On 8 December 2020, the President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Volkan Bozkir, appointed Her Excellency Keisha A McGuire, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations, together with His Excellency Martin Bille Hermann, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations, as the co-facilitators to oversee the preparatory process and intergovernmental consultations on the Political Declaration for the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (Ocean Conference).
In 2019, the United Nations decided to convene the second United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of SDG14 in Lisbon, Portugal, from 2 to 6 June 2020. In light of the Covid19 pandemic, the UN Ocean Conference was postponed to a later date to be decided, which is now expected to occur in 2021. The UN Ocean Conference is co-hosted by the Governments of Portugal and Kenya, with the overarching theme of the Conference “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions”.
To note, in 2017, the first Ocean Conference was convened from 5-9 June 2017, in New York, during which, the Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, served as Co-Chair to Partnership Dialogue 5: Increasing economic benefits to small islands developing States and least developed countries and providing access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets. During the Partnership Dialogue, Prime Minister Mitchell noted that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) were committed to promoting sustainable livelihoods for their people and protecting the marine environment.
Ambassador McGuire’s appointment complements Grenada’s commitment to a sustainable future, and a leader of the green economy, blue economy and circular economy.
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