27 February 2017: The Steering Committee on Partnerships for small island developing States (SIDS) held its first meeting of 2017, gathering experts to reflect on the Committee’s work in 2016 and outline future plans. The meeting addressed the holding of a second Global Multi-stakeholder SIDS Partnership Dialogue, which could convene as a special event in the margins of the UN Ocean Conference in June 2017.

The Steering Committee on Partnerships for SIDS is part of the SIDS Partnership Framework, established by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) following the Third International Conference on SIDS, held in Samoa in 2014. The Framework seeks to monitor and ensure the full implementation of pledges and commitments, through partnerships for SIDS, and to encourage new, genuine and durable partnerships for the sustainable development of SIDS. In addition to the Steering Committee, the Partnership Framework includes a partnership reporting template and an annual Global Multi-Stakeholder SIDS Partnership Dialogue.

The Steering Committee met at the expert level on 27 February 2017. Providing an overview of activities that took place under the Committee’s guidance in 2016, Ola Göransson, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), reported on two meetings held at the expert level and two at the ambassadorial level, which addressed the Committee’s working methods, its 2016 work plan, and the partnership reporting template. He also noted that the first annual Global Multi-stakeholder SIDS Partnership Dialogue took place on 22 September 2016 during the 71st session of the UNGA, with a focus on launching new partnerships devoted to SIDS and announcing commitments from existing SIDS partnerships.

The co-chairs of the meeting, Farzana Zahirm, Permanent Mission of Maldives, and Cristiana Mele, Permanent Mission of Italy, together with DESA, suggested holding an ambassadorial-level meeting of the Steering Committee in late April or early May 2017 to identify new partnerships to be presented at the second Partnership Dialogue. They also proposed working on a second edition of the ‘Partnerships for SIDS’ publication. The first edition was published in 2016.

Participants discussed the SIDS Global Business Network (SIDS-GBN), an initiative launched in March 2016 to connect the SIDS private sector, the international business community, and other national and international stakeholders on areas including oceans, connectivity, sustainable agriculture, sustainable tourism, disaster risk reduction (DRR), renewable energy and finance. Damien Sass, UN Office of the High Representative for the least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and SIDS (OHRLLS), said the SIDS-GBN currently focuses on ocean-related SIDS partnerships for the Ocean Conference. He noted its intention to discuss how the private sector can support SIDS in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially at the national and regional levels, during future SIDS-GBN events.

Tishka Francis, Permanent Mission of the Bahamas, provided an overview of the symposium on ‘Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in SIDS: Equipping public institutions and mobilizing partnerships,’ which convened from 21-23 February 2017, in the Bahamas. She said the Government intends post a draft informal communiqué on the symposium website for comments. It then would be presented formally to the UN for further consideration, including in the context of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA).

Among the countries that took the floor, Norway said it is drafting a new SIDS strategy, and New Zealand suggested to link SIDS partnerships to the Global Compact on Migration. The Steering Committee is co-chaired by Sebastiano Cardi, Permanent Representative of Italy, and Ahmed Sareer, Permanent Representative of the Maldives. [SIDS Partnership Framework Website] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Steering Committee Second Meeting] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Symposium ‘Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in SIDS: Equipping Public Institutions and Mobilizing Partnerships’] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on SIDS Global Business Network]