Welcome to the United Nations
The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity (ABAS) charts the programme of action for SIDS for the next decade. It defines concrete actions across 10 thematic areas: economic resilience; climate action and support, including finance; biodiversity action; ocean conservation; disaster risk reduction; safe and healthy societies; data; science and digitalization; productive populations; and partnerships. The challenge which now lies ahead, is its implementation. For this, the international community must put in place the right partnerships to implement ABAS and mobilize the necessary means of implementation to ensure that tangible results are achieved.
The UN system must be ready to actualize this new SIDS Programme of Action, including with the necessary working modalities, tools, expertise and resources to better support national priorities, while also delivering in a coherent and coordinated manner.
This session will explore how selected UN development system entities propose to deliver enhanced support in key thematic areas, for coherent implementation of ABAS.
Proposed guiding questions:
- How can the UN Development System and other relevant actors best support implementation of the ABAS?
- How will the UNDS entities with no physical presence contribute to the work of UN country teams in support of ABAS implementation?
- How can the UNDS leverage support to Member States in achieving sustainable financing for development aligned with their national priorities to drive ABAS implementation?
- How can collaboration between International Financial Institutions, the UNDS, and Member States, respectively, be improved to scale-up investments for national sustainable development priorities? What more can each actor do in their respective capacities?
Chair:
- H.E. Mr. Ivan Simonović, Vice President of ECOSOC (Croatia)
Keynote/Presentation:
- H.E. Mr. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
- H.E. Ms. Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa
- Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Secretary-General of SIDS4 (Present messages from SIDS4)
Interactive panel discussion
Moderator:
- H.E. Mr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations
Panellists:
- Ms. Rabab Fatima, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), and Special Adviser for SIDS4
- Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
- Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Lead Discussants:
- Ms. Dima Al-Khatib, Director, of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation
- Nandini Tanya Lallmon, African Queer Youth Initiative, Mauritius (MGoS)
Interventions by ministers and other participants (up to 2-3 minutes each)
