NEW YORK, USA – On Wednesday 23rd October 2019, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, H.E. I. Rhonda King, was one of four recipients of the 2019 Spirit of the United Nations Award in New York.
The award is the brainchild of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns – NY (CSVGC-NY) and recognizes those individuals whose work is an expression of the core principles, spirit and vision on which the United Nations was founded. In 2007, the Committee created the Annual Week of Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns during the United Nations anniversary week. This year’s theme is “Spirit of the UN: The Call for a Life of Human Dignity – Reframing the Discussion on the SDGs and Agenda 2030”.
Ambassador King is one of two CARICOM nationals who received the award on Wednesday, the other is the Hon. Elliott Harris of Trinidad and Tobago – United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist. This is the very first time that a Permanent Representative from CARICOM has received the prestigious award.
In her acceptance remarks, Ambassador King thanked Ambassador Katalin Bogyay, the Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations for nominating her for the award as well as the CSVGC-NY for accepting the nomination. She noted that “In the Agenda 2030 there is a unifying truth grounded in Human Dignity, that transcends all religions, ideologies and cultures…” and “We, the peoples of the United Nations, are a part of a Transcendent Whole. And to deny that spirit is to be miniscule. We cannot build a world of peace outside ourselves if we are not able to create peace within ourselves — it is our own inner peace that leads to world peace.”
Ambassador King has been Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2013 and has served as the Chair of the United Nations Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) and most recently as the 74th President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Office of the Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce