24 May 2024 - The international community is joining together to support small islands in their bid for a better future. Opening on 27 May in Antigua and Barbuda, the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) is a chance for renewed commitment and transformative action in support of sustainable development with and for small island nations.

The Conference will convene world leaders, civil society, youth and other actors to address key issues confronting SIDS, including the climate emergency, spiralling debt and health crises. The global gathering comes at a decisive moment in which urgent and critical investments in SIDS development progress will not only improve their individual resilience, but bring the world closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Conference will adopt   The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) – a Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity to establish the sustainable development aspirations of small islands over the next 10 years and the support required from the international community to achieve them. To succeed, partnerships will be fundamental to pair bold action from SIDS governments with support from the international community.

Under the overarching theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity,” the Conference will feature over 170 side events and five special events. UN DESA will also organize two Global Policy Dialogues on 27 and 30 May.

The first dialogue on 27 May,  “The Economic Prospects of Small Island Developing States”, will explore SIDS economic trends and potential ,  drawing ondata from the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report released in January, and its mid-year update launched earlier this month.

On 30 May, the second dialogue will examine “The Demographic Prospects of Small Island Developing States" based on the findings of the recently released Population Prospects of Countries in Special Situations report.

Ahead of the SIDS4 Conference, UN DESA has also issued a new brochure, “SIDS and UN DESA – Partners for a prosperous, sustainable and resilient future for small island developing States ”, outlining the Department’s support and partnership with SIDS. The brochure presents a range of DESA initiatives  and workstreams addressing SIDS’ unique sustainable development challenges, spanning the Department’s six priority action areas:

  1. Accelerating action on the SDGs and strengthening multilateralism
  2. Ensuring sustainable financing for recovering from the pandemic and realizing the SDGs
  3. Putting data and science to work for SDG progress
  4. Addressing poverty, inequality, and leaving no one behind in the recovery from the confluence of crises
  5. Protecting our planet through fostering synergy between implementing the 2030 Agenda and advancing climate action
  6. Strengthening the Department’s work on projection and frontier issues

 

For more information on the 4th International Conference for Small Island Developing States:
www.un.org/smallislands

Follow the SIDS4 Conference live: webtv.un.org

Register here to join the Global Policy Dialogues: 
The Economic Prospects of Small Island Developing States 27 May at 3:30 pm EDT
The Demographic Prospects of Small Island Developing States on 30 May at 10 am EDT

The policy dialogues will also be livestreamed via UN Web TV and UN DESA’s Facebook page.

Access the new brochure to learn more about UN DESA's work with SIDS: https://bit.ly/SIDS4DESA

For more details on the issues facing SIDS:
https://sdgs.un.org/topics/small-island-developing-states