The review has
been mandated by the General Assembly of the UN to be carried out
in light of the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
which recognized that SIDS are a special case both for environment
and development and that, although they continue to make headway towards
sustainable development, are increasingly constrained by the interplay
of adverse factors in the current international environment. The review
will be no small task, considering the complex and arduous negotiations
that took place in Jo'burg.
As internationally recognized, SIDS also include low-lying coastal
countries that share similar sustainable development challenges, including
small population, lack of resources, remoteness, susceptibility to
natural disasters, excessive dependence on international trade and
vulnerability to global developments. In addition, they suffer from
lack of economies of scale, high transportation and communication
costs, and costly public administration and infrastructure. As a counterpart,
the UN has recognized that SIDS are also the custodians of large areas
of the world's oceans and significant biodiversity resources.
This wide definition means that both the insular and the mainland
states of the Greater Caribbean have a stake in the SIDS programme
of action; and that cooperation across the entire regional space is
vital.
SIDS continue to make strenuous efforts to mobilize domestic resources
for sustainable development. Those efforts, however, need to be supplemented
by external resources, which should be provided without any condition,
in order to effectively address their development requirements. Unfortunately,
the trend over the last ten years has been for these resources to
dwindle, as recognised both at WSSD and at the Monterrey Conference
on Financing for Development. Also in this context, the increased
relevance of South-South cooperation in the current international
economic climate cannot be underestimated.
The Outcome of the Johannesburg Summit is of particular relevance
to all the organisations and agencies currently working in the region
of the Greater Caribbean, as it went to great pains to underline the
essential role of regional and sub-regional organisations in strengthening
the three pillars (economic, social, environmental) of sustainable
development. WSSD, in stressing the value of regional cooperation,
also pointed out that measures to strengthen institutional arrangements
on sustainable development, must include increasing effectiveness
and efficiency through limiting overlap and duplication of activities
of international organizations, based on their mandates and comparative
advantages.
Aside from benefiting from the excellent and very comprehensive presentations
made by all the delegations, at least one participant could not help
but be struck by the bewildering complexity, overlap and duplication
of initiatives in the areas of trade, transport, sustainable tourism,
natural disasters, etc. that are currently being undertaken in respect
of SIDS in our region. Given the dearth of international resources
for developing countries, by competing in the same "pool",
regional organisations only ensure that the strongest "swimmers"
win.
A regional mechanism must be sought to address this circumstance.
If, in demanding cooperation from the international community on the
basis of the recognised "common but differentiated responsibilities"
for sustainable development between developed and developing nations,
we neutralise the resources through dilution, regional bodies will
once again come under fire in Mauritius.
