UN General Assembly
1988

Grenada shares the concerns and suffers the consequences of the vulnerability of island developing countries, in particular, and of developing countries, in general. With regard to the question of the specificity of the problems of island developing countries, the destruction recently visited upon Jamaica by Hurricane Gilbert also brings into sharp focus the vulnerability of islands to natural disasters. It is to be hoped that in devising a strategy of emergency assistance to Jamaica the international community would bear in mind the fragility of island economies. Moreover, under agenda item 82 (b), the General Assembly is being called upon to countenance a series of measures that could alleviate the problems experienced by this specific category of developing countries. My delegation issues a call to United Nations agencies and individual nations to respond more favourably to our valid appeals for special consideration.