WASHINGTON, D.C. – Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Sir Ronald Sanders, is calling for stronger development cooperation between OAS member states and the organisation’s Permanent Observers.
OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin (left) and Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to OAS and Chair of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development, Sir Ronald Sanders.Sir Ronald, who chairs the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), made the call at a special meeting he convened on Wednesday.
The meeting, attended by OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin, brought together the 32 active OAS member states and Permanent Observers, including the European Union, China, Spain, Italy, France, Morocco and Japan.
Sir Ronald said development should not be treated as secondary to the other principal concerns of the inter-American system.
“Development is not the fourth pillar of the inter-American system. It is the foundation of the other three,” he said.
He argued that human rights are diminished when people cannot feed their families, access health care or educate their children.
He said democracy loses authority when citizens see no path to decent work or an improvement in their lives, while security becomes fragile when the lawful economy offers young people no credible opportunities.
Sir Ronald also linked inadequate development to migration pressures.
“Migration, which commands so much of our collective attention, often begins where hope and opportunity have ended,” he said. “When development fails, the other pillars do not stand untouched. They begin to fracture.”
Sir Ronald acknowledged the support provided by Permanent Observers from Europe and Asia to the OAS in the areas of democracy, human rights and security.
However, he said development had not received comparable attention in the organisation’s external partnerships.
He argued that a more prosperous hemisphere would create stronger markets, more reliable trading partners and wider opportunities for investment and trade.
He said continued exclusion from economic opportunity could fuel political frustration, insecurity and migration pressures.
Sir Ronald also called for greater support for climate-resilient development, particularly for small island states that are repeatedly forced to borrow to replace infrastructure destroyed by severe storms.
“Development cooperation is not charity at the margins of foreign policy,” he said. “It is an investment at the heart of shared stability and shared prosperity.”
Sir Ronald proposed that Wednesday’s meeting be the first in a series of practical engagements between CIDI and the Permanent Observers aimed at building partnerships and producing measurable results.
