51吃瓜

Ambassador Maurizio Massari, PR of Italy,
Ambassador Walton Webson, PR of Antigua and Barbuda,
Ambassador Ricardo Ernesto Lagorio, PR of Argentina,
Deputy Director General Hua Liu,
Director Dima Al-Khatib,
Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues,

At the outset, I would like to thank you, Ambassador Massari, for hosting us today.

I am very pleased to join you all for this timely event on forging new partnerships for SIDS resilience.

This event provides us with an excellent opportunity to build on the momentum from the very successful SIDS4 conference held in May, where we adopted the landmark Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS).

The ABAS outlines an ambitious roadmap for a prosperous and sustainable future for the SIDS. We must now take concrete actions to ensure its full and effective implementation.

Achieving these crucial goals will require strengthened multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Excellencies,

Allow me to share some reflections about how we can move forward.

First – we must effectively leverage the commitments of all key partners.

In this connection, we welcome the commitment of IAEA in support of SIDS, which is close to 14 million Euros for 2024-25.

These commitments would contribute to advancing innovative and practical solutions that address the key priorities for SIDS.

IAEA initiatives such as NUTEC, ZODIAC, Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food will help SIDS harness the potential to tackle the multiple challenges they face, by:

? Mitigating against the negative impacts of climate change
? Managing plastic pollution
? Strengthening their health sectors and fighting Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs); and
? Enhancing food safety and security.

These are all crucial to achieving the goals set out in the ABAS and the Agenda 2030.

Second – we must identify and engage other relevant partners to scale up these commitments and initiatives.

The challenges SIDS face require us to mobilize even greater resources to meet their needs.

SIDS encounter significant barriers in mobilizing and accessing finance. They also have challenges with data collection, analysis, technical and institutional capacity. These issues hinder the development of evidence-based policies and technical solutions.

Now is the time for the international community to step up its efforts to address these gaps bring about real changes in SIDS. And ABAS shows us the way with clear targets, actions and deliverables.

Greater investments in proven initiatives like the IAEA technical cooperation projects, can deliver more sustainable results and create further growth opportunities for the future.

And in this regard, I thank the Governments of Italy and Argentina for their engagement and support; and I would encourage others to come forward in support of the SIDS.

Finally – we must provide well-coordinated and seamless support to SIDS.

I am pleased to see our colleagues from UNOSSC here today.

South-South and Triangular Cooperation can significantly build on these efforts.

My Office is also ready to further collaborate and support efforts in this regard.

Furthermore, through our SIDS Global Business Network, we will continue to mobilize the private sector.

Private sector partnerships can drive capacity building, mobilize resources, and facilitate technology transfer for sustainable development.

And, we shall continue to mobilize the entire UN system for a more integrated and coordinated implementation of ABAS, to ensure more effective delivery of initiatives and partnerships that we are discussing today.

Excellencies,

We know that the scaling up these initiatives requires the collective effort of SIDS governments, development partners, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society.

Effective multi-stakeholder partnerships will be critical to ensuring that the benefits to SIDS are impactful.

I assure you of OHRLLS’ continued commitment to working with you to further strengthen and expand these partnerships.

Let me rest it here.

Thank you.