26 January 2015: The International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) concluded on 26 January 2015. Activities during the Year highlighted the contributions of SIDS to the world and the challenges facing SIDS.
In an ‘Our Perspective’ piece reflecting on the Year, Magdy Martínez-Solimán, UN Development Programme (UNDP), asks what can be done to ensure that the global agreements expected to be signed in 2015 “include and are relevant to SIDS, their size, circumstances and capacities.” He recommends carrying the spirit of collaboration from the Third International Conference on SIDS, which took place in Samoa in September 2014, into the expected agreements on the post-2015 development agenda, climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR).
The Samoa SIDS Conference resulted in the SAMOA Pathway outcome document, and highlighted SIDS’ sustainable development needs and their relationship to global challenges, such as climate change, sustainable, inclusive growth and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Progress has already been made since the meeting, Martínez-Solimán observes. He highlights increased access to funds through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and expected benefits from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), among others, emphasizing that the Year and the Conference “put SIDS on the map again.” In addition, the SIDS Action Platform has been developed to support follow-up efforts.
Marking the closing of the International Year, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a guidance manual on calculating the value of ecosystem services for SIDS.
A panel discussion to commemorate the Year will convene on ‘SIDS issues as global issues: Positioning SIDS in the Post-2015 Development Agenda,’ organized by the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and SIDS (OHRLLS) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). [UNDP Our Perspective] [International Year of SIDS Website] [IISD RS Coverage of Third International Conference on SIDS] [SIDS Action Platform] [IISD RS Story on UNEP Publication] [OHRLLS-DESA Event]