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Grenada

Prime Minister Mitchell calls on the UN to establish a Special Fund

Monday July 4 2005 Castries: Grenada's Prime Minister Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell has called on the United Nations to establish a special fund to assist developing countries in times of crisis. Prime Minister Mitchell says small states need the capacity to access these funds speedily, because in times of crisis immediate funding is always very crucial.

In a meeting with United Nations Under Secretary General Anwarul Chowdhury, this morning, Prime Minister Mitchell asked the Under Secretary General to use the United Nations mechanism to mobilize more economic support for Grenada. Prime Minister Mitchell said that the Hurricane Ivan disaster had placed Grenada in a special category in terms of its needs and highlighted the fact that all of Grenada's economic sectors had been shut down by Hurricane Ivan.

The U.N. Under Secretary General complimented Prime Minister Mitchell on his resilience and his leadership. He told Prime Minister Mitchell that his speech at the U.N. Conference in Kobe Japan had opened the eyes of world leaders about the plight of Grenada and other small island states affected by disasters. He thanked Prime Minister Mitchell for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Chowdhury pledged his support to Grenada and said that he would convey Prime Minister Mitchell's requests to the United Nations heads.

Prime Minister Mitchell thanked Mr.Chowdhury for his support and Mr. Chowdhury in turn told the Prime Minister that he looked forward to seeing him at the United Nations Conference in September.

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