(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The devastating 2004 hurricane season in the Caribbean, the recent catastrophic underwater earthquake and resulting tsunamis in Asian coastal and Island countries, an earthquake which caused millions of dollars in damagde in Dominica in November and quakes in Trinidad and Tobago and Cayman Islands provide a chilling backdrop to the participation by the Caribbean's small island and low-lying coastal states in the International Meeting to the Review the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) being held in Mauritius January 10-14, 2005.
These harrowing natural disasters combined with market losses and declining export earnings provide overwhelming evidence of the economic, environmental and social vulnerability and challenges to the sustainable development of the small island states in the Caribbean.
Paradoxically, the Caribbean was the venue of the 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the impact of which is the focus of the Mauritius meeting. All Caribbean countries will be represented after almost two years of preparation. The Mauritius Meeting will review progress in implementing the Programme of Action which was approved at the 1994 conference in Barbados, and will include discussions on the areas of climate change, natural disasters, tourism, marine and land resources, energy, biodiversity, transport and science and technology. Small islands have also strongly recommended full discussions on emerging issues such as trade, HIV/AIDS and increasing expenditure on security.
The participation by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the Mauritius Meeting will be at the level of delegations from Member States, several Regional organisations and a delegation from the CARICOM Secretariat, which is coordinating the Region's participation.
The Regional organisations, which will be represented in Mauritius, include the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Secretariat (OECS), the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCC) and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Representatives of projects such as The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Project (CREDP) and the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change Project (MACCP) will also participate in the Meeting.
The CARICOM contingent will include experts in the areas of vulnerability analysis, trade and development, human development, sustainable development, climate change, energy including renewable energy, culture and HIV/AIDS. In addition to participation in the high-level segment of the Meeting and pre-Meeting informal consultations, the Regional delegations will engage in a series of Caribbean Partnership activities. These include a reception hosted jointly by the CARICOM Secretariat and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF); a workshop in collaboration with small island states of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Commonwealth Secretariat to highlight issues pertaining to Ocean Governance; another on Cultural Resistance and Vulnerability as well as an event focusing on Food Security co-sponsored with the Government of Italy and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The Caribbean will also have a permanent display highlighting issues of, and initiatives in, Food Security, Ocean Governance, Information and Communications Technology, HIV/AIDS, Culture, Energy, Land, Climate Change and Water.
It is important that the Caribbean participates fully in the Mauritius Meeting. Consultant to the CARICOM Secretariat and the Coordinator of the CARICOM team to the Meeting, Mr. Byron Blake, points out that: “As the 2004 hurricane season and the tsunami in Asia have shown, small islands and low-lying coastal states confront big challenges in dealing with issues which have become matters of survival for many. All 15 Member States of CARICOM are among the 51 classified as Small Island Developing States.”
He adds that these small island and low-lying coastal states also face major challenges on the economic side as the international community moves to abolish the trade preferences and arrangements which gave them a competitive edge for many of their traditional products.
Mr. Blake explains that: “Vulnerability in its economic, environmental and social dimensions must be the focus of international attention at the Mauritius Meeting. For instance, in the area of trade small size, geographic isolation and high transport costs combine to render island economies highly dependent on external markets but at significant competitive disadvantage. Agricultural activities are dominated by crops intended mainly for export for revenue generation as is the case of bananas and sugar.”
Noting also that small countries do not have, or in some cases have only limited influence on global climate change and variability – major threats to their survival – Mr. Blake stresses that at the International Meeting, the small island states will be putting forward arguments for the international community to move resolutely to reduce the negative impacts on global climate change, as well as to retain for as long as is feasible, the preferential access to world markets for small states in the face of globalization and increasing trade liberalization. Mr. Blake adds that, “the reduction in the rate of climate change and climate variability and continued effective access to markets and to financing are vital interests for the Caribbean.”
The Caribbean representative explains that: “The Caribbean is working with other Small Island Developing States to secure focused, practical, cost-effective and, above all, implementable outcomes of the International Meeting and looks forward to the cooperation and support of the developed states, the larger developing states and multilateral institutions to ensure that the follow-up and implementation gather momentum after the Meeting.”
Contact:
Huntley Medley
Email: hmedley@caricom.org
