their efforts were being felt in their homeland.

She also reassured them that the size of a country did not affect the impact it could have on the global stage as Jamaica's presence in the United Nations had demonstrated.

M. Patricia Durrant, Jamaica's permanent representative to the United Nations, was speaking at the Jamaican Association's 35th Independence Anniversary Banquet at the Princess Hotel on Saturday night.

She replaced the scheduled speaker, Jamaica's Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sport, Portia Simpson, who was unable to attend at the last minute.

Ms Durrant paid tribute to the Jamaican community living in Bermuda.

They had made their mark in a variety of areas, she continued, and had established a record of which all could be proud.

Not only had they strengthened Bermudian society, she stressed, they had also not neglected the communities in Jamaica where their "roots run deep''.

Ms Durrant urged them to continue being "flag bearers'' for Jamaica in Bermuda in whatever they did.

Turning to the present UN, Ms Durrant said it was very different to the organisation Jamaica had joined along with Trinidad & Tobago in 1962.

The UN was then focused on international issues such as apartheid in South Africa, the Cold War and the ever present threat of nuclear confrontation between superpowers.

Representatives of small countries, such as those in the Caribbean, faced doubts in their abilities to participate in world affairs, she noted.

But what was remarkable about the UN, she stressed, was that all its members were given the chance to influence international affairs.

"All countries have the opportunity to influence actions on an international level,'' she noted.

There were now some 40 Caribbean members in the UN which -- despite the limitations on their size and resources -- were focusing global attention on a wide variety of issues.

These issues had helped shape foreign policy and increased awareness while enhancing peace and prosperity in the Caribbean region -- a mission that was of importance to the entire UN membership.

Ms Durrant said the way of life in Caribbean countries showed UN members how people of different races, cultures and ethnic backgrounds could work together and show commitment to one another.

This highlighted features which were key to the founders of the UN and illustrated what the organisation was all about.

Caribbean countries had sought to create a zone of peace in their region by taking a stance against factors which could destabilise community life such as illegal drug and firearms trafficking.

They had also looked beyond issues of peace and security to examine global problems such as poverty, famine, disease, the homeless and environmental concerns.

Solving these problems were instrumental to the UN's mission of maintaining worldwide peace and support but to tackle them required a global effort, said Ms Durrant.

And in an increasingly independent world, the UN believed it was one of the only organisations that could meet these challenges but it would require the assistance of both government and non-Governmental agencies to solve these problems before the new millennium, she said.

M. Patricia Durrant