The Ins & Outs of Barbados 2022

9 At a Glance were upon us. Barbados did not disappoint. Timed to coincide with the country’s 55th Anniversary of Independence, a glittering overnight ceremony in Heroes Square, Bridgetown, provided a steady stream of captivating photo opportunities and headline stories for gossip magazines and serious publications alike. Standing alongside Prime Minister Mottley and President Sandra Mason were His Royal Highness Prince Charles, representing Her Majesty The Queen; cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers in his capacity as a National Hero of Barbados; and our very own global superstar, Rihanna. During the ceremony, Prime Minister Mottley announced the intention to appoint Rihanna as the next National Hero of Barbados. In closing, she echoed one of Rihanna’s songs by telling her, ‘May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation’. The crowd roared their approval, live TV cameras rolled, camera flashes lit up the night, and the news- bites beamed to every corner of the earth. Barbados was under the global spotlight, shining like a diamond. A similar story was repeated in October when Mia Mottley made a brilliant, impassioned speech at the COP 26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. As leader of one of the world’s smallest and most vulnerable island- nations, Prime Minister Mottley stated that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature would be ‘a death sentence’ for island and coastal communities, adding, ‘We do not want that dreaded death sentence, and we have come here today to say, try harder’. Described as a ‘breakout moment at COP 26’, her much publicised speech rocketed Mia Mottley to the pinnacle of the battle against global warming. In due course, the United Nations bestowed upon her their highest environmental honour, as one of four ‘Champions of the Earth’, awarded for impact and leadership in advancing bold action on behalf of people and the planet. Just a month later, the world’s media not only focused on Barbados, but actually came here in force, keen to witness the historic occasion of Barbados transitioning to the world’s newest Republic. As the first ever Barbadian-born President, Dame Sandra Mason, was officially sworn in to replace the Queen as the nation’s Head of State, the eyes of the world Rihanna honoured as a National Hero of Barbados Barbados becomes the world’s newest Republic Prime Minister Mia Mottley speaking at COP 26 President Biden with Prime Minister Mottley at COP 26