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It was a bittersweet occasion indeed when all three of the island’s Rotary Clubs gathered to wish United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OAS) Stephen O’Malley, a fond farewell.
For the past 6 years, the Rotary Clubs of Barbados have hosted Model United Nations (MUN) where scores of young people meet to debate and discuss topical issues facing Barbados, the region and the world. And from the second year of MUN, Mr Stephen O’Malley spearheaded the UN/Rotary partnership which has now been in existence for the past 5 years. Under this partnership, the Rotary Clubs of Barbados benefitted tremendously.
In underscoring the UN’s continued commitment to MUN, Mr O Malley stressed that he feels very vindicated by the MUN programme. He noted that many of the topics discussed such as LGBT Rights, Sustainable Development and even Migration and Human Trafficking are now everyday issues facing young people around the world.
In thanking Mr O’Malley and the United Nations for their invaluable support, Assistant Governor Lisa Cummins remarked that the technical expertise provided has been unsurpassed, “The United Nations has been the home for MUN for the past 6 years and over the course of 6 weeks every year, the Rotary Clubs of Barbados have had access to experts from all of the UN agencies --- in some instances local and in some cases as far away as Nairobi!”
Mr O’Malley will be moving on to Sudan for his next assignment but before doing so he reassured the Club that the UN has always been a partner of Rotary around the world.