PM Douglas calls on international community help for SIDS
Basseterre, St. Kitts (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has called on the international community to recognise the special circumstances of SIDs and to build stronger partnerships to fight non communicable diseases (NCDs) and HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region, and fight climate change by building resilience to economic and environmental shocks.
He was at the time addressing the Third International conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which is being held in Apia, Independent State of Samoa.
Prime Minister Douglas has also used the conference to engage in a number of bilateral discussions with the governments of New Zealand, Bangladesh, Portugal, Thailand, the EU and agencies such as the UNDP, FAO, IMF and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Topics ranged from renewable energy, disaster preparedness and mitigation, renewable energy, agriculture diversification to education and health care.
Other members to the September 1st to 4th meeting are Ms` Beverly Harris, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development; His Excellency Delano Bart, Permanent Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations and Mr. Samuel Berridge, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations`
The international conference which follows two previous sittings in Barbados in 1994 and Mauritius in 2005, seeks to focus the attention of the international community on the peculiar circumstances of SIDs, and the need for appropriate measures to be put in place to overcome these challenges.
Special emphasis is being placed on strengthening existing partnerships and the building of new effective ones to ensure the sustainable development of SIDs.
The conference outcome document which is referred to the “Samoa Pathway” will focus on partnerships to assist in the implementation of the Barbados Plan of Action and the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation produced at the previous two conferences.