Date: 5–6 December 2011
Description: The expert group meeting is an opportunity for UNCTAD and the Indian Ocean Commission to contribute to enriching the international debate on possible steps and measures, within and outside the UN system, to support the resilience-building efforts of small island developing States (SIDS) more effectively.
Concrete avenues for a possible special treatment of SIDS in the framework of international cooperation will be explored. Vulnerability problems have often been identified and described, but rarely answered in terms of international support on grounds of SIDS status. A set of recommendations is expected to result from the meeting, and will be brought to the attention of the preparatory committee for UNCTAD XIII, toward possible further UNCTAD action to alleviate the vulnerabilities of SIDS. The meeting, which will bring together about 12 presenters and an audience of relevant national, regional and international officials, is organized around four sessions, with a sequencing of issues involving three principal questions: Is vulnerability an obstacle to structural progress for SIDS? Could special international support measures for SIDS make resilience-building efforts more effective? What steps could the UN system be enticed to take to make the SIDS agenda an avenue for addressing vulnerability more effectively?
Co-organized with: UNCTAD and the Indian Ocean Commission
Language(s): English, French
Contact: Mr. Pierre Encontre Chief, Special Programmes Section Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes UNCTAD
E.: pierre.encontre@unctad.org
