 Today is somehow a perfect way to solidify our ongoing rich cooperation and somehow a perfect start of the year. This is the first signing ceremony of the MSDCF that we have this year with you and Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. So let me therefore again take this opportunity on behalf of the United Nations team to extend our best wishes for the new year to yourself, Prime Minister, and then to the Government of Saint Lucia and the people of Saint Lucia. It's a significant day for all of us as we formalize as you know the signing of the UN Multicountry Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework which will cover the years 2022 to 2026 and we do this after a year of consultations at various levels. So we have arrived at a point where we believe we have a clear roadmap on how the UN will support the various Caribbean countries and territories 22 in total including Saint Lucia and basically to achieve two urgent priorities. One, to accelerate progress towards the attainment of the sustainable development goals and in that context you know that this is extremely important more urgent than ever and two, to facilitate a faster recovery from the socio-economic and health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And we tend to refer to this cooperation framework as one that has never been as significant as this one because we are confronted with a new phase every day extraordinary circumstances. This global pandemic alongside the climate crisis which poses an existential threat to the region deteriorating fiscal space with increasing unsustainable depth levels and somehow we think that we are at risk of losing years of development gains that have been so hard to gain and also a risk of decelerating progress towards the sustainable development goals. So Prime Minister we know that you're a very strong advocate for putting people first and I think you would appreciate this people-centric five-year cooperation framework. Allow me to just list the four key priorities which are critical we think for achieving resilience and sustainable development in the Caribbean. First and unlike actually the previous cooperation framework we have increased our support to the economic resilience agenda for example to improve business competitiveness and enhance government efforts to diversify their economies as well as to manage a sustainable level of debts. And we came to that conclusion together that these are absolute imperatives for economic recovery from COVID-19 but also for mitigating against future economic shocks. So under this area Prime Minister we also look forward to supporting the youth economy agenda of your government and we have discussed and as you know we're going to launch in the coming weeks a new joint program with several UN agencies under the SDG fund on innovative finance and St Lucia is one of the two countries that will directly benefit from this including specifically for this youth agenda as well as debt management. Secondly we'll intensify our efforts to ensure that no one is truly left behind. By furthering the human rights agenda we support policies to eliminate all forms of discrimination and measures as well to reduce structural inequalities especially for the most vulnerable and that's probably extremely relevant in that context. So that will include the force to ensure equal access to quality social services with ongoing work on health and educations as well as shock responsive social protection. And I must say Prime Minister that our joint program for universal adaptive social protection in partnership with your government has already been reaping significant benefits as it relates to the provision of cash transfer and top ups to the most vulnerable in St Lucia. So we really hope to leverage on this success which is really being promoted as a best practice in the region to further support those most at risk in St Lucia and I know that agencies continue to expand this work in your country in this area. Thirdly in the area of climate change the MSDCF reflects very strongly our commitment to enhancing national capacity for gender responsive disaster reduction but also support the climate change adaptation agenda and at the same time we strengthen our support on natural resource or ecosystem management. The fourth pillar finally we deliver the UN support for ensuring that Caribbean countries remain peaceful and just societies. So the UN plans to further scale up its corporation for fighting gender-based violence, increased access to justice, promote social cohesion and also improve community safety and security. And again we know this is an area of your interest for by your government so therefore we'll continue to further our cooperation especially in this area of security and crime prevention. Finally to achieve this priority new partnerships will need to be to be forced to be scaled up while intensifying citizen engagement so we'll explore with you and your government opportunities for more innovative and sustainable financing for example but and I will end with this as an immediate step we'll operationalize our commitment through the ongoing preparation on the first two-year country implementation plan specific to St Lucia. So basically this two-year country implementation plan for 2022-2023 which is being finalized at the moment will translate the broad commitments of the corporation framework into a very tailored plan of actions that will bring together the entire UN system as one behind this ambition and this is a fundamental change in our business model that we had already piloted last year. So we look forward to your leadership Prime Minister to finalize this plan of course so that it reflects well your expectation and is aligned with the national priority in St Lucia. So again I want to thank you for your trust for the partnership with your government you can count on us you see you have a team that is widely represented today to precisely deliver on these ambitious commitments