Draft Outcome Document of the High-Level Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

A/RES/64/300View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 53b Follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, published in 2010.

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1 operative paragraph

Decides to refer the annexed draft outcome document to the High-level Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, to be held on 24 and 25 September 2010, for its consideration.

Annex I

Draft outcome document of the High-level Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

We, Heads of State and Government, Ministers and representatives of Member States, gathered at a high-level meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 24 and 25 September 2010 to undertake a five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States²to assess the progress made in addressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy,

²Report of the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Port Louis, Mauritius, 10–14 January 2005 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.05.II.A.4 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.

Recall that the unique and particular vulnerabilities of small island developing States have been acknowledged by the international community since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Barbados in 1994, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002, and the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Mauritius in 2005;

Reaffirm our commitment to support the efforts of small island developing States, in view of their unique and particular vulnerabilities, towards their sustainable development through the further full and effective implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action³ and the Mauritius Strategy,1 including through the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration;⁴

³Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April–6 May 1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and corrigenda), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II).

⁴See resolution 55/2.

Acknowledge that small island developing States have demonstrated their commitment to promoting sustainable development, and will continue to do so, in mainstreaming sustainable development principles into national development strategies, in enhancing political commitments and public awareness of the importance of sustainable development issues, in establishing protected areas, including marine, coastal and terrestrial, through the demonstration of strong leadership in protecting biodiversity, in adopting strategies for promoting renewable energy and in mitigating the negative effects of the global financial and economic crisis on their economies. To this effect, small island developing States have mobilized resources at the national and regional levels despite their limited resource base, and in this regard additional resources should be mobilized to support their efforts;

Note with concern that notwithstanding these efforts, small island developing States continue to face sustainable development challenges. The long-standing cooperation and support provided by the international community has played an important role and should play an even more critical role in helping small island developing States to make progress in addressing their vulnerabilities and in supporting their sustainable development efforts;

Also note with concern that, while small island developing States have progressed in the areas of gender, health, education and the environment, their overall progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals has been uneven. Small island developing States have made less progress than most other groupings, or even regressed, in economic terms, especially in terms of poverty reduction and debt sustainability. Small island developing States have not achieved sustained high levels of economic growth owing in part to the ongoing negative impacts of the financial and economic crisis. The small size, remoteness, narrow resource and export base, and exposure to global environmental challenges of most small island developing States have worked against efforts towards sustainable development;

Acknowledge that climate change and sea-level rise continue to pose a significant risk to small island developing States and their efforts to achieve sustainable development and, for some, represent the gravest of threats to their survival and viability;

Recall resolution 63/281 of 3 June 2009, and in this context emphasize the need to consider and address the issue of climate change, including its possible security implications for small island developing States;

Maintain that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change⁵ is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change. We also call upon States to take urgent global action to address climate change in accordance with the principles identified in the Convention, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities;

⁵United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1771, No. 30822.

Call upon the international community to continue to enhance its support for the development and implementation of small island developing States national climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and programmes, as well as to facilitate regional and interregional cooperation, in view of the urgent need to build the resilience of small island developing States to the adverse impacts of climate change;

Also call upon the international community to enhance support for the efforts of small island developing States to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, including through the provision of dedicated sources of financing, capacity-building and the transfer of appropriate technologies to address climate change;

Recognize that small island developing States continue to grapple with the effects of natural disasters, some with increased intensity, including those due to climate change, which impede progress towards sustainable development;

Also recognize the need to enhance and establish, if necessary, means and tools at the international level aimed at implementing a preventive approach for natural disasters in small island developing States, reducing risks and properly integrating risk management into development policies and programmes, including through the further implementation of the internationally agreed framework for disaster risk reduction, the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015.⁶ We call upon the international community to continue to support small island developing States in enhancing their efforts to strengthen regional and national efforts in disaster risk reduction, management and coordination, including creating or strengthening insurance mechanisms, where appropriate, for natural and environmental disasters in small island developing States;

⁶Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (A/CONF.206/6 and Corr.1, chap. I, resolution 2).

