Noting the lack of resources within the UN system for specific action for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the Maldives has called for adequately integrating and institutionalizing SIDS within the UN system, asking for earmarking certain funds specifically for SIDS to implement sustainable development activities in their States, and the creation of a dedicated financing mechanism that would attract new and additional financial resources. The call was made by H.E. Dr Mariyam Shakeela, Minister of Environment and Energy and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, in a statement delivered during a High-Level breakfast event on the topic of SIDS 2014: Genuine and Durable Partnerships for the sustainable development of SIDS on the margins of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Continuing her statement, Minister Shakeela noted that graduating SIDS from LDC status in the short to medium term, comes the prospect of forfeiting generous foreign aid on which they have been highly dependent on, though their inherent structural vulnerabilities are not removed, which requires a formal permanent recognition of these vulnerabilities within multilateral financial institutions and the global aid and trade regimes.
Minister Shakeela further highlighted the importance of a coherent regional and international implementation strategy for inter and intra-regional co-operation between SIDS for the implementation of sustainable development efforts in SIDS, complemented by the identification and adoption of a suitable inter-governmental institutional mechanism to give guidance and policy direction for SIDS. “In short, a significant paradigm shift is needed in the global outlook, including those of the international agencies, towards SIDS”, said Minister Shakeela.
In her statement, Minister Shakeela also spoke about SIDS that are particularly vulnerable to climate change raising fundamental questions about their very own survival from the impact of climate change. She, therefore, emphasized the importance of ensuring that the post-2015 development agenda reflects the need for critical adaptation, infrastructure for SIDS in conjunction with measurable targets for developed countries to provide assistance with regard to climate change.
