THE TEN YEAR REVIEW OF THE BARBADOS PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISL

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THE TEN YEAR REVIEW OF THE BARBADOS PROGRAMME OF
ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL
ISLANDS DEVELOPING STATES Lino
BriguglioUniversity of MaltaPresentation at
the ISLANDS OF THE WORLD VIII CONFERENCE
November 1-7, 2004Kinmen Island, Taiwan
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• CONTENT OF THIS PRESENTATION
• MAJOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINTS FACED
  BY SIDS
• THE 1994 PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE
  DEVELOPMENT OF SIDS
• THE PREPARATORY MEETINGS
• THE COMMISSION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• CONTINUATION OF NEGOTIATIONS
• THE MAURITIUS INTERNATIONAL MEETING
• SUPPORT FOR THE BPoA BY DONOR COMMUNITY
• CONCLUSION

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• 1. MAJOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINTS
  FACED BY SIDS
• Small economic size and economic vulnerabilit
• High Transports costs due to peripherality
• Fragile ecosystems
• Security problems

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2. THE 1994 PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SIDS The Barbados
Programme of Action (BPoA), which was adopted in
1994, sets forth specific actions and measures at
the national, regional, and international levels
in support of the sustainable development of the
small island developing states (SIDS). (See
http//www.sidsnet.org/sidsdocs/impdocs.html)
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2. THE 1994 PROGRAMME OF ACTION (Cont) In
December 2002, the 67th Session of the United
Nations General Assembly called for a
comprehensive review of the Barbados Programme of
Action (UN document A/C.2/57/L.6 ) This will
take place at the Mauritius International Meeting
scheduled for January 2005.
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• 3. THE PREPARATORY MEETINGS
• Preparatory meetings for the International
  Meeting of Mauritius were held for these regional
  groupings.
• Meeting for the Pacific region
• Samoa 4 - 8 August, 2003
• Meeting for the AIMS region
• Cape Verde 1 - 5 Sept, 2003
• Meeting for the Caribbean Regions
• Trinidad and Tobago 6-10 October 2003
• (See www.sidsnet.org)

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3. PREPARATORY MEETINGS (Cont) The Bahamas
Interregional Meeting The conclusions of the
three regional meetings fed in the Interregional
Preparatory meeting were held at Nassau, The
Bahamas on 26-30 January, 2004 More than 300
participants attended the meeting, among them
some twenty-two ministers and deputy ministers.
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3. PREPARATORY MEETINGS (Cont) The
Interregional Meeting set common priorities for
all SIDS toward advancing their sustainable
development effort, in particular, through the
implementation of the Barbados Programme of
Action (BPOA). The Meeting adopted on 30 January
2004 the Nassau Declaration, issued a General
Assembly document A/58/709. (see
http//www.iisd.ca/vol08/enb0837e.html)
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3. PREPARATORY MEETINGS (Cont) The Bahamas
Interregional Preparatory Meeting endorsed a
Strategy for the Further Implementation of the
Barbados Programme of Action, agreed upon by
ministers and heads of delegation of members of
AOSIS. This document was submitted for
consideration by the preparatory meeting for the
Mauritius International Meeting, held from 14-16
April 2004 in New York as part of the UN
Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD12).
(Seehttp//www.sidsnet.org/docshare/other/20040
206162842_AOSIS_strategy_final_version.pdf)
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4. CSD12 PREPARATORY COMMITTEE The Commission on
Sustainable Development acted as the formal UN
Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Mauritius
International Meeting to Review the
Implementation of the Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States. It considered the Bahamas
draft strategy for the further implementation of
the Programme of Action.
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4. CSD12 PRECOM (Cont) At CSD12 there was some
disagreement about the text of the strategy
between SIDS and the donor community. It was
agreed that consultations were to continue with a
view to reaching agreement on the remaining
pending issues for the preparations for the
Mauritius International Meeting. (See
http//ods-dds-gva.unog.ch/doc/UNDOC/
GEN/N04/267/48/PDF/N0426748.pdf?OpenElement Also h
ttp//www.iisd.ca/vol08/enb0839e.html )
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5. CONTINUATION OF NEGOTIATIONS In October 2004,
the negotiations continued in New York and
considerable progress was made on reaching a
consensus regarding an agreed text on the 10 year
review of the BPoA, although many differences
remained between SIDS and the donor
community. (See http//www.iisd.ca/sids/bpoa10/BP
OA10_Briefing_10.04.html)
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6. MAURITIUS INTERNATIONAL MEETING In January
2005, Heads of State, Ministers and high ranking
officials of most members of the United Nations
will convene in Mauritius to discuss
recommendations for further and successful
implementation of the BPoA. The meeting will
also be followed by representatives of
international and regional organizations, and
representatives of a large number of NGOs
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• 6. MAURITIUS INTERNATIONAL MEETING (Cont)
• The themes to discussed at the International
  Meeting at Mauritius will include
• climate change
• tourism
• natural disasters
• wastes, marine and land resources, freshwater,
• energy,
• biodiversity
• transport
• science and technology
• trade
• support for all these by the donor community.

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7. SUPPORT OF THE BPoA BY THE DONOR
COMMUNITY Following 1994, SIDS and donor nations
had agreed to tackle islands challenges in
partnership. However, the Barbados Programme of
Action has been only partially implemented, due,
in part, to a reduction in foreign aid. The
Mauritius International Meeting will seek ways to
implement the BPoA through the efforts of SIDS
themselves, with the support of the International
donor community.
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7. SUPPORT BY THE DONOR COMMUNITY
(Cont) Recently the United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that there is
considerable evidence of the efforts made by
small island developing States to implement the
Barbados Programme of Action. The report
acknowledges that perceptible progress has been
achieved by small island nations within the
constraints of limited financial resources and
weak institutional, human and technological
capacity.
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7. SUPPORT BY THE DONOR COMMUNITY (Cont) The
Secretary-General of the Mauritius International
Meeting, Anwarul Chowdhury has called on donor
countries to provide more support. In order to
meet the priority needs that SIDS identify, I
urge development partners to enhance official
development assistance directed towards these
countries. He also encouraged donors and the
international financial institutions to increase
flows of concessional financing.
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8. CONCLUSION The Mauritius International
Meeting will present an opportunity to SIDS to
present their case to the international
community, to seek partnerships and innovative
ways to help them address their most vital
sustainable development challenges.
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THE ENDTHANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION