthen accountability, retire mandates that no longer serve their purpose, and direct scarce resources towards measurable results.
duplication, reduce 45.
At the Organization’s ability to deliver across its three pillars of peace reform should preserve the same time, and security, development and human rights, and should not make it more difficult for small developing States to participate meaningfully in its work.
46.
Mr. President, as the United Nations begins its search for its next Secretary-General, I take this opportunity to convey our deepest appreciation to His Excellency António Guterres, whose term as the 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations concludes at the end of this year.
47.
Secretary-General Guterres will be remembered for leading the Organization through a period of extraordinary global strain and for advancing important initiatives on UN reform, climate change, super intelligence and the risks posed by nuclear weapons.
48. We also recognize some of the important initiatives advanced during his tenure, including the UN80 Initiative efforts to achieve greater gender parity in senior UN leadership, and his efforts to bring super intelligence and the risks posed by nuclear weapons more firmly onto the international agenda.
49.
Mr. President, Trinidad and Tobago’s longstanding commitment to multilateralism and the United Nations has been anchored in delivering results and adding value to the lives of citizens everywhere.
50.
As we chart our way forward, it is important for us all to remember that trust must be earned and built on the principles of mutual respect and cooperation.
51.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is prepared to play its part to rebuild a United Nations that delivers for all.
Mr President, I thank you.
END