1 September 2014: Celebrating the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sailed aboard the traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa with islands leaders, in Apia Harbor, Samoa, on 1 September 2014, the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) announced.

The Hōkūle‘a, a canoe of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS), made landfall in Samoa earlier in the day, welcomed by the Head of State of Samoa as the Patron of the Aiga Folau o Samoa (Samoan Voyaging Society) during a traditional ceremony including island leaders and dancers and performers from the Apia community.

The canoe has been sailing on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage since May 2014, beginning in Hawai’i, to promote preservation and protection of oceans. The crew used only the tools available to Polynesian ancestors – waves, wind and stars – to navigate to Samoa for the SIDS Conference, via French Polynesia, Cook Islands and American Samoa. After the Conference, the voyage will continue through June 2017. The Worldwide Voyage is sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines.

Ban Ki-moon compared the planet Earth to a small boat in the universe. President of Palau and GLISPA co-chair, Tommy Remengesau Jr., joined Ban on the Hōkūle‘a at the end of the sail, suggesting that “the crossing of this very ocean by our ancestors centuries ago is an appropriate metaphor for the complex issues” that SIDS continue to face.

PVS’ engagement in the SIDS Conference is supported by GLISPA, UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), Samoa Voyaging Society, State of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Green Growth, Tuputupu-A’e Education Trust, Conservation International, Sylvia Earle Alliance and Mission Blue. [GLISPA Website] [PVS Press Release] [UN Press Release] [IISD RS Sources]