IN a fiery address to the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City last week, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley decried a global “crisis of truth” that is shattering trust, and condemned powerful nations for ignoring wars outside Europe, while demanding reforms so small island developing states are no longer sidelined in shaping humanity’s future.

Speaking on the fourth day of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly last Friday, the Bajan leader told delegates that the erosion of truth is now a greater threat to peace and stability than even pandemics or financial shocks.

“When we lack truth, and we lack trust, law becomes theatre, news becomes spectacle, and science becomes just another opinion. As I’ve had cause to say in this great hall on a few times, our world today, worryingly, worryingly, resembles the world of 100 years ago, and this has become even more evident with the closing of our borders to both goods and to people. This has magnified the geopolitical tensions which had already taken root,” she warned.

Mottley accused powerful nations of selective outrage in responding to global conflicts, saying the world had been slow to act in Africa and Asia while rallying swiftly when war reached Europe.

“Disturbingly, war, regrettably, has only entered the daily lexicon of the West, not when thousands were dying on the continent of Africa or in Myanmar, but when war came to Europe. Nevertheless, we still call for peace in the Ukraine. Only yesterday [last Thursday], a leading British newspaper reminded us that for 500 days, 260,000 people — virtually the population of my country — have been trapped in the Sudanese city of Al Fashir. The article reported that, while political progress stalls, those who attempt to escape are killed and those who remain inside are starved.

“The world must not ignore the horror in Sudan and, of course, I don’t need to remind you that it must not ignore the horror in Gaza,” Mottley said.

On Gaza, she struck a balance, acknowledging the need for the release of hostages taken during Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 when militants crossed the border, killed more than 1,200 people, and abducted around 250 others. Those taken included men, women, children, and elderly citizens — many of whom were dragged from their homes or seized at a music festival.

Dozens have since been released through mediated exchanges, but more than 100 remain in captivity under difficult and uncertain conditions.

But, even as she recognised their plight, Mottley condemned what she called “continuous and disproportionate attacks” on Palestinian civilians.

Quoting Bob Marley, she asked: “How can you be sitting there telling me that you care, when every time I look around the people suffer?”

She urged immediate humanitarian action, pointing to UNICEF’s call for US$66 million for children in Gaza and US$200 million for Sudan over the next three months.

“At the very least, the international community must immediately find the funding to support the children… because famine, disease and despair must not define their future… Unless we forget where others are seeking to build the peace and to preserve humanity in Gaza, as we saw, the international community must not condone the bombing of those States who look to facilitate peace. It is a red line that we must never cross. Madam President, I say simply again, another year, the world needs a reset,” she said.

Mottley also demanded a shake-up of the UN Security Council, arguing that its structure reflects the geopolitics of 1962, not the realities of today.

“It [UN Security Council] must reflect the multi-polar world that we now live in, and it must give an opportunity to recognise that there have been substantial geopolitical shifts since 1962, when you had your last reform — three years before I was born, and I turn 60 next week.

“Permanent seats for Africa and a seat that revolves for small island developing states are an essential part of that reform, because we all have perspectives that must be heard,” the prime minister of Barbados said.

“You cannot ask us really to show up for family photos and votes when you need them, and then exclude us from the family’s decision-making — as if you are the grown-ups and we are the children. We are not minors. We are independent, sovereign States with full capacity, and we insist on being treated as such,” Mottley demanded.

Turning to the climate crisis, she challenged leaders to stop treating pledges as performance and instead deliver tangible results.

“Even as we have witnessed this vacillation that I just referred to, we’ve also seen a rededication to breathing new life into high-carbon and high-polluting forms of energy. And, we have witnessed a redoubling of efforts to fund military build-ups, even at the expense of financing our way to sustainability and that of a liveable planet. Barbados does not treat climate science as a mere conjecture, and neither does the International Court of Justice nor the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,” she said.

Closer to home, the Barbadian prime minister voiced alarm at growing instability in the Caribbean, while urging long-term support for Haiti, stressing that security and development must be addressed together.

“There has been a build-up in military assets in the Caribbean by both sides — the United States and Venezuela,” she noted. “Any such build-up could occasion just an accident and, if it does, a simple accident can put the southern Caribbean at disproportionate risk… Haiti, once a beacon of emancipation, is today a victim of centuries of external interference and contemporary internal conflict.

“With political will, the UN Security Council and international community have the resources and the power to deliver. Haiti needs nothing less,” added Mottley.

She closed her address with a vivid image that lingered long after her speech.

“I leave you with an image of a young Palestinian girl of six or seven years old walking in the midst of the rubble in Gaza. Her eyes were hollow, full of despair, but she carried her sister on her shoulders — both shoulders — recognising that it was she who would have to carry them to safety. This is the ultimate picture of hope and resilience, and let us be inspired that even in the face of the greatest adversity, we, too, can rise,” she said.