UN launches international year of SIDS
The UN has officially launched 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The launch ceremony to take place on Monday 24 February, at UN Headquarters in New York. "The International Year is an opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary resiliency and rich cultural heritage of the people of small island developing States" Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said. “This Year takes place at a time when the vast majority of islands are combating the ravages of climate change, and some, like the Maldives are literally sinking because of it,” the current UN General Assembly President, John Ashe, said during a ceremony that included singing, dancing and story-telling.
The Year – the first time the General Assembly designated an international year for a group of countries – is an opportunity for the international community “to share the many reasons why the global family of nations can and must act to support, protect, preserve and ensure the sustainable development of SIDS,” Mr. Ashe noted referring to the acronym for Small Island Developing States.
The launch coincided with a preparatory meeting for the Third International Conference on SIDS, which will be held in Apia, Samoa in September.
The Conference will take place during the same month that the General Assembly will devote its annual high-level segment to deliberations on the sustainable development agenda beyond 2015, the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
