Commonwealth small islands states meeting |13 November 2013

Sids push for support and recognition

Small islands states members of the Commonwealth yesterday pushed for more international support and recognition for their causes and specificities.

This was during the Commonwealth ministerial meeting on small islands states (CMSS) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The meeting was one of several thematic meetings to be held prior to the heads of government meeting on Friday.
 
Seychelles was represented at the meeting by Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Paul Adam and high commissioner Waven William.

Speaking after taking part in the meeting, Minister Adam said it was another opportunity for small islands states (Sids) to push for more support, be it financial or others, and seek for more recognition of small islands’ specificities.

“Commonwealth is one of those organisations which has the cause and concern of Sids at heart and is making a lot of effort to try and include their issues on the international development agenda,” said Minister Adam.

He pointed out that while the United Nations is presently discussing the different development structures and mechanisms to be put in place after 2015 when the deadline set for the objectives of millennium development goals (MDGs) come to its end, the Commonwealth is putting in place a mechanism to better represent Sids.

Among issues which have come out strongly in this meeting is the blue economy – new ways and possibilities for Sids to better develop and use their oceanic resources.

Minister Adam said Seychelles has made a lot of progress in terms of its debts and through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Commonwealth the country’s progress has been used as an example and a case study by other small states facing similar issues. These include climate change and how to get more resources to address the issue and reinforce Sids’ resilience to the phenomena, and ways to develop business opportunities.

Minister Adam said Seychelles has talked about innovative ventures it is undertaking through its partnership with Sri Lanka and these include the soon-to-start air links, boat construction project at the Sri Lankan shipyard among others.

Asked about Seychelles’ expectations at the meeting, Minister Adam said: “A lot has been discussed but we will not be satisfied until we see more actions on the cause and concerns of Sids. But there are positive responses and debates on key issues concerning Sids, namely the blue economy, debts among others. But we are counting on and pushing for actions and not just words,” said Minister Adam.  

But what is the next step after this ministerial meeting?

Minister Adam said more thematic meetings on other issues such as maritime security will continue to take place in the coming days leading up to the heads of government meeting where all the recommendations will be presented to the leaders.

Text: Marie-Anne Lepathy

Photo:  Patrick Joubert in Sri Lanka