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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 damage 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.”
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