27 May 2024, Antigua and Barbuda - “We are gathered here not merely to reiterate our challenges but to demand and enact solutions,” stressed H.E Gaston Alphonso Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda as he opened the Fourth International Conference on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS4) today.
The SIDS4 held from 27 – 30 May 2024 brings together over 3,000 delegates to develop and support the blueprint known as the “Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) that will guide Small Islands Developing States towards resilient prosperity in partnership with the international community.
Acknowledging the special circumstances of SIDS, the conference, which is held every ten years looks to drive support for implementing the ABAS to bring all SIDS closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Given the realities faced by SIDS, including that of the impacts of climate change, support is much needed.
From 1970 to 2020, Small Islands Developing States lost USD 153 billion, due to weather, climate and water-related hazards, yet this is not the only threat faced by SIDS. Debt in SIDS rose from 42.3 % of GDP in 2000 to around 60 % in 2022, after peaking around 2020 as the islands of whom many rely on tourism, were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. When it comes to the health and well-being of SIDS, we experience some of the highest rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally, with NCDs being a leading cause of death.
“This is a crucial gathering at a time of unprecedented global challenges at which SIDS find themselves on the frontline of a battle against a conference of crises none of which they have caused or created. Our inherent vulnerabilities characterised by small size, limited financial resources and constrained human capital place us at a marked disadvantage on the global stage where the scales of equity and justice unevenly balanced against us,” presented H.E Gaston Alphonso Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.
“Our journey towards development has been repeatedly disrupted by monumental global crises among them the financial meltdown of 2008 and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. These events exacerbated by the relentless climate crisis have severely undermined our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals this backdrop makes the call for urgent multilateral solutions even more critical. We are gathered here not merely to reiterate our challenges but to demand and enact solutions.”
Calling Small Islands Developing States – “exceptional”, SIDS were encouraged by H.E António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations to insist upon financial justice when it comes to climate change. He called upon the SIDS to insist that developing economies to fulfil their pledge to double adaptation finance by 2025 and to hold them to this commitment at a minimum.
“At times of crises it may be tempting to turn inwards to lower expectations and to dim hopes but that is not the SIDS way. Collaboration and mutual support and help have allowed SIDS to be able to face the consequences of geopolitical storms and physical storms,” stated H.E Guterres.
“And when you speak together SIDS can make an almighty noise and I urge you to do so at this critical time for our planet and our future. Together lets deliver meaningful change for the people an communities for the people of SIDS and beyond to the benefit of the whole of humankind.”
Also to take the stage today at the SIDS4 Conference was the Prime Minister of Samoa, Hon Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, speaking as Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. Samoa was also host of the SIDS3, in 2014.
The Hon Prime Minister called upon SIDS delegates to remain focused and recollect what occasions a category of countries as a special case for development, reaffirm that action costs little but inaction can cost much and to recommit to grand ideas where countries, small or large, rich or poor, are all deserving.
“We arrived here, in the beautiful islands of Antigua and Barbuda determined to right our sails. As with Samoa before, and Mauritius and Barbados even earlier, SIDS have held fast to the belief that our destinies are as important as any other, that the idea of our development is not just a dream but one grounded in absolute possibility,” stated Prime Minister Mata’afa.
“We hold on to the idea of our resilient nations even in midst of what can often seem like an impossibility. Any cursory look at the world we live in reveals a space of conflict, want and inequality.
Our future seems precariously perched…but a better world is possible. It is our intrinsic belief that we can in fact right our sails and create a world where the idea of our resilient development is not farfetched.”
Also to present at the opening of the SIDS4 Conference included H. E Dennis Francis, the President of the General Assembly, H. E Paula Narváez, President of the Economic and Social Council, Under-Secretary-General and Conference Secretary-General for SIDS4 Mr Li Junhua, and Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser for the Conference and OHRLLS Ms Rabab Fatima.
The SIDS4 conference is held from 27 to 30 May 2024. It is preceded by the SIDS Children and Youth Action Summit from 24 – 26 May, the SIDS Gender Equality Forum on 26 May, the SIDS Global Business Network Forum from 25 – 26 May and the SIDS4 Private Sector Roundtable on 28 May, 2024.
For more information, please visit https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/sids2024.
Stay tuned to www.sprep.org and FB: https://www.facebook.com/SPREP.PROE and @SPREPChannel on X (formerly Twitter for more news on the Pacific at SIDS