A two-day expert group meeting on the theme ‘Addressing the vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) more effectively’ opened this morning at La Pirogue Hotel in Flic en Flac. A joint initiative of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the meeting is bringing together some 50 participants.
The expert group meeting is providing an opportunity for the IOC and the UNCTAD to enrich the international debate on possible steps and measures, within and outside the United Nations (UN) system, to support the resilience-building efforts of SIDS more effectively. A set of recommendations of interest to relevant intergovernmental bodies and development partners is expected to result from the meeting. These recommendations will be brought to the attention of the Preparatory Committee for UNCTAD XIII (April 2012) towards enhanced UNCTAD action in support of international efforts to address the vulnerabilities of SIDS.
In his opening address, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Dr Arvin Boolell, said that SIDS are being greatly affected with the advent of several mutations and challenges globally. According to him, efforts have to be intensified so that a specific treatment is given to SIDS. Mauritius, said Dr Boolell, supports the official recognition of the SIDS status within the UN as a category in its own right with particular needs. This much awaited recognition is all the more necessary given the current global climate punctuated by successive economic and financial crises exacerbating the vulnerabilities of SIDS, added the Minister.
‘As small islands far from the incessant interaction taking place on continents, we rely less on our own natural resources and we import ecological notions and tools which we can ourselves create’, noted Dr Boolell. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the advantages, the risks and the challenges associated to the transformation towards a green economy and elaborate a coordinated approach to find sustainable financing which will support such a transformation, he stated, adding that this will imply a reorientation of economic growth towards an efficient, sustainable and more integrated development model.
For his part, the Chairperson of the Council of the IOC and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Seychelles, Mr Jean-Paul Adam, stated that ‘we have been toiling hard for a long time to improve the development context of SIDS.’ In Rio in 1992, the specific vulnerabilities and development needs of SIDS were recognised and today we are still trying to address these vulnerabilities, he observed. ‘SIDS’, he said, ‘can often be considered the barometers for the world economy as they are the first to feel the shocks of the global system’. ‘SIDS are more often than not seen as development success stories but all SIDS are faced with the challenge of ‘where to now?’, said the Minister. ‘The fact that we are still trying to find solutions to the specific development concerns of SIDS displays a wider inability to properly address sustainable development at the global level’, he added.
The first day of the expert group meeting will be followed by a signature ceremony of a partnership agreement to the tune of 10 million Euros between the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the EU Delegation for a project aiming to reduce the vulnerabilities of SIDS and to support efficiently efforts in decreasing small islands’ vulnerabilities by reinforcing their resilience.
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