Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley, today reiterated a call for the international community to re-think its lending policies towards small island developing states like those in the Caribbean.

Addressing the Caribbean launch of the United Nations Early Warning for All initiative she noted that some regional countries are  faced with debt burdens because of having to deal with the impact of climate change.

The Early Warning initiative is intended to drive coordinated political action towards strengthening multi-hazard early warning systems for hazards such as hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunamis, volcanoes, floods, landslides, and epidemics, among others.

During her address, Miss Mottley also said that there’s a need for the region to have at least two ships stationed in the Caribbean, especially after a natural disaster such as a hurricane, to provide fresh water and other emergency relief.