Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region next to North America and north of South America, and is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. It lies on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development but rebranded to its current name on the occasion of its 60th anniversary in 2024. It reports to both the General Assembly and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). UNCTAD is composed of 195 member states and works with non-governmental organizations worldwide; its permanent secretariat is at UNOG in Geneva, Switzerland.
The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Honduras, British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago.
Owen Seymour Arthur was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.
Sir Julian Robert Hunte, SLC, KCMG, OBE, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Lucia from April 2001 to 26 October 2004, when he was succeeded by Petrus Compton. He is the Permanent Representative for Saint Lucia to the United Nations, after presenting his credentials to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 7 December 2004.
The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly, as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings, in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.
The United Nations Regional Groups are the geopolitical regional groups of member states of the United Nations. Originally, the UN member states were unofficially organized into five groups as an informal means of sharing the distribution of posts for General Assembly committees. Now this grouping has taken on a much more expansive and official role. Many UN bodies are allocated on the basis of geographical representation. Top leadership positions, including Secretary-General and President of the General Assembly, are rotated among the regional groups. The groups also coordinate substantive policy and form common fronts for negotiations and bloc voting.
John William Ashe was an Antiguan diplomat and politician. He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, which ran September 2013 to September 2014. He was also President of the UNICEF Executive Board in 2012. He served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York of Antigua and Barbuda between 1995 and 2004.
David John Howard Thompson was the sixth prime minister of Barbados from 15 January 2008 until his death from pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2010.
Mia Amor Mottley, is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold either position. She is also Barbados' first prime minister under its republican system, following constitutional changes she introduced that abolished the country's constitutional monarchy.
This article deals with the diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and international relations of Barbados.
Freundel Jerome Stuart, OR, PC, SC is a Barbadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Barbados and the leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013; and from 21 February 2013 to 25 May 2018. He succeeded David Thompson, who had died in office on 23 October 2010 from pancreatic cancer.
The 2003 United Nations Security Council election was held on 23 October 2003 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City during the 58th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The General Assembly elected five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms commencing on 1 January 2004.
Maxine Pamela Ometa McClean is a Barbadian politician who served as her country's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2018.
The 1975 United Nations Security Council election was held from 20 October to 23 October 1975 during the Thirtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Dahomey, Libya, Pakistan, Panama, and Romania, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1976. Benin and Libya were elected for the first time.
The Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries, or GRULAC, is one of the five United Nations Regional Groups composed of 33 Member States from Central and South America, as well as island nations in the Caribbean. Its members compose 17% of all United Nations members.
The nations of Barbados and the Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1972. Both nations are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the United Nations.
Henrietta Elizabeth Thompson, widely known as Liz Thompson is a Barbadian lawyer, politician and diplomat whose work has included sustainable energy policy. While an elected Member of Parliament representing the Barbados Labour Party for the St. James South constituency from 1994 to 2008. She served as on different occasions as Minister of Health, Minister of Housing, Minister of Physical Development, Minister of Energy and Environment, and Acting Attorney General. She joined the United Nations in 2010, first serving as Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, a Special Adviser to the UN President of the General Assembly, and as the UN Secretary General’s Senior Advisor on Sustainable Energy for All. In 2018, she was appointed Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations.
Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Democracy and Development since 8 June 2019.
