Washington D.C., June 9, 2022- St. Kitts and Nevis is currently being represented at the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, by the Ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United States of America, Her Excellency, Dr. Thelma Phillip-Browne and Counsellor and Alternate Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to the Organization of American States, Mrs. Sonia Boddie-Thompson.
The Ninth Summit of the Americas which is hosted by the Government of the United States of America, is being held in Los Angeles, California from June 6-10, 2022. The theme of the Summit is, “Building a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future“.
The inaugural ceremony of the Summit was held on June 8, 2022, at the Microsoft Theater, and the inaugural address was delivered by the President of the United States of America, the Honourable Joseph R. Biden Jr. President Biden stated, “It’s my honor to host our fellow leaders from throughout the hemisphere for the Ninth Summit of the Americas, at a moment when we need more cooperation, common purpose, and transformative ideas. There has never been a greater need than today … We do not always agree on everything, but because we are democracies, we work through our disagreements with mutual respect and dialogue.”
President Biden also used the opportunity to announce several recently launched and upcoming initiatives to benefit countries in the hemisphere. He declared, “Earlier today we announced a new America Health Corp with 50,000 public health and medical professionals being trained in the region over the next five years, to help strengthen our health systems, throughout the hemisphere. In the next few days, we will be rolling out another new initiative, created in cooperation with many of your countries. It includes the US-Caribbean partnership to address the climate crisis, which the Vice President Harris will lead for our country.” The Welcome Address was delivered by Vice President, the Honourable Kamala Harris.
The Summit is the only hemispheric meeting which brings together leaders, foreign ministers, and senior government officials from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean and provides a platform for them to address shared challenges and opportunities. Since the first Summit was held in Miami in 1994, the Summit has been held approximately every three years, in a different country in the Americas. This is the second time the government of the United States of America is hosting the Summit. The Summit Secretariat is hosted by the Organization of American States.
In addition to the Leaders’ Summit, which is the main event, three other key forums are being held simultaneously in the spirit of inclusivity. These are the Ninth Civil Society Forum, The Sixth Young Americas Forum and the Fourth CEO Summit of the Americas.