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STORY: UNGA80 / BARBADOS 26 SEP 25
TRT: 03:45
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
1. Med shot, UN flag
2. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“As I have 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 people.”
4. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“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 Ukraine.”
6. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“Only yesterday a leading British Newspaper reminded us that for 500 days 260,000 people, virtually the population of my country, 260,000 people have been trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher. The article reported while political progress stalls those who attempt 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. The genocidal destruction taking place in both places must now have our full attention.”
8. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“And as it relates to Gaza, yes, there must be a release of hostages taken on October 7th, but we have now gone to a point, where all our human sensibilities are offended, by the continuous and disproportionate attacks on Palestinian people and a failure to allow access by the international community for the survivors of the provision of humanitarian aid.”
10. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“Barbados does not treat climate science as a mere conjecture. And neither does the ICJ nor the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Their advisory opinions have affirmed the legal rights and entitlements of citizens who must, on a daily basis, confront the impact of the climate crisis. In this regard, we especially welcome the ICJ ruling to the effect that States have obligations to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment from emissions, and that those obligations can be enforced against other States.”
12. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security and the Public Service, and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados:
“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.”
14. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, told the General Assembly, that “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,” while reiterating her country’s call for peace in Ukraine.
She drew attention to other crises, noting that “for 500 days 260,000 people, virtually the population of my country, 260,000 people have been trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher,” where civilians face killings and starvation. “The world must not ignore the horror in Sudan,” she said, adding that global leaders must also not turn away from “the horror in Gaza.”
On the Middle East, she stressed that “yes, there must be a release of hostages taken on October 7th,” but condemned “continuous and disproportionate attacks on Palestinian people and a failure to allow access by the international community for the survivors of the provision of humanitarian aid.”
Turning to climate change, Mottley said Barbados welcomed international court rulings recognizing the legal obligations of states to protect the environment. “Barbados does not treat climate science as a mere conjecture,” she said, noting that both the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had affirmed citizens’ rights in the face of the climate crisis.
On UN reform, she argued that the Security Council must reflect today’s multipolar world, calling for permanent African representation and a rotating seat for small island developing states. “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,” she said. “We are not minors, we are independent sovereign states with full capacity, and we insist on being treated as such.”
