 Welcome to NTI Nightly. I am Janelle Norvell. This edition stops stories. Prime Minister the Honourable Philip J. Pierre delivers his maiden address to the UN, calling for better financing terms for SIDS. Tourism Minister Honourable Dr Ernest Hiller assures a more inclusive sector on this World of Tourism Day. And the education sector benefits from program design to increase digital literacy. Prime Minister Honourable Philip J. Pierre in a bold address to the 76 United Nations General Assembly on Saturday 25 September 2021, called for the abolition of the criteria used to determine access to concessional development financing by small island developing states, SIDS. Saint Lucia's Prime Minister told the UN General Assembly that the indicators paint an erroneous picture of national prosperity. Mr President, Saint Lucia is calling for the adoption of a global vulnerability index by international institutions. This index should include variables such as vulnerability to adverse weather systems and natural disasters, historical disadvantages, arising out of plunder, colonization and exploitation, and the vagaries of the economic activities which the states depend on for survival. Such a global vulnerability index would ensure that access to concessional development financing is granted based on the criteria that consider the true context of our fragile economies which are constantly on the threat of regression due to natural, man-made or political disasters. Saint Lucia also calls for immediate measures to safeguard the solvency of SIDS which have disproportionately affected during the pandemic. These measures must include debt restructuring and write-offs, support to strengthen health systems, more equitable distribution and access to vaccines, and assistance for recovery that meets the demands of the developmental model adopted in the beneficiary country. Honourable Pierre urged the international community to adopt common approaches to managing COVID-19 in order to ensure economic sustainability. We call for the standardization of vaccine privileges across the global community as it relates to quarantine, isolation and other related requirements. Saint Lucia, like many other countries, is grappling with a decline in investment trade remittances and a growing debt burden. There is an urgent need to accelerate global momentum towards the ambitious targets across various international agreements and developmental agendas. A common thread across these instruments is the need to address the unique vulnerabilities and special circumstances of SIDS. Saint Lucia and all SIDS continue to face huge spending needs to finance the immediate health responses that are well beyond our capacities. Such a shift in focus will reverse achievements in sustainable development goals, implementation and in building climate resilience. Prime Minister Honourable Philip J. Pierre The recovery of Saint Lucia's tourism industry from the impacts of COVID-19 is showing positive signs. Minister for Tourism Honourable Dr Ernest Helaise says the trend has been strong as the Ministry of Tourism oversees the safe reopening of the sector. In a message commemorating World Tourism Day, Honourable Helaise noted that the theme for this year's observance, Tourism for Inclusive Growth, is in keeping with the thrust of the government. With the reopening of the industry and further development in the COVID-19 era, we must address the distribution of wealth to all the actors within the tourism value chain to increase employment opportunities and reduce poverty. It is the efforts of my government to ensure that as part of employment opportunities, Saint Lucia's become owners and operators of more tourism businesses with a focus on developing strong linkages with agriculture, the youth economy and the digital age. Already many of us depend on tourism from our travel agents to airport staff, taxi drivers, tour companies, hotel workers, vendors and artists, villa rental owners, both operators and water spot operators, beach and market vendors, entertainers, craftspers and duty free shops just to name a few. 15,000 Saint Lucians are employed in the tourism industry. The tourism minister says the island can see major gains as the global prediction for the tourism industry is the return of the 62 million jobs if the vaccine uptake maintains space and travel restrictions are lifted. Saint Lucia has made great progress in the reopening of the industry and to date approximately 8,500 workers have been re-employed. A total of 290 vocation rental properties have been certified and experiencing higher bookings. 35 hotels have reopened their doors and reporting satisfactory occupancy rates. Over 20 car rental companies and over 1,500 taxi drivers have returned to work. The cruise sector has reopened, albeit at low volumes. Since the relaxation of travel protocols of vaccinated persons, the destination has recorded a total of 110,116 days over arrivals to date, achieving almost 54% of pre-COVID-19 figures for the second quarter, as well as exceeding predictions by 11% for the overall targets as part of the recovery. Sustaining a responsible reopening, Honourable Dr Ernest Hillers says requires a national commitment by all Saint Lucians to adhere to the protocols, build vaccine confidence with strong uptake and focus on taking advantage of opportunities for growth. Saint Lucia's education sector has received timely support from a United States-funded initiative that seeks to increase digital literacy and position the nation's students for opportunities in the youth economy. Here's Honourable Dr Mark with the details. The Saint Lucia ConnectEd program seeks to amplify the strengths and skills of youth in Saint Lucia by providing opportunities in digital education from which to learn and practice leadership and life skills from self-determined pathways. The Saint Lucia ConnectEd program will work towards building resilience and improving quality of education and learning in Saint Lucia by equipping Saint Lucia youth and educators with digital literacy skills to transform them into digital literacy leaders in their communities. The skills to be developed will include computer skills, software skills, as well as the use of technology in everyday life. As part of the program, teachers will adopt a positive youth development approaches to teaching that please emphasis on critical life skills. Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Honourable Sean Edward assured that adequate resources will be allocated to the development of the education sector. It is an imperative for every child in the school system to have a smart device and the role of technology in education delivery is well documented and has been established. It is no longer a luxury item but it is a critical instructional aid, it is a repository of information and even in the home setting after you have given a device to a child and the child takes that device home, more often than not, such a device is what keeps the family in Saint Lucia connected to relatives, in some cases mothers and grandparents in a diaspora. U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, her Excellency Linda Taglia-Lotella said the United States of America is committed to improving the lives and experiences of Caribbean youth. The Saint Lucia ConnectEd initiative demonstrates our continued commitment to the education sector. The partnership with the Saint Lucia Ministry of Education created with the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce, the Saint Lucia National Youth Council and the United States based Tuskegee University will greatly enhance opportunities for youth and teachers on digital literacy, as well as promote the activities sustainability. To this end, I applaud, excuse me, I applaud representatives of the Ministry of Education for dedicating resources to support this initiative. I also commend teachers for your commitment and support, which is essential to propel youth along a path of success. The Ministry of Education in collaboration with strategic partners will provide training, digital skills, internships and volunteer opportunities for the holistic development of young people and empowerment of youth as leaders from the Government Information Service. Meanwhile, the early childhood services unit is reflecting on the reopening of the sector as they continue to maintain standards and the labor fears of parents who are still skeptical to send their children to school. More from Daniel Dubois. Despite the closure of learning institutions due to the surge of COVID-19 cases, there is still one population of young learners who have been fortunate to return to the classroom amidst the pandemic. This is all due to the concerted efforts of the early childhood services unit, administrators and stakeholders. Close to the one-month marker of a successful reopening of the early childhood centers island-wide, training officer at the early childhood services unit, Ruth Philip-Favier, reflects and says that the move to open early childhood centers was a thorough collaborative process, including several governmental agencies such as the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards, Environmental Health and the Early Childhood Services Unit, working to ensure the safety of children, staff and administrators. We had to work with the Bureau first to develop those protocols. When the protocols were established, we had to share it with our key stakeholders, so we had to have virtual meetings to get the input from the sector, what they felt. Prior to opening, each center had to develop and complete what we called a COVID-19 response plan, where they laid out quite clearly what the guidelines would be for their specific center in relation to what I would refer to as the national protocol set by the department. After that, they were inspected by the Department of Environmental Health, and if the officers found that everything was in line to the standards, then they were granted approval. The age grouping of both two five is a critical time in the development of children, and all must be done to ensure that they remain engaged and active. Administrator of the Precious Jewels Early Childhood Development Center, Donna Seiziz, added that early childhood centers provide so much more than just learning. It's a space for holistic development for young ones, which includes socialization, expression and play. This is where it all begins. The foundation is set between those ages, and I think it was very critical for them to be at the center during this time for face-to-face interaction. In opposed to being at home, one of the things we realized was when they came back, the behavior, it was totally different. They had forgotten the routine and the structure, and it was very difficult for the teachers to go through. They had to start over basically to get the children back into routine. Some favorable factors also came into play when it came to considering the reopening of early childhood centers this September. The numbers on site are a lot smaller, therefore spaces are a lot easier to control. Research and science shows that the transmission and mortality rate of this age grouping is extremely low. The strides have been made to create and enforce robust protocols to protect children to allow them to be back at school. Philip's favorite also mentions that children are eager to learn and extremely responsive to the new rules. They're open now when everybody else is closed because, as I said, it's based on the protocols we have in place, and we are dealing with a cohort that is, in a sense, easier to manage. Our children aim to please. They do not try to be overly disruptive. They do not try to display attitudes of defiance. These young children always want to please their adults in their setting. So as long as the practitioners model the behaviors, we feel very confident that children will also model those behaviors. And the spin-off of that is they too will remind the parents of those protocols and ensure that the parents do likewise. 