Countries / Barbados / Dossier
Barbados
A combined view of Barbados's UN General Assembly speeches, treaty commitments, and voting record.
The narrative paragraphs below are AI-generated syntheses of the data shown — the tables and figures themselves come directly from the underlying records, not from the AI.
Compare with another country →Speech history
Barbados has maintained strong and consistent multilateralism across 17 years of speeches, with scores consistently high (78–92), reflecting its steadfast commitment to small-state coalitions and UN reform. Emotional intensity has escalated dramatically since 2017, rising from a baseline of 34–62 to peaks of 88–94 in recent years, as climate crisis, debt injustice, and regional vulnerability have become increasingly urgent focal points. Concreteness and self-accountability have remained moderate and variable, hovering in the 42–74 and 22–61 ranges respectively, indicating that Barbados prioritizes framing collective global challenges and other-directed appeals to powerful states over announcing specific national commitments.
| Session | Multilateralism | Emotional intensity | Concreteness | Self-accountability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Very High | Low | Medium | Low |
| 2007 | Very High | Medium | High | Low |
| 2008 | Very High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2009 | Very High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2010 | Very High | Medium | Medium | High |
| 2011 | High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2014 | Very High | Medium | High | Low |
| 2015 | Very High | High | High | Medium |
| 2016 | Very High | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| 2017 | Very High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2018 | Very High | Very High | Medium | Medium |
| 2019 | Very High | Very High | Medium | Medium |
| 2020 | High | High | High | Medium |
| 2022 | Very High | Very High | High | Low |
| 2023 | High | Very High | High | Low |
| 2024 | Very High | High | High | Medium |
| 2025 | Very High | Very High | High | Low |
Treaty status
Full treaty record →Barbados demonstrates comprehensive engagement with environmental and human rights frameworks, having ratified 9 of 9 core environment treaties tracked and 4 of 5 human rights instruments, while also committing to arms control (3 of 4) and international governance instruments (3 of 3). The country's one signed but unratified treaty—the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons—and two treaties with no action taken (Minamata Convention and Convention against Torture) suggest selective gaps rather than resistance to multilateral law. This profile reflects a small island state deeply invested in climate and development accountability while maintaining some reservations on narrower legal obligations.
Arms control & security
- Arms Trade TreatyRatified
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban TreatyRatified
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their DestructionRatified
- Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsSigned, not ratified
Environment & climate
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their DisposalRatified
- Convention on Biological DiversityRatified
- Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
- Minamata Convention on MercuryNo action
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Paris AgreementRatified
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International TradeRatified
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsRatified
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in AfricaRatified
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
Human rights
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentNo action
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenRatified
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesRatified
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildRatified
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsRatified
International justice
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtRatified
Trade & governance
- United Nations Convention against CorruptionRatified
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeRatified
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaRatified
Voting record
Full voting record →Barbados has voted affirmatively on 87% of General Assembly votes (4,640 of 5,330), abstaining on 5.6% and voting no on just 0.7%, demonstrating consistent alignment with UN consensus across decades. Rare dissents cluster in the early 1970s around UNRWA Palestine refugee resolutions, where Barbados voted no against near-unanimous majorities (94–98% yes), the only notable pattern of principled deviation from the broader membership.
Notable dissents from consensus
Question of American Samoa, Antigua, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands , Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Dominica, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Grenada, Guam, Montserrat, New Hebrides, Niue, Pitcairn, St. Helena, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tokelau Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1968-12-18 · voted N · 98% voted yes
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1973-12-07 · voted N · 96% voted yes
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1974-12-17 · voted N · 95% voted yes
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1972-12-13 · voted N · 94% voted yes
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1973-12-07 · voted N · 94% voted yes
Human development
Full HDI record →Human Development Index: 0.811 (Very High), ranked #69 globally in 2023.
Combines life expectancy, education, and income into one comparable score, 0 to 1. Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025 — deterministic figures, not AI-generated.
1990–2023