KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Andrew Holness has arrived in the United States for a three-day program of high-level engagements that will place Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa national recovery agenda squarely before the Caribbean’s most influential diaspora community.
A government statement said that Holness was met on arrival by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the US, Major General (Ret’d) Antony Anderson, and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Brian Wallace.
The statement said the prime minister participated in the Recover Better Conference, an “action-oriented forum convened to mobilize diaspora expertise, investment, and advocacy in direct support of Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa national reconstruction and resilience efforts”.
It said that 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 organizers have designed as a solutions-driven convening rather than a ceremonial one.
The statement said that 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.
Prime Minister Holness is expected to be the guest of honor at the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) 29th annual ‘The Legacy Continues’ Awards Gala in Manhattan, scheduled for Friday evening.
It said during the event, Holness will be conferred with the Legacy Award, one of AFUWI’s highest honors, in recognition of his leadership and ongoing commitment to education, economic resilience, and regional collaboration as fundamental pillars of Jamaica’s national development.
The statement said his recognition reflects AFUWI’s enduring tradition of honoring leaders whose work meaningfully advances the Caribbean and its global Diaspora.
The annual Gala brings together leaders from business, academia, public service, and philanthropy 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.
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, the government statement said.
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