Reiterate that energy dependence is a major source of economic vulnerability for many small island developing States. While those States are particularly suited to renewable energy options and in spite of the fact that many are endowed with extensive renewable energy resources, these remain underdeveloped. We also reiterate the need to support small island developing States in their efforts to develop and utilize new and renewable energy as well as foster energy efficiency and conservation, inter alia, through financing from all sources, technical assistance and capacity-building aimed at developing a sustainable energy sector, to be the foundation of the development sector of small island developing States. We underscore the importance of facilitating access by small island developing States to finance, including access to investment funds for renewable energy, and are ready to assist them to this effect. In this regard, we welcome regional mechanisms and initiatives for energy cooperation and integration to build and develop energy infrastructure, direct supplies and social projects in order to achieve their energy sustainability;

Recognize the importance of North-South cooperation, complemented by South-South cooperation, cooperation among small island developing States and triangular cooperation, in order to promote programmes for those States for the effective implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy;

Also recognize that small island developing States continue to be heavily dependent on their coastal and marine resources, and that their development challenges include limited access to financing, technologies and equipment, global overfishing and destructive fishing practices, and barriers to increased participation in fisheries and related activities;

Reiterate the need for improved conservation of coastal and marine resources and integrated coastal management. We urge the international community to continue and enhance its support for small island developing States to strengthen their implementation of integrated coastal zone management strategies and their scientific research capacity;

Emphasize that small island developing States and the relevant regional and international development partners should work together to develop and implement regional initiatives to promote conservation and the sustainable management of coastal and marine resources;

Reiterate the need for the adoption and implementation of effective measures at the international, regional and national levels that provide for the long-term sustainable use of fisheries resources, given their vital importance to the sustainable development of small island developing States. In this regard, we agree:

To reaffirm the commitment to urgently reduce the capacity of the world’s fishing fleets to levels commensurate with the sustainability of fish stocks;

To promote the full participation of small island developing States in regional fisheries management organizations;

To assist small island developing States in developing their fisheries sector, including through building the capacity of those States, so as to facilitate a greater level of participation in high seas fisheries, including for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, to enable them to receive greater benefits from sustainable fisheries for such stocks, to develop their own fisheries, and to improve their market access;

To further strengthen, through international support, the capacities of small island developing States to carry out monitoring and implement enforcement measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and overfishing;

To urge the mainstreaming of efforts to assist small island developing States with other relevant international development strategies, with a view to enhancing international coordination so as to enable them to develop their national capacity to exploit fishery resources, consistent with the duty to ensure the conservation and management of those fisheries resources;

Call upon the international community to continue enhancing the efforts of small island developing States to foster agricultural production, productivity and sustainability and to prioritize food security. This should be achieved through diversification and value-added activities, research and development, improved land use, sustainable forest management, access to and the appropriate use of modern technology and access to markets, as well as the empowerment of small-scale farmers, including women, indigenous peoples and rural communities;

Recall that for most small island developing States, tourism is an important contributor to employment, foreign exchange and economic growth, and that the Mauritius Strategy recognizes the need for sustainable tourism. Climate change, along with other sources of environmental degradation, can have an adverse impact on the sustainability of the tourism industry in small island developing States. We therefore call upon the World Tourism Organization, the relevant United Nations agencies and other relevant stakeholders to support the development and implementation by small island developing States of measures to promote sustainable tourism in such States;

Call upon the international community to further assist small island developing States in the development of appropriate systems for recycling, waste minimization and treatment, reuse and management, and mechanisms to protect the oceans and coastal areas from waste and toxic materials, including through the creation and strengthening of systems and networks for the dissemination of information on appropriate environmentally sound technologies, recycling and disposal technologies;

Note with concern that water quality and availability constitute serious constraints in small island developing States, and, although some small island developing States are implementing measures such as demand-side management, wastewater treatment, enhancing water-use efficiency and increasing public awareness, such efforts are hampered by financial and capacity constraints, and request the international community to provide assistance to small island developing States for capacity-building for the development and further implementation of freshwater and sanitation programmes;

