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Inter-Regional Preparatory Meeting
for the 10-Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA)
Nassau,
Bahamas | 26-30 January 2004
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Highlights
from Friday, 30 January
On
Friday, 30 January, delegates met in Plenary to adopt the Nassau Declaration and
the AOSIS Draft Strategy Paper, which will be forwarded for consideration by the
G-77/China in advance of the International Preparatory Meeting to
be held at CSD-12 in New York in April. The Meeting was officially closed at
2:20 pm. Photo:
Anwarul Chowdhury, Secretary-General of hte International Meeting, during
a Press Conference | |
Manuel
Dengo, Executive Secretary of the Mauritius UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, Marcus Bethel, Chair of the Meeting and Minister of Health and the Environment,
Bahamas, Jagdish Koonjul, Chairman of AOSIS (Mauritius), and Anwarul Chowdhury,
Secretary-General of the Mauritius International Meeting, | |
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Statements
from Youth and Civil Society
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Youth Representatives Genea
Noel (right) and Akiero
Lloyd (center); Plenary heard reports from the Youth Focus of Bahamas Forum
2004 held from 28-29 January, and the outcomes of the civil society consultations
held throughout the week. They presented the declaration of their meeting, which
highlights the role of youth in sustainable development, and emphasizes the need
for measures to address, inter alia, education, ecotourism, environmental
education, healthcare services, waste management, and the protection and promotion
of culture and cultural industries. |
Gordon
Bispham, Chairman, Caribbean Policy Development Centre presented
the outcomes of the civil society discussions. He highlighted the need to facilitate
the maximum participation of civil society at the International Meeting, in particular
women, youth, farmers and indigenous peoples. Regarding the draft Political Declaration
and Strategy, he called for increased recognition in the documents of sustainable
agriculture, donor coordination, civil society partnerships, regional coordination
mechanisms, and monitoring and evaluation. He welcomed references to gender assessments
and the development of sustainable development indicators, and informed the meeting
of the launching of the civil society sustainability fund. | | |
Manuel
Dengo, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Marcus Bethel, Chair of the
Meeting, and Minister of Health and the Environment, Bahamas, Anwarul Chowdhury,
Secretary-General of the International Meeting, and Jagdish Koonjul, Chairman
of AOSIS (Mauritius) |
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Political
Declaration and AOSIS Strategy Document
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Delegates
from Cuba and Samoa intervene during the discussion of the AOSIS Strategy document
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John
Harding, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (left) and
Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
(right) | | |
Members
of civil society propose amendments to text on the Strategy document | |
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Ricardo
Sanchez Sosa, Director, UNEP, Regional Office, Latin America and the Caribbean,
and Harry Phillipeaux, Environmental Health Advisor, World Health Organization
(right) |
Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada, Caribbean Network for
Integrated Rural Development (CNIRD) with Duncan Currie, Greenpeace International
(left) and Nadia El Hage Scialabba, Senior Officer, Environment and Sustainable
Development, FAO, and Sharon Brennen-Haylock, Senior Liaison Officer to the UN,
FAO (right) |
Following
the adoption of the Nassau Political Declaration and the AOSIS Strategy, several
observer States made interventions. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the EU
(right) and US said they were not in position to comment on the meeting's documents,
but welcomed the opportunity to participate in the meeting as observers. They
stressed their commitment to the further negotiations on the outcome document
during the three-day preparatory meeting in New York, and expressed support for
the successful outcomes of the International Meeting. | |
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Secretary-General
of the International Meeting, Anwarul Chowdhury, expressed his hope that the
outcome of the inter-regional meeting would contribute to carrying forward the
hopes and aspirations of SIDS to Mauritius and beyond, and bring a change in the
lives of people living in SIDS. He also noted the opportunity for the International
Meeting to become a landmark in the development efforts of SIDS, and said the
UN stands by the side of SIDS as a true partner in their sustainable development
efforts. | |
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Chair Marcus Bethel (left) said AOSIS member States had made significant progress
during the meeting to capture the inter-regional commitment of SIDS for sustainable
development and observed the common sense of unity and purpose among AOSIS member
States.
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Relevant
Links:
The
Barbados Plan of Action
The
SIDS+5 report
The
Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of the 1994 Barbados meeting
The
ENB summary of the SIDS+5 meeting
The
2002 GA resolution calling for the 10-year review
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List
of SIDS
Pacific
Regional Meeting, Samoa, 4-8 August 2003
Atlantic,
Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and the South China Sea (AIMS) Regional Meeting,
Cape Verde, 1-5 September, 2003
Caribbean
Regional Meeting, Trinidad, 6-10 October 2003
Expert
meetings |
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