SKN Ambassador at OAS: Poverty, Debt & Climate Ain’t No Joke

Saint Kitts and Nevis step up loud and clear this week, thanks to Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin who mash up the Regional Consultation on Public Policies Against Poverty and Inequality. Sis didn’t hold back — she lay out exactly how poverty, debt, and climate change all tie up together, and how SKN small but still fighting big.

She remind the room that 31% of children in SKN living in poverty, with single mothers carrying the heaviest load. Government fighting back with programmes like PAP, YES, and STEP, plus a big move toward universal healthcare. Real social safety nets, not just talk.

On debt, Henry-Martin throw it way back — remember when SKN was one of the most indebted countries on Earth, owing more than 150% of GDP? Through debt restructuring, discipline, and using CBI money wisely, we slash that down and hit the ECCU debt target before anybody else. Flex.

But she call climate change the real “threat multiplier.” From solar to wind to geothermal, SKN aiming for 100% renewable energy. Add coastal defences, mangrove restoration, early warning systems, and climate insurance — all wrapped up under the Sustainable Island State Agenda 2030.

Her point? Poverty, debt and climate pressure don’t come one by one, they come all at once. SKN still proving that with vision and proper planning, you can turn fragility into resilience.

Henry-Martin end strong, telling the region: if tiny SKN can reimagine itself as sustainable, then the whole hemisphere got no excuse. Equity, climate finance and global cooperation must deliver.

Run Di Chat take: SKN showing once again that size nah matter when policy strong. Ambassador Henry-Martin talk like a boss and put us square in the spotlight.