In a Nutshell: Small Island Developing States and the United Nations

The halfway mark for my fellowship is fast approaching, but there is still so much for me to learn and explore. I’ve only just started scratching the surface of Samoan culture and customs, and there is a vast depth of knowledge that I still need to learn about the history, economy, and politics of small island developing states (SIDS).
   
To help with this, I've decided to write another "In a Nutshell" post. This time, I've researched the major international conferences and documents that have defined the position of SIDS within the international arena since they were first recognized as a distinct group of countries in 1992. The list is organized chronologically, with the key document listed first, the related meeting written underneath in italics, followed by the main takeaways and achievements.

Source: www.un.org/en/events/islands2014/

   
Agenda 21 (1992) 
UN Conference on Environment and Development
SIDS were first officially recognized as a distinct group of countries by the 179 nations present at this UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro. Agenda 21, the Conference outcome document, established the key features of SIDS and committed States to “addressing the problems of sustainable development of small island developing states.” (For more on what characterizes SIDS, see my last “In a Nutshell” blogpost.)
   
Barbados Programme of Action (1994)
UN Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
The 1994 SIDS Conference took the broad commitments of the Rio Conference and translated them into specific policies and programs. The Barbados Programme of Action outlined fourteen priority areas for the sustainable development of SIDS (e.g. natural and environmental disasters, national institutions and administrative capacity, science and technology). For each of these priority areas, it identified actions that need to be taken at the national, regional, and international level.

Five-year review of the Barbados Programme of Action (1999)
22nd Special Session of the UN General Assembly
The UN General Assembly held a Special Session to assess progress since the 1994 SIDS Conference. Participants concluded that there had been “uneven” progress and highlighted priority areas for SIDS moving forward:

• improving freshwater resources
• developing renewable energy alternatives to expensive imported oil
• minimizing the environmental impact of tourism growth

   
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (2002)
World Summit on Sustainable Development
States reaffirmed their commitment to respect the principles and fulfill the actions set out in Agenda 21. At the end of the Summit, States adopted the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which brought up to date the priorities set out in Agenda 21.
   
This Summit was important for SIDS because states re-acknowledged their special case, characteristics, and challenges. In addition, Chapter VII of the Plan of Implementation was dedicated to SIDS, calling for a ten year review of the Barbados Programme of Action and drawing out the most crucial activities from previous international documents (e.g. building capacity, particularly within health services and waste and pollution management, and securing “adequate, affordable, and environmentally sound” energy services).

Mauritius Strategy of Implementation, Mauritius Declaration (2005)
Mauritius International Meeting
This international meeting served as the 10-year review of the Barbados Programme of Action and concluded with the adoption of the Mauritius Strategy, which set out how to take forward the actions and strategies from the Barbados Programme. The Mauritius Strategy built on the fourteen thematic areas of the Barbados Programme of Action and added five additional areas, including graduation from least developed country (LDC) status. With Samoa having graduated from LDC status last year, this is a particularly crucial topic for Samoa’s future development.
   
But why would reaching a higher development classification be a source of concern? While graduating from LDC status is a great accomplishment, it also means that Samoa will no longer have access to the preferential grants and funds that are available for LDCs and that the Government will now need to explore and identify alternative sources of funding. The Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund, for example, is currently supporting a large scale, six-year adaptation and disaster risk management project in Samoa. At the end of the project term, however, the Government will have to identify different partnerships and funding sources if they would like to continue any of the programs under this project. As this suggests, the transition from LDC status is a very crucial and delicate period, and how a country plans and prepares for this transition will determine whether it continues to make further progress or slips back under the line.

Five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation (2010)
65th Session of the UN General Assembly
In the lead-up to the MSI+5 High-level Review, each SIDS submitted a National Assessment Report, and states discussed the findings from these reports in three regional review meetings. A final five-year review summarized current progress, continued challenges, and lessons learned.

Overall, states found that SIDS were still highly vulnerable to external shocks that could threaten the progress made since the Mauritius International Meeting. To combat that vulnerability, states recommended:

• strengthening support for national efforts to incorporate resilience into development planning
• focusing in on a few key areas from the Mauritius Strategy, depending on the specific situation of each SIDS
• strengthening partnerships to implement programs under the Mauritius Strategy (This point would prove to be a very crucial one and was made the central focus for the 2014 SIDS Conference.)
• increasing the amount of available financial resources and making it easier for SIDS to access those resources

SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway (2014)
Third International Conference on Small Island Development States

In December 2012, the UN General Assembly declared 2014 the International Year of Small Island Developing States. The highlight of this year would be the convening of the Third International Conference on SIDS – with the theme “sustainable development of SIDS through genuine and durable partnerships” – in Apia from 1-4 September 2014.
   
