10 July 2013: John Ashe, the incoming President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), has outlined six priorities for the 68th session. In a statement to the Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Ashe said UNGA 68 will focus on: the role of women, youth and civil society; human rights and the rule of law; South-South, Triangular cooperation and information and communications technology (ICT) for development; the role of partnerships; ensuring peaceful societies; and water, sanitation and sustainable development.

He said a series of high-level events and thematic debates will further explore these topics. Ashe also expressed his hope that the session will set the stage for the post-2015 development agenda.

With regard to the 2014 SIDS Conference, Ashe pledged his full support for the preparatory processes. He said the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA), the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation (MSI) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) all are insufficient on their own to achieve inclusive sustainable development for SIDS, and that scant attention has been given to the enabling environment and the need for strategies and strong means of implementation. Thus, he called for a Conference outcome that “will be a concise, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented political statement” to address the sustainable development challenges facing SIDS, and one that will lead to significant attention for SIDS countries in both the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the post-2015 development agenda.

The Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting took place from 10-12 July 2013, in Nadi, Fiji. [Meeting documents including statement of John Ashe] [IISD RS Story on John Ashe’s Election as UNGA President] [IISD RS Meeting Coverage of the Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting]