Barbados Punching Above Their Weight

Barbados has emerged as a leading advocate in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) group of nations. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea.  The aggregate population of all the SIDS is 65 million, slightly less than 1% of the world’s population, yet this group faces unique social, economic, and environmental challenges.

At its 42nd annual conference, presided over by Bishop W. Darin Moore and Missionary Supervisor Devieta Moore, the State of the Country report was featured.  Rev Deborah Grant introduced the dynamic role played by the 166-square-mile republic in addressing domestic issues such as crime, homelessness, and unemployment, as well as critical issues on the world stage. Two critical global issues were emphasized by the report, the Bridgetown Imitative and Reparations:

• Barbados has continued to lead the charge in climate change and economic development by presenting the Bridgetown Initiative.  This initiative is designed to reform the global financial system by addressing development finance in the context of three intersecting global crises (debt, climate, and inflation). The Bridgetown Initiative proposes the creation of new instruments and reform of existing institutions to finance climate resilience and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados believes that her country should be in the lead for the call for reparatory justice, as it was on the island of Barbados that the system of enslavement of Africans in the sugar industry was established and perfected, then transferred to the wider Americas.  Therefore, it should be a natural progression for Barbados to be in the lead on Reparations. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Committee on Reparations has established the ten-point plan for Reparations and has lobbied the Organization of American States (OAS), the African Union (AU), and the United Nations (UN) on this very important issue of justice for all those persons of African descent.

With the acceptance of the State of the Country report, the Barbados Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is a prime example of how local congregations can have a global vision and a global reach.