UN General Assembly
2002

We were all engaged in a solemn commemoration of the sickening events of 11 September just last week, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the brutal terrorist attacks on the United States of America. We — the whole world — must commit ourselves to ensuring that such events will never happen again. We applaud the work done by the Counter-Terrorism Committee established by the United Nations to secure compliance with Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has already contributed to this effort by implementing a range of measures to combat terrorism and assist the global effort. We recognize the links between terrorism and international criminal activities such as drug trafficking, money-laundering and organized crime. We pledge to do whatever is in our power to combat these threats. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, like many of the poorer nations of the world, is crippled by external debt. The burden of this debt means that areas of critical importance to our development, such as education, poverty reduction and social development,