Maldives urged the global community for speedy implementation of the outcomes of the Financing for Development at the joint debate of the Second Committee on macroeconomic policy issues and the followup to the outcomes of the Conferences on Financing for Development.
The Maldives further noted the importance of Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) to SIDS, given limited capacity for domestic resource mobilization. Highlighting that the Maldives is a “textbook example of the island paradox”, the Maldives stated that graduation from LDC status meant that the country is unable to access concessionary financing, which in turn risks reversal of developmental gains. The Maldives elaborated the many challenges that impede socio-economic growth of the country, given high debt burdens, rising inequality, environmental threats and natural disasters.
In its statement, the Maldives urged the international community to come together to assist SIDS in their development path since many current challenges are not “just national problems but have arisen because of the inequitable management of the global commons”. Noting that the Addis Agenda provides specific pathways for financing in SIDS, the Maldives urged the need for early implementation of these goals.
The statement was delivered by Midhfa Naeem, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Maldives to the United Nations.
