Against the backdrop of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit brought global leaders, policymakers, and industry stakeholders together to address pressing shared challenges. Among the featured speakers was Diani Prince-Drew, First Lady of St. Kitts and Nevis, who stepped onto the high-level platform to center a perspective long overlooked in global development conversations: that of young people from Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Prince-Drew spoke on September 21 during a summit panel titled *Fostering the Future Together: A Global Commitment to the Next Generation*, part of the event’s Advancing Human Rights & Social Progress program. The panel brought together a cross-sector group of leaders including U.S. Special Envoy for Best Future Generations Charity Wallace, Sarah Kemp of Intel Corporation, and Elizabeth Pishny of Google, to explore how multi-stakeholder partnerships between governments, private companies, and civil society organizations can create more equitable opportunities for children and young people in an increasingly digital-first world. This discussion built on earlier conversations held in Washington, D.C. this past March as part of the broader *Fostering the Future Together* global initiative.
In her address, Prince-Drew emphasized a critical gap in current global policy shaping: major conversations around technology access, educational advancement, and sustainable development are too often designed and led without meaningful input from the youth they impact most – especially those hailing from small island developing nations. By elevating this observation, she pushed global attendees to recognize that inclusive development cannot exist if marginalized regional youth are excluded from decision-making tables.
Beyond advocating for youth inclusion at the global summit, Prince-Drew’s participation also laid critical preliminary groundwork for a regional *Fostering the Future Together* gathering to be hosted in the Caribbean. The upcoming event will focus explicitly on mapping the unique challenges and untapped opportunities facing Caribbean children and young people, while strengthening collaborative action between regional and international partners to address their needs.
For St. Kitts and Nevis, Prince-Drew’s featured role at the high-profile summit has elevated the country’s profile in global conversations centered on building a more inclusive, equitable future for young generations, bringing much-needed attention to the perspectives of small island nations on the world’s biggest development stages.