51吃瓜

The world’s small islands called on the international community to recognize the vital role they play in safeguarding the world’s oceans, which are a global public good vital for food security, human and planetary health, and sustainable development and prosperity for all.

This was part of an outcome that was adopted at the end of a three-day meeting of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Cabo Verdean capital of Praia from the 30th of August to the 1st of September. The meeting was held to continue preparations and finalize an ambitious program for the Fourth International Conference on SIDS to be held in Antigua and Barbuda next year.

SIDS, given their unique vulnerabilities such as small size, remoteness, limited resource and export base, and susceptibility to external economic, social, and environmental shocks, require specialized approaches for sustainable development. Currently, they are grappling with numerous crises, ranging from climate change, natural hazards, access to global markets, debt, and the increasing frequency of crises and disasters.

The meeting provided a platform for small islands to collaboratively deliberate and propose solutions to these challenges. The meeting also brought together various development partners, all who pledged to strengthen their support to the development aspirations of small islands nations.

The gathering in Praia was the culmination of a two-month consultative process that began in Mauritius for the AIS (Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea) islands and continued in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Caribbean islands and Tonga for the Pacific islands.

The next time small island states will convene in a single platform will be the 2024 SIDS Conference in Antigua and Barbuda where their proposals will be distilled further, refined, and adopted into a new program of action to guide them towards a more resilient and prosperous future.

The full outcome document of the meeting is available here.