Caribbean revisits Small Island Development
This morning opening ceremonies were held in Belize City to launch a regional multi-disciplinary workshop for the ten year review of the Barbados Programme of Action. It was there in 1994 that the UN conference on the Development of Small Island Developing States was held. Over the next three days, delegates from countries all over the Caribbean, including officials from CARICOM, will meet to discuss a sustainable development strategy for the region and formulate an agenda for CARICOM’s participation in the International Meeting on the Review of the Barbados Programme of Action, scheduled to be held on the island of Mauritius in early 2005. According to Belize’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Stuart Leslie, Belize’s involvement in such organised regional efforts is crucial to our own national interest.
Stuart Leslie, Belize?s Ambassador to United Nations
?For us, the Caribbean and the fact that we are lots of islands and vulnerable to the coastline, we joined the Association of Small Island States. It is the Association of Small Island States that came up with this doctrine called, ?The Barbados Plan of Action?. Ten years since 1994, we are now reviewing and saying what have we accomplished over the past ten years.?
?And we?ve accomplished quite a bit, especially from what we were supposed to do as developing states. We are asking the international community, those more developing countries, did you do your part? And we?re finding out that in many instances, we did what we were asked to do and they fell short in some cases. And so we are looking at that. But are also new challenges that have come up for example the HIV/AIDS. That?s a new impediment to growth and development. Have we done more to reduce poverty? Have we done more to deal with the issue of education? Have we done more to take care of our environment; climate change and sea level rise is very important, which is why we are so happy that the climate change centre was brought to Belize and this is a programme for all of the Caribbean. This is very critical because we are going to be able through the climate change–to look at our vulnerabilities especially with respect to things like hurricanes, storms, forest fires. All these things have a tremendous effect on your growth and your development. So this is what we are doing now. This meeting is about the Caribbean getting together and saying this is the package that we will take to the international community. These are the programmes that we have and this is how much it?s going to cost, now it?s time to deliver.?
This week’s meeting in Belize comes as a result of an offer by Prime Minister Said Musa, as lead head of government with responsibility for sustainable development, at the CARICOM summit in Grenada this past July.
