Friday 2 October 2009

THE TSUNAMI

As the effects of the most recent tsunami are still being felt in some Pacific Islands, I thought of sharing here an abridged version of a report that I wrote on the United Nations International Conference to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States (SIDS)*, which took place a few days after the devastating tsunami that hit significant parts of the world at the tip end of 2004 – described by National Geographic as probably the deadliest tsunami in History – exposing the extreme vulnerability of SIDS to this kind of mother nature’s whims.

The Conference, held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 10-14 January 2005, was marked at its opening ceremony by a one minute’s silence in memory of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims. It was attended by 18 Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers, some 60 Ministers, around 2000 Delegates, Civil Society Representatives and Journalists from 114 countries, and 15 UN or Multilateral Agencies. The Conference’s proceedings were structured in plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables, contact groups, informal consultations, side events, parallel partnership activities and a high-level segment around the following themes:

Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol

Environmental Vulnerabilities and Resilience-building

Addressing Emerging Trends and Social Challenges

Role of Culture in Sustainable Development

Special Challenges in Trade and Economic Development

Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the BPoA

Mobilizing Resources for Implementation of the Programme of Action

Building Capacity in SIDS


Final Outcomes and Lessons Learned


 Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol**

 Preventive Measures to Strengthen Early-Warning Systems

 Special and Differential Treatment and Graduation from LDC Status

 Renewable Energy

 ICT

 Transport

 Fisheries

 HIV/AIDS and Malaria

 Monitoring & Implementation


"We are all inhabitants of the global island. All of us, rich and poor, weak and strong, whether citizens of great power or tiny atoll, are linked in webs of opportunity and vulnerability. We should have known this already, but it has taken a tsunami to press the point home. The question now is whether we will act over the long term, not just in small islands but everywhere, in the same spirit of unity that characterises the current moment."
Kofi Annan

[REPORT HERE]


* SIDS are small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges. At present, forty-three small island developing states and territories (there are 51 SIDS in total) are included in the list used by the UN in monitoring the progress of implementation of the BPoA. These states and territories often work together through the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). SIDS in Africa comprise Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and Seychelles

**The Kyoto Protocol finally entered into force one month after the Mauritius Conference, on 16/02/2005

As the effects of the most recent tsunami are still being felt in some Pacific Islands, I thought of sharing here an abridged version of a report that I wrote on the United Nations International Conference to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States (SIDS)*, which took place a few days after the devastating tsunami that hit significant parts of the world at the tip end of 2004 – described by National Geographic as probably the deadliest tsunami in History – exposing the extreme vulnerability of SIDS to this kind of mother nature’s whims.

The Conference, held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 10-14 January 2005, was marked at its opening ceremony by a one minute’s silence in memory of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims. It was attended by 18 Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers, some 60 Ministers, around 2000 Delegates, Civil Society Representatives and Journalists from 114 countries, and 15 UN or Multilateral Agencies. The Conference’s proceedings were structured in plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables, contact groups, informal consultations, side events, parallel partnership activities and a high-level segment around the following themes:

Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol

Environmental Vulnerabilities and Resilience-building

Addressing Emerging Trends and Social Challenges

Role of Culture in Sustainable Development

Special Challenges in Trade and Economic Development

Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the BPoA

Mobilizing Resources for Implementation of the Programme of Action

Building Capacity in SIDS


Final Outcomes and Lessons Learned


 Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol**

 Preventive Measures to Strengthen Early-Warning Systems

 Special and Differential Treatment and Graduation from LDC Status

 Renewable Energy

 ICT

 Transport

 Fisheries

 HIV/AIDS and Malaria

 Monitoring & Implementation


"We are all inhabitants of the global island. All of us, rich and poor, weak and strong, whether citizens of great power or tiny atoll, are linked in webs of opportunity and vulnerability. We should have known this already, but it has taken a tsunami to press the point home. The question now is whether we will act over the long term, not just in small islands but everywhere, in the same spirit of unity that characterises the current moment."
Kofi Annan

[REPORT HERE]


* SIDS are small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges. At present, forty-three small island developing states and territories (there are 51 SIDS in total) are included in the list used by the UN in monitoring the progress of implementation of the BPoA. These states and territories often work together through the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). SIDS in Africa comprise Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and Seychelles

**The Kyoto Protocol finally entered into force one month after the Mauritius Conference, on 16/02/2005

1 comment:

Koluki said...

Algumas notas de rodape’ a esta Conferencia:

i. Durante um almoco com o DG da FAO, o senegales Jacques Diouf (by the way, um dos dois ou tres simpaticos cavalheiros de quem ouvi cumprimentos a “minha elegancia” nos ultimos anos ;-), este afirmava de forma peremptoria nao querer receber nem mais um (!) donativo, material ou financeiro, para as vitimas do tsunami. Segundo ele, a FAO ja’ nao tinha capacidade para absorver ou gerir o imprecedente volume de ofertas de ajuda (aparentemente o maior que a organizacao alguma vez recebera na sua historia) durante o curto periodo de apenas duas semanas, para uma catastrofe natural. Confesso que foi a primeira vez que ouvi de um dirigente de uma agencia humanitaria internacional este tipo de desabafo, atendendo a frequencia com que tais organizacoes, e em particular a FAO/PAM, se queixam publicamente de escassez de recursos para atender as varias catastrofes humanitarias um pouco por todo o mundo e especialmente em Africa... mais c’est ca la vie au global village!

ii. Uma “catastrofe humanitaria” de cariz muito particular e’ o que se pode chamar a total 'despopulacao' forcada, desde 1971, da Ilha de Diego Garcia – parte do Arquipelago de Chagos, ao largo das Mauricias – pelos britanicos, para dar lugar a instalacao da base militar Anglo-Americana por que a ilha e’ mais conhecida. Os deportados teem desde entao levado a cabo uma luta pelo seu direito a regressarem a sua ilha de origem e, naturalmente, aproveitaram a oportunidade desta conferencia para se tentarem fazer ouvir. Acontece que devido a sensibilidade politica do caso, a sua e’ uma historia com muito pouco impacto mediatico e, apesar de durante os dias em que decorreu este evento se terem ouvido alguns ecos das suas manifestacoes publicas (mantidas, note-se, bem ao largo das imediacoes dos locais onde decorria a conferencia pelo governo das Mauricias…), eles nao conseguiram, infelizmente, ter qualquer impacto na sua agenda de trabalhos.
Mas os Chagosians, como sao referidos na imprensa anglofona, teem concentrado a sua luta ao longo das ultimas quatro decadas junto das cortes Britanicas – onde, apos terem ganho o seu caso pelo direito ao retorno junto do Tribunal de Apelacao em 2007, acabaram por ve-lo de novo repelido pela Camara dos Lordes em 2008. A sua ultima esperanca, pelo menos do ponto de vista judicial, reside no Tribunal Europeu para os Direitos Humanos, para onde encaminharam agora o caso.
Para eles a minha solidariedade e votos de vitoria nesta longa e dificil luta mais do que justa! [Mais detalhes deste caso e da historia de Diego Garcia – por sinal, “descoberta” pelos portugueses em 1512 – podem ser encontrados aqui: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia]

iii. Numa nota mais leve, a lembranca daquele que foi para mim o momento mais alto de toda a conferencia: a encerrar os trabalhos do painel sobre as questoes culturais, um delegado da Jamaica fez um empolgante discurso sobre o papel da cultura no processo de desenvolvimento, o qual se nao tinha vencido a audiencia (composta de centenas de participantes, incluindo altos dignitarios) pela sua eloquencia, convenceu-a fazendo-a cantar em unissono a Redemption Song do Bob Marley (que creio ainda se pode ouvir neste post: http://koluki.blogspot.com/2007/07/sunday-dreads.html)... Nao sei se ha’ memoria de algo parecido em qualquer evento desta natureza! Quem foi que disse que as conferencias internacionais sao all arid, stuffy and boring?!
But, again, this was Mauricius and... Mauricius is Delicious!