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High-level UN meeting to review sustainable development in the Pacific

14 Pacific nations to gather in Vanuatu

Bangkok (UN ESCAP Information Services) — Top officials from 14 small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific are set to gather next week for a United Nations meeting to review their countries’ progress in sustainable development.

The Pacific High Level Dialogue from 8 to 9 February in Port Vila, Vanuatu, is convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and will review the progress made in implementing the Mauritius Strategy – the United Nations Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States covering the decade 2005-2015.

The Mauritius Strategy was adopted by 129 countries in 2005, and is the only global blueprint that addresses the unique development challenges of SIDS associated with their vulnerabilities. It consists of a comprehensive set of implementation strategies for their sustainable development.

Prime Minister Edward Natapei of Vanuatu is scheduled to open the meeting, and Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary, will deliver the keynote address. Ministers from the 14 Pacific SIDS and their senior officials will take part in the Dialogue, while President Anote Tong of Kiribati is expected to close the meeting.

Participants will also attend the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis to be held from 10 to 12 February in Port Vila. Dr. Heyzer will deliver a keynote address at the conference and hold bilateral talks with the leaders and ministers in attendance.

The Pacific SIDS are particularly vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise, natural disasters, and external economic shocks owing to their small sizes, inadequate response capacity, geographical dispersion, remoteness from major markets, poverty and lack of institutionalized safety nets. This has been recently demonstrated by the adverse impacts of the global financial and economic crisis, coming on top of the 2007-2008 food and fuel crises, and the 2009 natural disaster events including the floods in Fiji in January and a cyclone in December, the earthquake and tsunami in American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga in September, and the early January 2010 earthquake and tsunami in the Western Solomon Islands. These natural disasters affected mostly the poor and the vulnerable and caused significant damage, undermining the already feeble economic performance in 2009.

A regional synthesis report which assesses the countries’ achievements so far and proposes a strategy for future action will be presented for endorsement by the Pacific SIDS government delegates during the meeting. The report will be subsequently discussed at the 18th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in May, acting as the Preparatory Committee to the high-level review meeting, scheduled to take place during the 65th General Assembly later in 2010. The meeting outcomes will also be presented to the ESCAP Commission session in Incheon, Republic of Korea in May 2010.

The 14 Pacific SIDS participating in the Dialogue include the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

For further information please visit http://www.unescap.org/EPOC/ or contact:

Mr. Iosefa Maiava
Head of ESCAP Pacific Office
Tel: +679 3319 669
Fax: +679 3319 671
Email: maiavai@un.org