The SIDS4 Conference, which will be hosted next year in Antigua and Barbuda, is beginning to take shape and its outcome will likely have far-reaching results for the future of the many island nations who will be represented at the ground-breaking event.
The stage is being set well ahead of the meeting scheduled for May 27 – 30 next year for lasting policies and enduring positions that will precipitate the shift in fortunes that Small Island Developing States have been seeking for decades.
In this connection, as host country, the Antigua and Barbuda Permanent Mission to the United Nations has maintained a constant presence at various meetings where it can field questions and share information about next year’s meeting.
At one such recent meeting convened by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Walton Webson joined fruitful discussions on important matters on the SIDS agenda and enlightened participants about preparations for SIDS4.
The meeting discussed pertinent issues related to the data and financing gap being faced by SIDS and the work being undertaken by The PVBLIC Foundation and the Family Offices for Sustainable Development across the UN system on data and technology.
In attendance were the Current Chair of AOSIS Ambassador Fatumanava Pa’olelei Luteru, Executive Director of the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS), Under Secretary General Jorge Moreira da Silva, Senior Advisor to SIDS Simona Marinescu and joining remotely was the Board Chairman of The PVBLIC Foundation Sergio Fernandez de Cordova.
The dialogue on data and technology was of intrinsic value to Ambassador Webson. Antigua and Barbuda will be using next year’s conference to launch a Centre of Excellence where a Data Hub will be housed.
It will help island nations overcome their challenges in readily sourcing and providing the information international institutions require in granting developmental and concessional financing.
The concept has won the approval of AOSIS Ambassadors and will be hosted in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda and partners will support its development and operation.
The centre will build capacity, monitor, and track the SIDS next ten-year plan, and be the hub for innovation and technology in the SIDS regions.
The theme of next year’s conference is ‘SIDS4 – Charting the Course towards Resilient Prosperity’ a rallying call to action for island nations to once and for all address their unique challenges, in particular those related to climate change and burdensome debt.
