Maldives is elected as the next Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). The decision was announced at the Ministerial Meeting of AOSIS Ministers being held in Seychelles. The Maldives was elected to preside the work of the Alliance by consensus by a plenary meeting earlier in the month and will begin its tenure as Chair on 1 January 2015. The Maldives launched its campaign for chairmanship on 16 May 2014 by sending a letter by Foreign Minister Ms Dunya Maumoon to her counterparts in the member states of AOSIS.
The Maldives, together with Vanuatu and Trinidad and Tobago, spearheaded the efforts to form AOSIS, following the first ever Small States Conference held in the Maldives in November 1989. In the past twenty-five years, the Maldives, through national, regional, and international efforts, has undertaken several intiatves and been an agent of change on a wide variety of issues related to climate change and environmental degradation. The Maldives hopes to further strengthen the character and status of AOSIS as the norm entrepreneur and bridge builder, during its term as Chair.
The AOSIS is a coalition of 44 small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.
