Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
It is my pleasure to address you at this first SIDS Future Forum.
It is fitting that this meeting comes at a time when the international community is discussing the new 10-year SIDS Programme of Action. The Forum presents an opportunity for us to engage with the latest research and information, and to think about the types of solutions needed to truly drive development in SIDS.
Your discussions here can help to identify the types of strategies and creative solutions needed to advance resilient prosperity in SIDS, and inform negotiating positions as we head into the fourth international conference on SIDS.
I take this opportunity to commend the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI) for hosting this important event, and for their consistent leadership in delivering research and evidence that inform policies by and for SIDS.
Initiatives such as this are among the many good examples of external research-practitioner partnerships geared at building internal capacity for evidence-based decision making in SIDS.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The issues to be covered in this meeting, can all be found in the SIDS4 draft Outcome Document, and all have significant impacts on the development trajectory of SIDS.
SIDS resilience, adaptability and development will ultimately depend on the quality of the policies that are developed and implemented at national, regional and global levels.
Success will require Governments to re-commit to building and using evidence to improve policy, programme, budget, operational, and management decision-making, and to improve how national institutions do business.
This also requires that the necessary analytical tools to measure outcomes and impacts are readily available, identifying and investing in effective practices, and transforming data into evidence that informs action.
All of this will have the added benefit of providing high value jobs that cut across all aspects of the economy.
A culture of evidence must be at the core of any Government’s effort to achieve resilient prosperity. Models of excellence in the use of evidence by SIDS must be expanded and scaled for greater success.
Initiatives such as today’s Meeting, allow us to pool our collective wisdom to devise strategies and sustainable solutions to the threats and challenges that SIDS face.
SIDS have established a solid foundation upon which to continue building. The stage is set, but we must continue to embrace innovation, ingenuity and dynamism to secure and improve on the collective gains so far achieved by these countries.
Let us move forward with a determination that is anchored in a strong foundation of research, evidence and data to overcome today’s challenges.
I thank you.