At the close of the meeting, states adopted the SAMOA Pathway. In this document, states reaffirmed that, with their specific challenges and vulnerabilities, SIDS remained a “special case” for sustainable development and should receive continued and strengthened international support. These international partnerships should help SIDS take forward national programs to become more resilient, better adapt to climate change, and develop efficient, sustainable energy systems.
   
To better monitor progress towards the various commitments made at SIDS and the other conferences discussed in this post, a SIDS Action Platform was developed. It includes a platform of 300 partnerships, a framework to monitor the implementation of partner commitments, and a matrix focused specifically on UN partnerships.
   
I hope you all found this exercise as helpful as I did. To keep this post from being too long, I have only given a very brief overview; there is a lot more information available on the topics discussed and the commitments made at each conference. If you're interested in exploring further, the following websites were really helpful for me in putting together this blog post:

• http://www.sids2014.org/ 
• http://www.sidsnet.org/  
• https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/smallislanddevelopingstates  
• http://www.un.org/en/events/islands2014/

Manuia le aso!/Manuia le afiafi!/Manuia le po!
Have a good day!/Have a good evening!/Have a good night!

When it rains, it pours: Getting cyclone prepared in Samoa

When I was first considering coming to Samoa, one thing that loomed in my mind was the very real possibility that I would be in Samoa during a cyclone. Two weekends ago, we had the first cyclone warning of the season. While it ended up just being a weekend with spurts of very heavy rainfall, it gave me a window into what the hours leading up to a cyclone might be like and left me feeling a bit more cyclone prepared.

Things began with a decent amount of Facebook chatter among the Apia expat community. People provided weather updates from both government offices and weather sites, and predictions changed greatly from one hour to the next; at one point, there was an over 50% chance that the tropical depression could form into a cyclone over the weekend. While discussions swirled around the weather forecast, people also shared links to tips on cyclone safety and shared experiences from Cyclone Evan, which hit Samoa in December 2012. For example, I learned that two hours before Cyclone Evan hit, the Government shut off electricity and water as part of efforts to minimize the impact of the impending storm. (If you're interested in learning more, I talk a bit more about Cyclone Evan in my post on Small Island Developing States.)

In these hours, I could really see the blessing and the curse of our information age. I was really grateful for the stream of updates and tips, but I could see how such rapidly changing and varied weather predictions could create confusion and possible panic in more severe weather conditions, especially if they were provided by too many different sources.

Amidst this uncertainty, I had a meeting in another one of the main government buildings. After my meeting, I stopped for a quick chat with the other Fulbrighter. I was discussing with her and one of her office mates, and it finally began to sink in that there really was a chance that a cyclone could hit sometime soon – possibly even that night. And me and one of my house mates had planned on going shopping for emergency supplies the next afternoon. I could feel a knot of nerves forming in the pit of my stomach.

Luckily, nothing happened that evening, and I was able to set out the next afternoon to get supplies: canned and other non-perishable food, large bottles of water, flashlights, batteries, candles, matches. Upon returning home, we set aside our cyclone stash in one of our back cupboards and read through the cyclone prep list the Australian High Commission had sent to the Australian volunteers. After seeing that we could put a check next to all of the essential items on that list, I felt like I could relax a little, wait, and see.

By late afternoon, the weather predictions had downgraded to heavy rain and strong wind warnings, and as I was reading in our living room, the skies opened up and a heavy rain pounded on our rooftop and began to create rising puddles in our yard. Amidst the loud, steady pings of rain against our roof, I got an e-mail notification: the US Embassy had sent an alert with information on current conditions and safety tips to all US citizens registered with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).
   
After a few hours, the rain had largely subsided. A few of us decided that we could do with something sweet, so we headed out for a quick stop to an ice cream shop in town. While we knew that the rain was heavy and had flooded patches of our yard, we were not expecting the level of water that had creeped up in certain streets of downtown Apia. The sides of certain streets had flooded, with water starting to work its way into a few lower shop entrances. To get to the ice cream shop, we waded through ankle deep water, and while I heartily enjoyed my sundae, we all agreed that in the future, it would be better not to repeat such a quest right after such heavy rainfall.

As soon as we reached central Apia, we realized that we had probably not chosen the best time
for an impromptu ice cream run.

The rest of the weekend had a few more episodes of heavy rain, but was quiet and uneventful compared to the confusion and uncertainty at the end of the week. Overall, the experience made for a very useful “cyclone drill.” It forced me to really think about my cyclone strategy, stock up on essential emergency items, and learn a few tips for any other more severe weather that may come our way.

To finish off, here’s another kernel of Samoan 101:
‘O fea ‘e te nofo ai? (Where do you live?)
‘Ou te nofo i Vaivase-Tai. (I live in Vaivase-Tai.)