Call upon the international community to assist the efforts of small island developing States to strengthen national disaggregated data and information systems as well as analytical capabilities for decision-making, tracking progress and development of vulnerability-resilience country profiles; the efforts of small island developing States in developing databases and in institutionalizing national indicators for monitoring and evaluating sustainable development should also be supported and utilized by United Nations agencies where available;

Reiterate the importance of facilitating the exchange of knowledge, success stories, experiences and information among small island developing States;

Recognize that the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity⁷ are vital and indispensable elements to achieving the sustainable development of small island developing States, and encourage small island developing States, with the necessary support of the international community, to make further efforts to incorporate biodiversity protection into their national development strategies; we call upon the international community to increase assistance to small island developing States to strengthen biodiversity protection and address the current and emerging threats posed by invasive alien species. We look forward to a successful outcome of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, to be held in Nagoya, Japan;

⁷United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619.

Also recognize the need to address the specific trade- and development-related needs and concerns of small island developing States so as to enable them to fully integrate into the multilateral trading system in accordance with the Doha mandate on small economies,⁸ and agree to facilitate the accession of small island developing States to the World Trade Organization, where appropriate, through enhanced technical assistance;

⁸World Trade Organization, document WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, para. 35. Available from http://docsonline.wto.org.

Urge development partners, in view of the current global economic situation, to further pay due attention to the unique and particular vulnerabilities of small island developing States in the context of their trade and partnership agreements and trade preference programmes, in accordance with World Trade Organization rules and provisions, to help economic recovery in those States;

Reiterate the importance of aid for trade as a means of delivering coordinated, effective and targeted trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building programmes, as established in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration of 2005,⁹ and in this context call for assistance to be provided, where appropriate, to address the special constraints of small island developing States with respect to building their supply-side capacities and their competitiveness, as part of their national development strategies;

⁹World Trade Organization, document WT/MIN(05)/DEC. Available from http://docsonline.wto.org.

Acknowledge that the specific circumstances of each small island developing State should be taken into account in addressing long-term debt sustainability and that better access to international capital markets needs to be ensured for small island developing States;

Urge the international financial institutions to continue to take into account the specific circumstances, situations and vulnerabilities of each small island developing State to enable them to have adequate access to financial resources, including concessionary financing for investment in sustainable development;

Reiterate the importance for development partners of implementing concrete measures in support of the transition strategy for small island developing States that have recently graduated or are about to graduate from least developed country status so as to ensure the sustainability of the progress made, and recognize the importance of the review of the criteria used in determining graduation from least developed country status within the relevant United Nations mandates;

Request the Secretary-General to include a chapter in his report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session on the follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy on the collection, analysis and dissemination of data on the sustainable development of those States, and to make recommendations on how to address the challenges relating to these issues;

Also request the Secretary-General, since the present review has highlighted some shortcomings in the institutional support for small island developing States as well as other constraints to the full and effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy and the Barbados Programme of Action, to submit a report that puts forward concrete recommendations to enhance the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy and refocus efforts towards a results-oriented approach and to consider what improved and additional measures might be needed to more effectively address the unique and particular vulnerabilities and development needs of small island developing States. The report should be prepared in consultation with Member States as well as the relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and regional commissions, taking into account the work done by the United Nations system and submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. Within the scope of that report, we further request the Secretary-General to conduct a comprehensive review and examine ways to enhance the coherence and coordination of the United Nations system’s support for small island developing States and to put forward concrete recommendations to Member States in this regard. This should include reviewing the work and respective mandates of all relevant United Nations entities within their areas of expertise as they relate to the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy, including with regard to paragraphs 101 and 102 of the Strategy;

Renew our resolve to fulfil our commitments to further implement the Mauritius Strategy, and underscore the urgency of finding additional solutions to the major challenges facing small island developing States in a concerted manner. We recognize that the way forward for sustainable development requires that coordinated, balanced and integrated actions be taken at all levels, including through the strengthening of collaborative partnerships between small island developing States and the international community, with the aim of building the resilience of small island developing States in overcoming their unique and particular vulnerabilities and in reflecting their respective national priorities and needs.

Draft Outcome Document of the High-Level Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

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