Barbados PM Mia Mottley quotes Bob Marley at UNGA; netizens hail her powerful speech

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, in her address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), made some touching points regarding COVID-19 vaccine equity and climate justice. A two-minute clip of her speech has been creating quite buzz on social media. Addressing the 76th UNGA session on September 25, Mottley said that if she uses the speech prepared for her to deliver, it would be the repetition of the same things that people heard from other leaders. She wondered how many more times leaders have to say the same thing again and again, to come to nought. Expressing her concerns, she asked how many more COVID variants would have to come before a global vaccination action plan is implemented and how many more deaths should be reported before 1.7 billion excess vaccines, in possession of the advanced countries, would be shared with those who have simply no access. While speaking, Mottley also went on to quote Bob Marley’s famous song "Get Up, Stand Up."

"Who will get up and stand up for the rights of our people? Who will stand up in the name of all those who have died during this awful pandemic? who will stand up in the name of all those who died because of the climate crisis? or who will stand up for the small island developing States who need 1.5 degrees to survive as we go to COP-26," Barbados PM Mia Mottley asked. She went on to add, "If we can find the will to send people to the moon and solve male baldness, we can solve simple problems like letting our people eat." It should be mentioned here that her powerful speech is being widely hailed by netizens. The clip was shared on Twitter by a user named Ben Phillips. "At last, our world has a leader. She is Mia Motley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and *this* is a speech [sic], he wrote while sharing the clip. The video has amassed more than 60,000 likes and over 18,000 retweets since it was shared on September 25. It has also accumulated a plethora of reactions from people. 

Netizens react to Mottley's powerful speech 

Reacting to the video of Mottley's speech, one of the users wrote, "She has articulated the need for prosperous countries 2come together 2solve World problems like the pandemic. Barbados is a small, poor country, pop. 287,375. PM Mia Mottley implores World partners 2join/make progress eradicating covid. Send 600K doses of vaccine to Barbados [sic]." "This is why she is the prime minister of the Caribbean. Give this woman a Nobel peace prize!!! [sic]," expressed another. It should be mentioned here that Mottley became the Prime Minister of the Caribbean country, Barbados, in 2018. 

Have a look at the video here:

Here are some reactions by users:

(Image: AP)