Global Roundtable
For
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
Vulnerability
and Small Island Developing States:
Exploring Mechanisms for Partnerships
Montego
Bay, JAMAICA
9-10 May 2002
By
Gillian Lindsay-Nanton
UNDP Resident Representative
JamaicaThe Honourable Ben Claire ---Minister of State -Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade -Jamaica
Honourable Mr. Otinielu Tauteleimalae Tausi -Deputy Prime Minister - Tuvalu
Distinguished Ministers
Mr. Zéphirin Diabré -Associate Administrator- UNDP Participants, Ladies & Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of UNDP- Jamaica to the beautiful island of Jamaica, for this Partners' Roundtable. The matters that you are gathered here to discuss are of vital importance to all our citizens. Despite the rich variety of the different islands from which we come, we share the common issue of vulnerability .We have extremely limited natural resources and often have economies with a very narrow resource base of production, or a high level of dependence on tourism, an industry that is highly susceptible to external factors beyond SIDS control.
The AOSIS has indicated that, quote "SIDS face major problems with respect to their agriculture and production. In the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and in the Pacific, significant production declines have occurred because of serious hurricanes, flooding or droughts; and agricultural products from SIDS are severely disadvantaged by extreme protectionism in trade practices and affected by fluctuating world market prices" unquote.Vulnerability to severe weather events and the effects of international economic policy is common to other aspects of the economies of SIDS and requires considered attention. In addition to this, vulnerability to external factors is increased by the shortage of human capital and the frequent migration of well-qualified individuals to larger countries. This leads to a reduction in the capacity of the private sector, civil society and government agencies. We have all seen cases where the migration of a single individual has led to the cessation of a programme or project.
Some of these issues were articulated in the Barbados Programme of Action in 1994. It is gratifying to note that SIDS have carried out work on many of the recommendations of the Programme. On our part, UNDP has worked to strengthen the capacities of SIDS through several national programmes and has supported initiatives such as the Small Islands Developing States Network (SIDSNET) and the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in many countries.
But much more can be accomplished through intra and inter-regional cooperation, and through the building of strategic partnerships with key stakeholders.
This Partners' Roundtable offers a unique opportunity to focus on the special conditions of SIDS, namely economic, environmental and social; to arrive at a shared understanding of the concept of vulnerability; and to agree on how best to meet the sustainable development challenges of the 21st Century.Within the context of an increasingly globalized and integrated world economy, I believe that the time has come for us to fully grasp that pursuing sustainable economic development strategies must of necessity include capacity building in both the private and public sectors; developing the competitiveness of private productive enterprises; promoting macroeconomic stability; reducing the dependence on imported energy; increasing the use of information technology and educating the workforce of SIDS, far better than we currently do. I should add too, that these strategies must be pursued at the national level, and certainly where the benefits are apparent, at the sub-regional and regional levels, if resilience to vulnerabilities is to be maximized by SIDS.
The UNDP has put forward the Capacity 2015 programme as a platform that is aimed at supporting actions that reduce vulnerability and focus on sustainable development concerns such as capacity building, institutional, strengthening and training. This Platform, which seeks to develop capacities for sustainable communities, will be based on partnerships built among and across a diverse group of stakeholders, and will assist SIDS in meeting the challenges posed by economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities.
As we prepare for the World Summit for Sustainable Development less than four months away, I trust that our deliberations today will take us further along the path toward developing an inter-regional framework aimed at reducing the vulnerability of SIDS, fully cognizant that such an approach must of necessity be inclusive, cooperative, and democratic, and one that encompasses new modes of decision-making.
I thank you.
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