131 early childhood centers are open today and continue to be one shining example of working through the pandemic and also a chance for children to be back at play. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, I am Daniel Dubois reporting. This is India Nightly. Primers Hutchinson is up next. Stay with us. According to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2018, Compared with the general population, individuals with alcohol dependence and persons who use drugs have a 10 to 14 times greater risk of death by suicide. Alcohol alone was found to be involved in approximately 22% of deaths by suicide. Drug use does not solve problems. It creates them. Suicide is preventable and one call can save a life. All we need to do is act. Ask if someone is thinking about suicide. Let them know you care. Help them find assistance or treatment as soon as possible. Call 203 if you or loved one is having suicidal thoughts. This is a message from the Employer Assistance Program, the Ministry of Public Service. Welcome back. We join Primers Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle Aquial. Thank you so much, General. Thank you, Madam Department of Universities for informing us about this government. This is GIS, the National Television of NTN. Thank you, Prime Minister Hutchinson. The Association for Protection of Ecosystems in this area is very appreciative for the help of the legislation that the government passed recently to encourage the protection of ecosystems and also to regulate the operation of the non-business in this area. Last week, we had a great organization. It was Mr. Hubert James, who was the president of the Public Relations Office. It was a public relationship. Mr. Marius Modus, the NTN Institute, was able to defraud the organization, but most importantly, he was able to talk to his salary officer who was able to assist the organization with the operation of the non-business. Mr. Modus, after 24 years of working for the non-business, he was able to participate in the non-business, even if he didn't have a salary organization. But all the consumers were able to participate in the non-business. 24 years of working for the non-business. So, in fact, it was a place for us to do, to help these people, to help those who need it, and to help them with the non-business. Mr. Modus, I would like to note that we are in the department that is able to do everything we can to help these people. And yet, I always say, if you help these people, you should help them here. Modus, I would like to add that it is necessary to have a discussion on the legislation. The consumers are able to participate in the non-business, and examine the way in which the non-business works. The non-business needs to be able to do everything that is possible in the non-business, so that they can help the people who need it. And we also need to have a discussion on how to help the people who need it. The non-business needs to be able to do everything. There are several women, the cultivators, who are working in the non-business sector, with the government, with the distribution, to participate in the other session on how to help farmers in the non-business sector. It was to learn a way to help the people who need it. It was done in collaboration with the Agricultural Department with the Technical Department, and Taiwan. These farmers were also well-known. And then, we set up a new team. It was the Rapid Team, the Red and Red Team, and the Red and Red Team. And this is a continuation for the farmers who are involved in this project, to try to help the people who need it. I am a specialist in the field of production. The technical mission is to make sure that there are no more problems with production. This is a situation where we have to work to address this. And also, every time the plants are damaged, they are not treated. We have to assist the farmers to work on the climate change. We have a lot of people who are working in the field. We have a lot of people who are working in the field. We have to make sure that there are good conditions for them to be able to produce. We also have to do the work because the farmers are exposed to the cold. This is a technical mission in Taiwan which encourages the farmers to be innovative, to serve good technology to achieve good quality for the poor. At the same time, we have to cooperate with Taiwan to support the education program that started in 2007. We have to work on the climate change in Taiwan to help the farmers to work on the climate change. We have to work on the climate change in Taiwan. We have to work on the climate change in Taiwan. We have to work with Taiwan and Ocete and Lebanon. We have to work with the launching of this team. We have to work together to support this message. We have to look at the design of a climate change I would like to recommend to the women of Kosovo to come to the court and to the law that has been passed to Kosovo and not only to the state to make a public statement, but also to pay good attention to the local government and to the public health. I would like to call Kosovo to work and to the Office of Social Transformation to be able to work and to the Office of Youth. For the Office of Social Transformation to be able to act creators, I would like to hand over to our a transfer you are so partisan politics because it's not me who develop a young plan and push us to adjust the bone volaté pour assister établis diverses pour je cheveux c'est la mario boys promet pour buy born service pour séparé cela et pour développer un païs pour tout c'est pas plat et c'est quoi ça notre bout nouvela mais c'est autant mais c'est madame qu'à garder mon carboire invitation pour je vais m'occuper c'est d'écocephé la vie d'un poste de la lote nouvelle accueil appréciez à ce qu'a vu le poste de jeanelle that brings us to the end of entier nightly join us next time at 7 p.m. with a repeat at 7 a.m. you can also catch up with us any time on the Saint Lucia government facebook page or youtube channel I am jeanelle novel messier pill primers we now take a look at the weather