May 2018: An anticipated timeline has been issued for the preparatory process to review implementation of the Samoa Pathway on small island developing States (SIDS). The SIDS Unit in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Office of the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) released the timeline leading to the mid-term review.

In 2014, governments gathered in Samoa for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS Conference), which resulted in the intergovernmentally agreed outcome document, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway. In 2016, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) decided to hold a high-level review of the progress made in addressing SIDS’ priorities through the implementation of the SAMOA Pathway. The UNGA has also decided to convene regional and interregional preparatory meetings to review progress at national and regional levels.

The review is mandated to convene in September 2019, at UN Headquarters in New York, US, and to result in a concise, action-oriented and intergovernmentally agreed political declaration. The anticipated timeline for the preparatory process indicates that negotiations on the modalities for the review will begin around May 2018.

The regional meetings are expected to take place as follows:

• For the Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS) region: in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 23- 25 May 2018;
• For the Pacific: in Tonga, from 19-21 June 2018; and
• For the Caribbean region: in Belize, from 7-9 August 2018.

The inter-regional meeting is planned for Samoa at the end of October 2018. Each of the four meetings will include, on the sidelines, a “capacity development partnership dialogue.” These events will focus on another outcome of the SIDS Conference, the establishment of the SIDS Partnership Framework, which is designed to monitor progress of existing, and stimulate the launch of new, genuine and durable partnerships for the sustainable development of SIDS. The partnership dialogues are intended to: assess the status of partnerships for each SIDS region; raise stakeholders’ capacity to develop partnerships for SIDS; and strengthen the review and monitoring process of SIDS partnerships.

Also to support the preparatory process for the mid-term review, DESA is preparing a ‘SIDS Partnership Toolbox,’ which will include an in-depth analysis of existing partnerships, identified best practices and gaps in implementation, and a set of tools for monitoring and evaluating SIDS partnerships at national, regional and global level. The effort is conducted under the guidance of the Steering Committee on SIDS Partnerships, currently chaired by Belize and Ireland.

An expert-level meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on 16 May, in New York. [Announcement of timeline] [AIMS meeting concept note and schedule] [Information on Partnership Dialogues] [SAMOA Pathway]