Ministers adopt Declaration on Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Ministers and senior government officials meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, last week adopted a Ministerial Declaration reaffirming the validity of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA)- a blueprint adopted 10 years ago for the sustainable development of small island developing States (SIDS). This week-long meeting was part of the preparatory process for a meeting slated for later this year in Mauritius to review progress since the adoption, in 1994, of the BPoA.

SIDS discussions included:
• Building resilience: strategies for overcoming risk, uncertainty and vulnerability in SIDS
• Implementing National Sustainable Development Strategies
• Enhancing competitiveness: trade, finance, entrepreneurship and partnerships
• Promoting cultural diversity, developing cultural industries and empowering youth
• Towards knowledge based societies: building capacity for more effective application of science and technology in SIDS
• New Challenges and Emerging Issues: managing health, addressing poverty, mobilising the Diaspora and controlling crime and violence
For full conference coverage visit IISD's Linkages and for summary report of the conference click here

Launch of UNEP – SIDS website
The UNEP SIDS Programme is coordinated from within the GPA Coordination office and is one of the key programmes through which the GPA is being implemented. GPA activities are embedded within the Programme in the lead up to the BPoA meeting to be held in Mauritius in September 2004. That meeting will be ten years after the original adoption of the BPoA therefore, the term coined for the meeting is BPoA + 10. Expected outcomes are as follow:
1. A Strategy for further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action,
2. A political declaration.
SIDS share characteristics of which make them economically, environmentally, and socially more vulnerable to shocks of which they have little or no control. The BPoA specifically addresses the priority issues within developing countries. The BPoA has reinforced and remodelled the principles outlined in Agenda 21 into a programme for SIDS countries. This was done by classifying the areas of vulnerability in SIDS countries as either economic or environmental.
View Website

New Report on UNEP's assistance to BPoA+10
A report on “UNEP’s Assistance to SIDS in the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) For the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States” has been completed and is accessible through the new GPA SIDS website.
SIDS share characteristics of which make them economically, environmentally, and socially more vulnerable to shocks of which they have little or no control. The BPoA specifically addresses the priority issues within developing countries. The BPoA has reinforced and remodelled the principles outlined in Agenda 21 into a programme for SIDS countries. This was done by classifying the areas of vulnerability in SIDS countries as either economic, environmental, or social. This document summarizes UNEP’s contribution towards implementing the priority activities of the SIDS BPoA. These include climate change and sea level rise, biodiversity, natural and environmental disasters management, management of wastes, freshwater resources, and tourism resources. It also includes UNEP’s contribution towards implementing multilateral and non-binding agreements, environmental vulnerability index, and capacity building.
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Whale Study Reveals Spread of Ocean Contaminants
Toxins measured in sperm whale blubber indicate man-made chemicals have dispersed throughout the ocean, reaching animals far in its deeps, according to a Greenwich-born environmentalist working on a five-year marine research project.
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Whale Explodes in Taiwanese City
A dead sperm whale has exploded while being delivered to a research centre near the southwestern city of Tainan. Passers-by and cars were soaked in blood and body parts were sprayed over a road after the bursting of the whale, which was being carried on a trailer.
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