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DEVELOPMENT: Small Island States Swamped

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 16 2004 (IPS) - The tiny Indian Ocean island nation of Maldives, which depends primarily on fishing and tourism for its economic survival, is threatened with extinction because of a projected rise in sea level caused by global warming.

”My country is like a can of tuna fish,” says Maldivian Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel good-humouredly, ”because it comes with an expiry date.”

The United Nations says that climate change and the rising sea level pose ”a major threat to the very existence” of small island developing states (SIDS) – specifically the Maldives, Tuvalu and many other tiny islands in the Pacific, which may vanish from the face of the earth in the next 25 to 30 years.

”More immediately, global warming and climate change have brought an increase in extreme weather events, coral bleaching, coastal erosion, the disruption of agricultural activity and vector-borne diseases and reduced resilience of land and marine eco-systems,” warns U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a 34-page report released this week.

A three-day meeting on SIDS, which concluded Friday, highlighted the inherent problems and vulnerabilities of small island states, including natural disasters, fragile eco-systems, fluctuating tourism revenues, dependency on a few primary commodities and rising seas.

The meeting was also a preparatory forum for an upcoming U.N. conference on SIDS, scheduled for Mauritius Aug. 30-Sep. 3.

The gathering will probe the ”serious shortfalls” in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (Bpoa) adopted at the 1994 Global Conference for the Sustainable Development of SIDS.

Those shortfalls include a sharp decline in official development assistance (ODA) to SIDS, U.N. Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Karim Chowdhury told IPS.

”The main questions before us today are: how can the international meeting in Mauritius make a positive difference in promoting the welfare and well-being of the women, men and children in the SIDS?” said Chowdhury, who has been designated secretary-general of the Mauritius event.

"How," he asked, "can the SIDS gain the support, genuine commitment and political will of all partners to make substantive headway in implementing the Bpoa?"

Chowdhury admits that one of the biggest problems facing many SIDS is their small size and miniscule populations. ”When we factor in remoteness, the viability of many critical projects become questionable. And this situation discourages external involvement and financing,” he pointed out.

One way to address this handicap, he argued, would be to establish regional programmes with national components. Another strategy would be to ensure that commitments made at the conference are honoured.

”I am of the opinion that the Mauritius meeting should advocate a more dynamic monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the meeting’s outcome,” Chowdhury said.

”I believe that a pro-active – and exhortative – monitoring system, especially at all levels, is a must if we want results,” he added.

At a meeting in the Bahamas last January, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said their specific concerns have not yet been addressed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

”We will be further marginalized unless specific provisions are made for SIDS in the multilateral trading system,” AOSIS argued.

Trade liberalisation, accompanied by erosion of trade preferences, is having severe consequences on the already fragile economies and social stability, health and education of SIDS, and will further deplete government revenue, the group warned.

Preferential arrangements for commodities such as sugar, bananas, coffee and coconut, have been dismantled under agreed rules of the WTO.

But some small island states depended heavily on the export of these products for their national revenues. In the Caribbean state of St Lucia, for example, export revenues from bananas declined from 46.5 million dollars in 1996 to 21.7 million dollars in 2002 after preferences were dropped.

The AOSIS also said that developed countries must honour their commitments to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national product (GNP) to ODA.

Current ODA averages about 55 billion dollars annually. But both the United Nations and the World Bank have said that an additional 40 billion to 60 billion dollars are needed every year to meet the development goals of all developing nations, including SIDS.

A ”substantial increase in ODA and other resources” is required for SIDS to achieve the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, AOSIS said.

AOSIS Chairman Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius told delegates that as the struggle to implement the Bpoa continues, it is important to also recognise changing external and internal circumstances.

These, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic and new security concerns, are creating even greater challenges for SIDS, he added.

For instance, the Caribbean has been designated as second only to sub-Saharan Africa among the regions hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, with a 2.3 percent adult HIV prevalence rate.

In Haiti, a small island Caribbean nation, some 30,000 lives are lost to AIDS every year, with 200,000 children orphaned to date as a result.

”The AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean has shifted to younger populations, especially female,” Annan said recently. ”Small island developing states must address the issue of HIV/AIDS, which is increasingly prevalent in many countries,” he warned.

The disease is also spreading in Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Fiji.