It
is with great pleasure that I speak and participate at the
eighth session of the UNESCAP Special Body on Pacific Island
Developing Countries. This session assumes a special significance
as it is being held in Shanghai outside its usual venue
and also as it is taking place prior to the International
Meeting in Mauritius next August focussing on the sustainable
development of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
My Office
has a special interest in the Pacific Island Developing
Countries. This is in view of the mandate and responsibility
entrusted to us by the United Nations General Assembly for
the mobilization of international support and resources
as well as for the advocacy in favour of the small islands.
We work in close cooperation with the Pacific Islands group
of countries in New York so ably led by Ambassador Sapoaga
of Tuvalu who is also one of the Vice Chairs of the Alliance
of Small Island States (AOSIS) in New York.
In my
capacity as the High Representative for the Small Island
Developing States,I visited Fiji in August last year. On
that occasion I had the opportunity to meet and discuss
extensively the issues of interest to the Pacific islands
with representatives of the government of Fiji - including
the Prime Minister and several members of his cabinet, the
UN and Civil Society representatives. I also had substantive
discussions with our colleagues in the Pacific Forum Secretariat,
the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)
and the South Pacific Commission. We are following up on
those discussions.
In view
of its focus, the ESCAP Special Body on Pacific Island Developing
Countries need to organize its future work for the regional
level follow up on the outcome of the International Meeting
to review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of
Action for the sustainable development of SIDS, to be held
in Mauritius from 30 August to 3 September 2004. In convening
the gathering in Mauritius, the UN General Assembly (resolution
58/213) decided last year that "the International Meeting
will seek a renewed political commitment by the international
community and will focus on practical actions for the further
implementation of the Programme of Action, taking into consideration
new and emerging issues, challenges and situations since
the adoption of the Programme of Action".
Just
last week, a three-day preparatory meeting took place at
the United Nations in New York and good progress was made
in the negotiations for the preparation of the final outcome
documents of the Mauritius Meeting. Based on the AOSIS Strategy
Paper, as endorsed by the Group of 77 and China, substantive
work has been undertaken under the able leadership of Ambassador
MacKay of New Zealand, a country that is now the Chairman
of the Pacific Islands Forum.
In the
course of my interactions with member states on the nature
of the expected outcome of the Mauritius International Meeting,
I have, among other things, urged that the role of the intergovernmental
regional organizations like the Caribbean Community and
the Pacific Islands Forum needs to be enhanced in the implementation
of the Barbados Programme. They are better placed than other
international organizations when it comes to the regional
countries. They know the region's strengths and weaknesses.
They know of the region's capacities and resources. They
are also better placed to initiate and push ahead with projects
and programmes with the governments of the region.
A major
development constraint of the Small Island Developing States
is their small size and minuscule populations. When we factor
in remoteness, the viability of many critical projects become
questionable. This situation discourages external involvement
and financing. One of the ways that this handicap can be
addressed would be to establish regional programmes with
national components. Regional organizations can then put
together and provide justifications for viability and resource
allocations. They will also be in a better position to negotiate
resources with development partners and multilateral financial
institutions.
As Secretary-General
of the Mauritius International Meeting, I consider your
deliberations as pertinent inputs to the Mauritius Meeting.
At this meeting of the Special Body, you will be focusing
on the theme topic: "Experiences and challenges in
urban management issues in Pacific Island Countries."
Your deliberations will also look into the revitalization
of the ESCAP Pacific Operations Center and the Commission's
activities in the Pacific. It would be also very useful
if you deliberate on ESCAP's further support to the implementation
of the Barbados Programme in respect of the Pacific Island
Developing Countries.
Reports
submitted to this Special Body states that by 2025, half
of the population of the Pacific Island Developing Countries
would be living in urban areas. We are told that high population
growth is polarized in one or two islands like Majuro in
Marshall Islands, Funafuti in Tuvalu and Apia in Samoa,
or dispersed over a number of centers such as in Fiji, Papua
New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Urban populations
in the atoll societies of Kiribati, Marshall Islands and
Tuvalu are vulnerable because of restricted land areas,
rapid growth rates, rising sea levels and climate change,
overcrowding and poor infrastructure, which together pose
fundamental barriers to sustainable economic, social and
cultural development. These facts alone make the consideration
of the theme at this Special Body of critical importance
for the islands of the Pacific.
The
Barbados Programme of Action addresses the sustainable development
issues of SIDS and highlights the environmental and economic
vulnerabilities of island economies. It is well known that
urbanization puts great stresses on available capacities
and resources. Appropriate technologies, management capacities
and financing are required to administer urban populations
- and all of these are scarce in the Pacific Island Developing
Countries. The G-77 Strategy Paper for the Mauritius Meeting
highlights these problems of urbanization in a most glaring
manner identifying in particular health, capacity building
and education, energy, transport and communications, waste
management, fresh water and land management.
In addition,
island and coastal population centers are exposed to natural
and environmental disasters for which there is a need to
establish safeguards and make contingency requirements.
In this way, climate change and sea level rise threatens
many coastal habitations as well.
In the
course of our preparatory work for the Mauritius International
Meeting, I have urged the consideration of new and emerging
issues that assumed importance since the Barbados Programme
was adopted. One of these is the HIV/AIDS pandemic. From
amongst the SIDS regions, the Caribbean region is already
the most threatened area after sub-Saharan Africa. It is
unfortunate that the Pacific Islands are increasingly under
the threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic - a scourge that could
decimate the working populations from the ages of 15 to
45 of island nations. Urban populations in the islands are
obviously the most vulnerable.
Your
work in this Special Body is not only relevant for the Mauritius
Meeting, but the outcome of Mauritius will also be crucial
to moving ahead with issues of sustainable development in
general and urban development in particular for the Pacific
islands..
I wish
you all success in your deliberations.
*****
