Ambassador Felson of Belize on Rio+20 & SIDSnet

1992 was a landmark year for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) because that was when we achieved the recognition from the international community on our unique and particular vulnerabilities. Additionally, the 1992 Rio summit spurred a series of subsequent events that led to the adoption of a SIDS-focused agenda, the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) and eventually the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation (MSI) which called for international support and international cooperation for SIDS. For Rio+20, we would want the international community to reaffirm and strengthen its commitment to SIDS outlined in BPOA, MSI and MSI+5 outcome document.

We also feel that it is timely for the international community to step back and review what has occurred since Barbados. We would therefore like an endorsement of the 2014 Barbados+20 SIDS Conference.

Most of the discussion in the preparation for Rio+20 had been focussing on the Green Economy and the International Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD)., In terms of Green Economy, I believe that we would like to see support that focuses on SIDS specifically and on small states in general. In terms of the IFSD, we would like to see that Framework guided by certain principles which come from the Rio Declaration itself. We need to ensure that small states and SIDS alike are not marginalized but that our voices will be heard in whatever Framework we eventually agree to at Rio+20.

With respect to SIDSnet, coming from a smaller Mission, I think what we need is up-to- date information; real time information of intergovernmental processes that represent the multilateral system so that we can better inform our national, regional as well as our SIDS’ interests. We need to gather such information through a central platform such as SIDSnet.

In addition, beyond Member States, we have the academic community, think tanks, NGOs, and the civil society and they are building a vast wealth of knowledge on SIDS’ issues that we can benefit from. So what would be beneficial from SIDSnet is creating that connectivity between the governmental institutions as well as NGOs and civil society, and creating a platform for us to interact and exchange information and best practices. Having this, we can then, as small countries and representatives of small states, use the information to strategize and manage the intergovernmental processes within the context of the United Nations system. So I applaud this re-launch and redesign of SIDSnet. There is a lot that can be learned and improved upon from networks that already exist. I think we can build a good platform to connect, to share information, and to be more proactive in advancing our interests.