Ahead of the International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS 2014), Samoa's Prime Minister warns of the threat posed by climate change and the need for genuine and durable partnerships.
Samoa’s Prime Minister has urged the international community to offer support to small island developing states, some of whom face “termination”, he says, owing to threats posed by climate change and rising seas.
On the eve of the International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS 2014), in Apia, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi stated that “quick financial assistance” is essential when a small island nation is reeling from the effects of environmental or economic disaster.
The host of the international summit, taking place between 1-4 September, was itself hit by a tsunami in 2009, which killed nearly 150 people and caused around $150 million in damage – equivalent to a quarter of its gross domestic product.
The devastation caused by natural disasters is, however, all too common for countries such as Samoa, noted the Prime Minister ahead of a pre-conference Youth Forum on 28 August 2014.
“In the Pacific, we have been pushing very hard for the big countries to hear our call that climate change has done a lot of damage to our economies, through cyclones, tsunamis and heavy rainfall,” he said. “Not only that, the threat of sea level rise causes a lot of us to be extremely worried - it could mean the termination of many of our countries.”
Of the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries, 25 are small island developing states. They are especially susceptible to natural disasters and external economic shocks, such as fluctuations in world trade. These countries are often remote, have limited market diversification, limited human and institutional capacity and limited access to capital.
Ahead of the Forum on Youth, the Prime Minister expressed his thanks to development partners who have come to the aid of small island economies such as Samoa, through providing budgetary support following major crises. “For us, with a very narrow revenue base, we need to develop and rehabilitate fast,” he said. “We can hardly sustain our development objectives without support from the international community.”
During the main conference next week, officials from governments and international organisations will seek to establish durable partnerships with small island developing states (SIDS) across areas such as sustainable economic development, oceans, food security and waste management, tourism, disaster risk reduction, health and non-communicable diseases, and the empowerment of young people and women.
“The generosity of our partners has been most welcome to Samoa. It is the reason why we recommended that the theme of this SIDS conference should be based on effective partnerships,” continued Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
He also praised the contribution of the Commonwealth in helping to address the vulnerabilities and build the resilience of small island developing states. The Commonwealth Secretariat, based at Marlborough House in London, United Kingdom, has engaged in advocacy and policy research on behalf of small states and small island developing states for over four decades.
“As a bloc presenting a coordinated position vis-à-vis the rest of the world, the Commonwealth has added value,” the Prime Minister stated.