DESA News Spotlights SIDS Issues

2 November 2012: The latest issue of the newsletter of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) features an interview with Seychelles’ Foreign Minister, Jean-Paul Adam. Adam discussed: the effects on Pacific and Indian Ocean countries of rising sea-levels; ocean acidification and its effects on food security; the role of tourism in the economies of small island developing States (SIDS); and the upcoming international conference on sustainable development of SIDS in 2014.

He also highlighted Seychelles’ role as a co-chair of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA), together with Grenada and Palau, and SIDSnet’s role in facilitating knowledge-sharing and partnerships. Finally, Adam noted SIDS DOCK and other renewable energy initiatives.

This issue of “DESA News” also highlights, inter alia, an upcoming live chat about the post-2015 development agenda, on DESA’s Facebook page; and the 19th UN Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific (UNRCC-AP), which was the first regional conference following the establishment of the global mechanism of Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM). The Conference, titled “UN-GGIM Vision for Asia and the Pacific Region” considered as main themes the geodetic reference framework for sustainable development, data sharing and integration for disaster management, and place-based information management for economic growth.[Publication: DESA News, Vol. 16, No.11]