By Robert A. Emmanuel
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Audrey Webson said the country does not want to hold simply a “talk-shop” but to ensure that actionable results arise from the 2024 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference.
The conference, expected to be convened at the American University of Antigua (AUA), will be held under the theme “Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity”.
According to Ambassador Aubrey Webson, the conference’s agenda will be “transformative” with topics addressing public health and youth and ocean sustainability.
“This agenda will address the questions of climate, climate being for Small Island Developing States our most pressing issue … then we will address the issues of debt and finance because many small islands, particularly in the Caribbean and some in the Pacific, have major debt,” the diplomat stated.
He highlighted the work collaborating with various organisations to address the issue of debt and the growing debt crises occurring in small island states.
Data will also be a major part of the programme for next year with the Ambassador, noting the dearth of quality data collection among SIDS.
“We want to build the capacity of small island developing states, over the next 10 years, on data because data is so critical in governance, policy development, etc,” he added.
The conference is expected to be held from May 27 to 30 and will see thousands of participants, government officials, policymakers and volunteers attending, with numerous hotels in the northern side of the island to be booked.
However, Ambassador Webson noted that the technical work has been ongoing in preparation for the next with numerous regional and inter-regional meetings and workshops held since Antigua was announced as the host.
Some of the pre-conference meetings to be held will be the UN Women conference, expected to be held just prior to the start of the SIDS conference and the youth conference, in conjunction with the Ashley-Lashley Foundation, UNICEF and UNESCO.
“The youths will develop a plan of action and at the main conference, both the youth and the women at an event we are calling the ‘Declaration Event’, all of them would provide the conference participants with a declaration of action that they would like to address over next ten years,” he revealed.
The UN and other international bodies have acknowledged the unique challenges that these countries face, including for many, a remote geography, high import and export costs for goods, irregular international traffic volumes and an over-reliance on external markets for many goods due to the narrow resource base.
A global data hub for SIDS, housed within a Centre of Excellence, will also be created following next year’s conference, in partnership between the government and the Public Foundation and Family Offices.
