Antigua and Barbuda has expressed its support for the historic agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), signed this week in Shanghai, China. Andrea Jacobs, Antigua and Barbuda’s National Focal Point on AI and Crowne Counsel, attended the 2026 World AI Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in China, where she delivered a national statement on AI governance.
“In this spirit of international cooperation, Antigua and Barbuda welcomes the signing of the historic agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) right here in Shanghai. We commend WAICO’s stated alignment with the United Nations Charter and its focus on a people-centered approach. For developing states, such open-source, collaborative platforms are vital to ensuring we are active participants in shaping AI’s future, rather than mere passive consumers,” she declared.
She added that through the UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment and collaboration with the University of the West Indies, Antigua and Barbuda is laying the foundation for responsible, human-centered AI.
“However, national efforts alone cannot withstand a fragmented global ecosystem. We need meaningful international partnerships.
“Therefore, Antigua and Barbuda reaffirms its unwavering support for the United Nations process on global AI governance. Having actively participated in the negotiations that established both the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, we remain committed to a multilateral, science-based framework,” Jacobs remarked.
According to the AI Focal Point, Antigua and Barbuda highly commended the Preliminary Report of the UN Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. Its objective, evidence-based assessment provides Member States with a credible foundation to develop effective national guardrails while contributing to coherent international standards.
Jacobs emphasized that for frontier technologies to safely flourish, the world urgently needs a cohesive, universal system of global AI governance. Without clear international guardrails, vulnerable nations risk facing severe digital exclusion, algorithmic bias, and exposure to unregulated risks that they lack the domestic capacity to mitigate.
“Effective global governance is not an abstract bureaucratic exercise; it is an economic and existential shield for small states. When governed equitably, AI possesses an unparalleled capacity to transform SIDS.
“It offers powerful, actionable tools to strengthen disaster preparedness, modernize public administration, expand healthcare access, and support climate resilience in the face of rising sea levels. Yet, for the Caribbean and the wider Global South, these impacts will remain out of reach if a fragmented global landscape leaves us behind,” she emphasized.