In a Nutshell: Small Island Developing States

This post was originally published on Full, Bright Reflections (https://fulbrightclinton2015.wordpress.com/),
a shared blog for the 2014-2015 Fulbright-Clinton Fellows.

The Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship in Samoa has given me the rare opportunity to see first hand what life is like in a group of countries that I had previously only briefly researched and studied: small island developing states (SIDS).

To further familiarize myself with this grouping of countries, I decided to do a bit of background research. I will share the results of this research with you through this and other “In a Nutshell” blog posts. Let’s start at the very beginning (the very best place to start): who are the small island developing states?

There are thirty-nine SIDS (fifty-one if you also include territories) spread throughout three regions: AIMS (Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea), the Caribbean, and the Pacific. According to the UN, they house 63.2 million people and have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 575.3 billion. To give a point of comparison, Samoa has a GDP (2013) of US$ 801.9 million, and as of 2014, its population totaled 192,000.

51 small island developing states and territories are scattered across the AIMS, Carribbean, and Pacific regions.
    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Island_Developing_States

   
SIDS are distinguished from other developing countries by four key characteristics: small size, isolation, climate change and sea-level rise, and natural and environmental disasters.
   
Small size brings with it many challenges, including a more narrow range of resources; a high dependence on international trade for goods that can’t be produced locally (and as a result, a high vulnerability to fluctuations in international markets); and higher costs for infrastructure (including transportation and communication). Their small size also prevents SIDS from benefiting from the same economies of scale (i.e. mass production to reduce per unit costs) that a larger economy could achieve.
   
Small size does, however, offer definite opportunities. It makes SIDS ideal locations for pilot projects that could then be rolled out to other countries on a larger scale. Renewable energy is a particularly promising area for SIDS pilot projects. The New Zealand territory of Tokelau, for example, uses solar sources for 100% of its energy needs.
   
During my time in Samoa thus far, I have been able to appreciate the advantages that come with its small size. It was rather daunting to be responsible for finalizing a climate change policy review for an entire country, but Samoa is one of the rare locations where, because of its small size, I can actually feasibly get a sense of everything climate change related that is happening across the entire country. I’m given the chance to deal with national level issues while dealing with what for many countries would be local level scale.
   
Isolation means that on top of being highly dependent on international trade, SIDS also have to fight harder to stay competitive with more easily accessible locations. They also incur much higher costs for everything they import and export. And as I have now seen first hand, the arrival of imported goods takes a lot more time. At the end of December, I stopped by a store to buy some reef shoes, and they only had a few large sizes left in stock. I asked when they expected to get in some smaller sizes, and they said that the next shipment was slated to arrive at the end of January – at the earliest.
   
Climate change and sea-level rise are also a much more serious risk for SIDS than other developing countries precisely because of their small size (which means that there is a high coastal zone concentration for limited land area) and isolated position. It is because of the serious implications of climate change and sea-level rise for SIDS that Samoa is now seeking to develop a coherent, unified national approach to climate change and ensure that climate change is incorporated into all of their sector development plans.
   
Natural and environmental disasters are also a very serious risk. SIDS are located in the regions that are the most vulnerable to these disasters – in terms of their intensity, frequency, and increasing impact. Because of the interplay between this and the other key characteristics for SIDS, they also face disproportionately high economic, social, and environmental costs from such disasters.
   
When Cyclone Evan hit Samoa in December 2012, it destroyed a wide range of crucial infrastructure (from roads and bridges to water and electrical facilities) and damaged tourist facilities, homes, and crops. An IMF Official estimated the impact of the Cyclone to be at least as high as the 2009 tsunami, which displaced 3,500 people and caused US$ 147 million in damages (an amount that equals over a quarter of Samoa’s GDP). Samoa received over $103 million WST in foreign aid from 2013 to 2014 to help with Cyclone Evan recovery and has now "built back better", more climate resilient infrastructure. And climate resilience continues to be an important part of climate change-related programs in Samoa. Such projects are critical if we are to lessen the impact of any future natural or environmental disasters.
   
I hope this post has helped you discover a little bit more about what it means to be a small island developing state. To finish off, here is a new set of Samoan phrases:
 'O a mai 'oe? (How are you?)
Manuia fa'afetai. (Fine, thank you.)
   
If you would like to find out more about small island developing states, these sites were particularly useful for me in writing this post:
http://aosis.org/ 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-22/cyclone-evan-impact-on-samoa-s-economy-as-bad-as-2009-tsunami.html
http://data.worldbank.org/country/samoa
http://powersmartsolar.co.nz/our_projects/id/185
http://www.sids2014.org
http://www.sidsnet.org/
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/smallislanddevelopingstates
http://www.un.org/en/events/islands2014/
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/pacificislands