General News
Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
The Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) concluded Friday, 12 July 2013 in Nadi, Fiji. Member States continued their discussions with Major Groups and development partners through Friday morning, as Chair Amena Yauvoli (Fiji) invited participants to discuss the presentations made by Major Groups and development partners the previous day. Delegates praised the quality of the partners' statement, while some parties called for a greater focus on implementation. They discussed issues including transparency and aid effectiveness, deep sea mining, gender equality, and building strong partnerships with youth. They expressed hope that the outcome of the document would reflect a distinct Pacific perspective, feeding into preparations for the global SIDS conference in Samoa in September 2014.
Samoa proposed that "SIDS Sustainable Development: Genuine and Global Partnerships" be the theme for the global SIDS conference in 2014, highlighting that her country will graduate from Least Development Country (LDC) status at the end of 2013, and noting the quality and strength of its partnerships. The meeting agreed by acclamation to forward the proposed theme to the Inter-regional Preparatory Meeting in Barbados.
A drafting group worked on outcome text in the afternoon, and the meeting reconvened at 6.40 pm. Chair Yauvoli explained to delegates that the outcome text was being cleaned up and would be distributed to them shortly, with a one-week window remaining for any final comments to be made before the draft would be final. He said the working draft was acknowledged as adopted.
In his closing remarks, Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, thanked the Government of Fiji for hosting the meeting, and congratulated the delegates on the outcome, which he said addressed a range of sustainable development challenges including climate change impacts, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the need for renewable and sustainable energy.
Shun-ichi Murata, UNESCAP, and Filimone Waqabaca, Permanent Secretary for Finance, Fiji, also delivered closing remarks. The meeting closed at 7:04 pm.
Additional Information
Country: Fiji
Website: http://www.iisd.ca/sids/sids2014p/12jul.html
Email: N/A
Phone: N/A
Contact Person: N/A
Source: Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
When: 16/7/2013
