Prime Minister Holness in New York for High-Level Diaspora Engagements on Jamaica’s Recovery Agenda

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, arrived in New York on Thursday (April 16), to begin a three day programme of high level engagements that will place Jamaica’s post Hurricane Melissa national recovery agenda squarely before the Caribbean’s most influential diaspora community in the United States (US).

Dr. Holness was met on arrival by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Major General (Ret’d) Antony Anderson, and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Brian Wallace – a reception that underscored the full weight of Jamaica’s diplomatic representation in the United States being mobilised behind the visit.

The centrepiece of Thursday’s programme is the Recover Better Conference, a one day, action oriented forum convened to mobilise diaspora expertise, investment, and advocacy in direct support of Jamaica’s post Hurricane Melissa national reconstruction and resilience efforts.

The conference is anchored by the work of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), the Government’s lead institution for coordinating Jamaica’s hurricane recovery framework.

Senior Government Ministers, institutional leaders, and diaspora champions across three critical priority sectors – Agriculture, Education, and Diaspora Engagement – are among the featured participants in what the organisers have designed as a solutions driven convening rather than a ceremonial one.

The conference reflects a deliberate strategic posture by the Administration: that rebuilding Jamaica is not solely a domestic undertaking but a shared responsibility between the Government and the estimated four million members of the Jamaican Diaspora worldwide, hundreds of thousands of whom are based in the New York metropolitan area.

On Friday (April 17), Prime Minister Holness will be the guest of honour at the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) 29th annual ‘The Legacy Continues’ Awards Gala in Manhattan, commencing 6:00 p.m.

During the event, Dr. Holness will be conferred with the prestigious Legacy Award, one of AFUWI’s highest honours, in recognition of his leadership and ongoing commitment to education, economic resilience, and regional collaboration as fundamental pillars of Jamaica’s national development.

His recognition reflects AFUWI’s enduring tradition of honouring leaders whose work meaningfully advances the Caribbean and its global diaspora.

The annual Gala brings together leaders from business, academia, public service, and philanthropy in a shared mission to support scholarships that expand access to higher education for outstanding Caribbean students at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Proceeds from the event will fund AFUWI scholarships, enabling talented students across the region to transform academic potential into university degrees and, ultimately, into productivity and national development.

AFUWI Chairman, Dr. Cyrus McCalla, noted that the Gala celebrates leaders whose vision and service help shape the future of the Caribbean community and the wider region.

“Through their leadership and the generosity of those who support this event, we can open doors of opportunity for talented but financially disadvantaged Caribbean students whose aspirations for higher education deserve every chance to flourish,” he said.

Also on Friday, Prime Minister Holness will address students and faculty at New York University’s STEM School of Business, an engagement that underscores his consistent positioning of education, innovation, and economic resilience as inseparable pillars of Jamaica’s long term development agenda.

The address is expected to frame Jamaica’s post hurricane recovery within the broader narrative of Caribbean nations building knowledge based economies resilient to both climatic and economic shocks.