OAS Assistant Secretary General Ramdin Praises Model OAS in Visit to Saint Kitts and Nevis

Albert Ramdin (file photo)

ST. KITTS AND NEVIS – The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, arrived in the Caribbean country of Saint Kitts and Nevis this week for the 33rd Model OAS General Assembly for Universities of the Hemisphere (MOAS).

More than 100 hundred students from 9 countries, representing 16 delegations, travelled to Saint Kitts and Nevis to join their in-country counterparts for the event, including delegates from Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

This is the first time that the Model OAS has been held in an English-speaking Caribbean country. The Model OAS General Assembly (MOAS) is an OAS initiative designed to promote democratic values and the work of the OAS among the youth of the Hemisphere, through simulation exercises.

Assistant Secretary General Ramdin said the primary objective of the Model OAS is to offer the widest possible cross section of students a forum to voice their opinions, debate, and learn about policies and positions on strengthening and promoting democratic values in the Americas. “I personally hope the initiative will be expanded and continued by other Caribbean countries, to offer more practical opportunities and exposure to Caribbean youth,” said the senior OAS official.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Assistant Secretary General Ramdin also praised the visiting students and university officials from across the Americas for making the effort to attend the Caribbean event, saying “This Model OAS, in my view, undoubtedly ranks among the most enriching and successful youth engagement initiatives in the Caribbean. I hope we take this opportunity not just to learn about political dialogue, policies and conflict resolution, but about the region and the country we are in.”

During his official visit, Assistant Secretary General Ramdin also held meetings with the country’s Governor General Edmund Wickham Lawrence; the recently elected Prime Minister Timothy Harris; the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture Shawn Richards; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation Mark Brantly.