20 January 2016: UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Mogens Lykketoft appointed the Permanent Representative of Italy, Sebastiano Cardi, and the Permanent Representative of the Maldives, Ahmed Sareer, to co-chair a steering committee on partnerships for small island developing States (SIDS). The Committee was called for in a December 2015 UNGA decision to establish the SIDS Partnership Framework (A/RES/70/202).

The Steering Committee is to meet on a regular basis to support the follow-up of existing partnerships and promote and advocate the launching of new partnerships for SIDS’ sustainable development.The Committee will consult on annual SIDS partnership dialogues, and the creation of a standardized partnership reporting process.

The UNGA calls for the Committee to hold its first meeting by February 2016, to discuss its working methods.

The committee on SIDS partnerships is open to all UN Member States. The General Assembly Resolution also calls for the UN Secretariat to organize multi-stakeholder SIDS partnership dialogues annually to review progress. [Letter from UNGA President] [IISD RS Story on SIDS Partnership Framework] [SIDS Partnership Framework]