and to support you in this difficult moment so again best wishes to to you and to your government for 2022. Let me first of all thank you for having St Lucia involved in the signing of the multi-country sustainable development corporation framework. It's happening in these times when all the news always appears to be bad that there is a blame of hope from our friends in in the UN. As you know our country has been ravaged by the swift wave of the COVID pandemic and all vulnerabilities of our of our country they are exposed our health systems our health system is fragile it's under pressure our education system is even on the on on the tremendous pressure as we have to debate whether we can have children at school or children at home so it's a very difficult time so it's happening to to be here this morning to sign this framework and I'm very pleased with the priority areas that have been set by the UN and and said by DDN this morning our size as a developing nation and the complexities of our social economic situation demands an approach to development that involves people and it is the solemn mantra and belief and objective of my government to put people first. So the UN has a long history of working with governments in the region to address these critical issues. The signing of the multi-country sustainable development framework provides an opportunity to strengthen our partnership with the United Nations and to reform our commitment to the development activities towards the 20-foot agenda. The 20-foot agenda for sustainable development outlines ambitious goals to achieve a better world for all by 2040. It creates the avenue for collective action and efforts and joint effort by government civil society and every citizen to build a better future. The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the need for a unified approach to transform our social and economic realities as a country. Over the past two years the pandemic exposed the fragile nature of our country. We witness rapid increases in unemployment as the key economic sector of tourism almost grinding to our hearts. As a government with a people focus agenda we are aware of the resulting effect of the pandemic on poverty and the quality of life of our people. We welcome this opportunity to collaborate through the UN to advance the agenda for 2040 which represents a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. The same thing sustainable development goals that support this agenda compel us as a nation to fund innovative strategies to end poverty, address inequalities and address the pressing issue of climate change. As we continue to make progress towards these SDGs we acknowledge our achievements but remain aware that we have a long way to go. Despite the challenges in fulfilling the obligations of the SDGs the government solution remains resolute to put people first. Against this background we embrace the philosophy of the UN that is to leave no one behind. The multi-country sustainable development framework is consistent with our development strategy to strengthen our social and economic resilience as a country. To achieve this we will pursue policies that influence the systems to improve access to quality healthcare, education and a conducive safe environment for every citizen to prosper. In essence we will make every effort as a government to reduce the risk of being left behind. The multi-country sustainable development framework provides a framework to address challenges and vulnerabilities including but not limited to our financial and economic vulnerabilities so please address this morning our inadequate social systems and weak disaster risk management and sustainable management of our natural resources. The framework defines eight outcomes that the United Nations together and the regional partners have resolved to jointly focus efforts for the next five years to shift the socio-economic trajectory of the Caribbean. The Government of St. Lucia will work with the UN to address these bottlenecks that hinder the organization of benefits associated with these outcomes. The endorsement of the multi-country sustainable development cooperation framework then restricts the willingness of the Government of St. Lucia to contribute to significant structural changes in the economies and governance systems. To those equity for all, resilience to climate change and shocks and peace, safety, justice and the rule of law not forgetting economic resilience and shared prosperity for all. The implementation of strategic actions to realize these broad goals require resources. The identification of resources to address the demands associated with our socio-economic realities remain a pressing challenge for us as a developing country. Our limited resources were stressed to respond to health and economic problems associated with the pandemic. Our policy responses resulted in increases in public debt beyond established potential ratios. What this means is that our economic stability is at risk. We are more vulnerable. This signals the need for responsive policies and strategies and help from our friends. I am indeed pleased that this framework will serve as a platform for the UN to provide more effective support not just to St. Lucia but to the region as a whole. We shared a vision of the UN for St. Lucia and I quote, the region to become more resilient, possess greater capacity to achieve all the SDGs, and become a place where people choose to live and can reach their full potential in peace. At this juncture, I take this opportunity to thank the UN for this invaluable intervention and to reiterate the Government of St. Lucia's commitment to building the socio-economic resilience of our country. This framework is an important instrument that will contribute to the efforts to build back better and to hasten the recovery post-COVID. We look forward to the continuous support of the UN as we work together to our national development goals and continue to put beautiful. I thank you.