JOINT ACTION TO OPEN NEW VISTAS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLAND STATES CALLED FOR BY SPECIAL SESSION PRESIDENT

Press Release
GA/SM/101
ENV/DEV/520

JOINT ACTION TO OPEN NEW VISTAS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLAND STATES CALLED FOR BY SPECIAL SESSION PRESIDENT

Following is the text of the opening statement by Theo-Ben Gurirab, the President of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, at the first meeting of the session today:

First of all, I would like to thank all the delegations present here for electing me President to preside over this twenty-second special session of the General Assembly devoted to the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. You have done me and my country proud. Once again, many thanks.

This is the last special session of the General Assembly before we usher in the next millennium. The small island States, the international community at large and future generations expect from us all a successful outcome from this timely and important gathering. Let us all work together as a team to make it a reality.

Five years ago, leaders from over a hundred countries met in Barbados at a global conference to address the unique challenges facing small island developing States. That conference was held in recognition of the fact that these nations are among the most ecologically and economically vulnerable. The very survival of some of them is at risk. In Barbados, the world leaders resolved to act in concert with a view to assisting small island States to pursue sustainable development and economic growth. To that end, they adopted a programme of action.

Since then, the small island developing States have made remarkable efforts to tackle their special ecological and economic vulnerabilities and to put in place policies and measures to implement the Barbados Programme of Action. They have become the front-line States in our common struggle against climate change and natural disasters.

During the next two days, the urgent task before the Assembly is to assess those efforts; review constraints that impede progress; examine new problems confronting small island States; and agree on practical steps that need to be taken by the international community towards implementing

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development strategies. Let us make use of this ideal opportunity to renew and strengthen further global partnership with small island developing States. In this way, we can make a contribution towards the realization of the sustainable development objectives of these embattled but courageous countries.

In Barbados, the nations concerned pledged to act decisively and consistently to promote sustainable development and cooperation. They have not shied away from their commitments and responsibilities. We admire and respect them for this. Sustainable development strategies have been formulated, and their implementation has begun in earnest. Furthermore, important changes for the better have also occurred at the regional level.

Many small island nations have indeed taken courageous initiatives to ratify and implement international legal instruments, such as the Law of the Sea Convention, the Climate Change Convention and the Biodiversity Convention, to name but a few. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has spearheaded the call for meaningful action in intergovernmental forums, including, in particular, in the United Nations.

Small island States have taken these actions, despite the many obstacles they face. Not by their own choosing, they stand in the pathway of natural disasters, as well as man-made iniquities.

Today, many small island States are facing the continued deterioration of the marine environment and have to contend with over-fishing, marine spills, dumping of ship-borne wastes in their neighbourhoods, transportation of nuclear and other toxic materials through their territorial waters and watershed destabilization. A number of them have been hit by severe and prolonged droughts. Not to speak of devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, storms and floods. The problem of freshwater availability is worsening, characterized by constant shortages or deteriorating quality. The problems of managing effectively the growing tourism industry have added to the woes of freshwater supply and distribution.

A common hurdle faced by most small island developing nations is the insufficiency of funds relative to the enormity of the challenges at hand. External support has not been forthcoming on the scale promised in Rio and Barbados. Small island States have highly open economies and are virtually dependent and are, thus, adversely affected by the vagaries of the international economy and trade. The most pressing economic issues that should be addressed by this session relate to those that impinge, due to external shocks, on the economic fragility and vulnerability of these States.

In a number of small island States, the combined effect of the tightening financial situation and the pressing need for political and economic reforms is leading to a de-emphasis on sustainable development programmes and a reversion to placing emphasis on improving short-term economic conditions.

Like the rest of the world, small island developing States share the aspiration for sustainable development and economic prosperity. Their

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efforts to conserve their natural and cultural heritage upon which their future depends, deserve the unqualified support of the international community. The United Nations must be their trusted ally in this crusade. As custodians of large areas of oceans and marine biodiversity and as the front- line States in our common struggle against climate change and other oceanic aberrations, small island developing States need generous funds and resources to carry out their policies and programmes.

Let us reinvograte the spirit of unity and solidarity, and adhere with a purpose to the global partnership forged in Rio and Barbados. If we all join forces, we can, we must and we will help open up new vistas for development, prosperity and progress for the small island developing States. In this way, we will all be able to usher in together the new millennium and the new dawn.

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