Catch up on information you might have missed during the week.
This week's programme features:

-	“Minister of Housing and Lands, Dwight Sutherland, was addressing the Barbados Annual Construction and Design Conference

-	Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley give an update on improving lighting across the island

-	Notices and Events:
o	UWI Cave Hill Campus conducting a National Literacy Survey
o	Supreme Court of Barbados’ Mediation Department’s logo competition

This week In Case You Missed It – Opportunities (September 25 – October 1):

TEACHING SERVICE VACANCIES AT QUEEN’S COLLEGE - SPRINGER MEMORIAL SCHOOL AND LODGE SCHOOL
TENDER NOTICE FOR SPRINGER MEMORIAL SCHOOL

To download a copy of these opportunities, go to https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/download/in-case-you-missed-it-opportunities-sept-25-oct-1-2024/

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT SEPT 25 – OCT 1 (2024)

At least eight people are feared dead and 22 others are missing off the coast of Djibouti after smugglers stopped a boat carrying around 150 passengers likely bound for Yemen on 5 June, the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Wednesday.
Search and rescue operations supported by IOM have recovered five bodies from the sea near Moulhoulé in northern Djibouti. The confirmed death toll stands at eight but this is expected to rise as search efforts continue. With more, here's IOM Regional Communications Officer Yvone Ndege speaking to UN News.

People smugglers force migrants overboard in Red Sea

ACP-MEAs Close-Out- Amrikha Singh Remarks, 23 May 2025

ACP-MEAs Close Out - Dr. Patrick Chesney , Regional Consultant

ACP-MEAs Close Out - Joan Nadal Sastre, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Guyana

Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) speaks to UN News on Plastic Pollution, at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France. 

CLIP: 'We are choking with plastic' experts warn at UN Ocean Conference

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s Director General addressed the Board of Governors on Friday regarding the situation in Iran. 

The head of the UN-backed atomic watchdog announced that the Iranian authorities had confirmed that the Natanz enrichment site had been “impacted” without affecting existing radiation levels.

The Iranian nuclear safety authorities also reported that the Esfahan and Fordow sites had not been impacted.

CLIP: International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General on the situation in Iran

Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, speaks to UN News about the highlights of the UN Ocean Conference and what is coming next.

Audio credit: Fabrice Robinet, UN News in Nice, France 

CLIP: Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean

Persons with disabilities living in institutions face a heightened risk of being trafficked as their reliance on others for daily support can be manipulated; that’s according to an expert in disability rights speaking at the United Nations.

Eric Rosenthal leads Disability Rights International. He told a side event at COSP, the UN’s largest annual meeting focusing on issues that persons living with disabilities face, that people isolated from their families are easier targets for exploitation.  

The number of trafficking victims of all types has seen a troubling rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 25 per cent increase in global detections between 2019 and 2022.

UN News' Anna O'Donnell sat down with Mr. Rosenthal and began by asking him to explain why people with disabilities are being trafficked. 

Audio credit: Anna O'Donnell, UN News

The vulnerable and forgotten: trafficked persons with disabilities

• Israel-Iran crisis: UN chief urges calm after overnight strikes 
• Victims of DRC violence start to rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods  
• Eastern Chad ‘reaching a breaking point’ as Sudan war refugees continue to arrive 

Daniel Johnson, UN News  
Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved. 


UN News Today 13 June 2025 - Israel-Iran crisis, DR Congo violence, Sudan war refugees

Small island States are among the most vulnerable communities facing rising sea levels and marine degradation – but this invaluable firsthand experience puts them in a powerful leadership position to shape inclusive, effective ocean policies.

Safiya Sawney, Grenada’s Special Envoy and Ambassador for Climate, has been at this week’s UN Ocean Conference in Nice and told UN News that “a big part of our heritage, of our culture, of our economy is derived from the ocean.”

Describing the small island nations as “large ocean nations,” she outlined to Heyi Zou some of the pressing challenges ahead as global warming continues.

Audio credit: Heyi Zou, UN News
Photo: Coastal erosion is seen on a beach near Grenville in Grenada, a Caribbean island. NOOR/Kadir van Lohuizen

Time to ‘change the tide’ in the Caribbean says regional climate expert

The Barbados Government Information Service has been established since 1958 as the Barbados Government's public relations and information arm.   This dynamic channel profiles Barbadian people, places and programmes which make up this Caribbean island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.  We hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.  We want to hear from you.