Aosis delegates meet in informal gathering |13 November 2014

Delegates attending the two-day  Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) meeting  held here this week, met for informal discussions during a cocktail organised for them on Tuesday evening at the Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam, the principal secretary in the same ministry Ambassador Maurice Loustau-Lalanne,  the secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Barry Faure, members of the diplomatic corps and other key government officials were among those present to  welcome the delegates.

“This gathering is an opportunity for us to continue to exchange ideas in a informal manner. It is important for islands to meet in this way,” Minister Adam pointed out.

“As islanders we are isolated and this affects our economic prospects and our ability to develop economies of scale and ultimately to develop in an effective manner,” said Minister Adam.

Noting that Aosis has not met enough at ministerial level, Minister Adam said: “It is important to use such informal networking opportunities to emphasise what our core positions are because this is the international year of small island developing states and we have one year to try and get the legally binding agreement in Paris,” said Minister Adam.

“We have to emphasise on those things that matter to us, we have to be the voice of the voiceless and we also have to support each other. In terms of climate change there are among Sids those which are more vulnerable and as islands we have to stand together to say we can make a difference against climate change.

“We as islands will do everything that we can and we are sending a strong message for our vulnerabilities to be recognised and for the issues of adaptation and mitigation to be addressed,” Minister Adam noted.

The chairperson of the Aosis, Charmaine Scotty who is also the Minister for Education and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change of the Republic of Nauru, took the opportunity to thank the government of Seychelles for the warm welcome and for hosting such an important meeting.

A fashion show by school children brought some entertainment and colour to the evening.
Realising the important role of young islanders in helping to promote the international year of Small Island Developing States (Sids) and ultimately safeguard their survival for the future, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Education organised various activities and competitions to further educate schoolchildren and the public on Sids.

There were Sids exhibition, letter-writing, food competition, song competition, costumes from different Sids in the Carnaval de Victoria.
Earlier in the year each school in the country chose a small island state for which it became ambassador for the year, something students and teachers have done with pride through a lot of research and promotion.

At the end of the year the schools which have promoted their small state the most will be receiving the Sids School Award.

Tuesday’s fashion show was the schoolchildren’s costume competition, showcasing traditional costumes of some small island countries but not all from Sids.

The delegates enjoyed the event and congratulated the pupils on their initiative in researching and coming up with those spectacular and colourful costumes.
The evening ended with music by Collective Souls band.