Over the past week, the Freeport Exhibition Center in Mer Rouge has been the theatre of a flurry of activity. Indeed, various actors involved in championing the concept of sustainable development, namely NGOs and project coordinators in various Small Island Developing States (SIDS), have been gathering there to exchange ideas and prioritize future challenges. The two main goings-on, the Community Vilaj and Civil Society Forum, offer a more grassroots approach to addressing the issues that have been evoked since yesterday in the high-level United Nations meeting at Pailles Conference Centre. The latter, organized to establish the accomplishments and shortcomings of the Barbados Program of Action of 1994, will see the participation of 2 000 delegates from all over the world, including 25 heads of State.

The Community Vilaj, which goes by motto, ?Local voices, global impact?, regroups people who have reduced poverty with ecofriendly projects in their towns or villages. Their presence, which has been made possible by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is meant to ensure the continuity of their projects through the exchange of ideas and experience on a wide range of environmental and social subjects. In addition to the Community Vilaj workshops, the ?dialogue space? is accompanied by an Island Innovations Fair on Resilience Building Technologies and an Institute@SIDS. The latter, a joint initiative of the UNDP and the Smithsonian Institution, offers free training courses to Vilaj?s participants.

The Innovations Fair, on the other hand, exhibits sustainable development technologies that ?directly address specific economic and environmental vulnerabilities of SIDS?. An example of such innovative technology is the Uehara Cycle presented by the Institute of Ocean Energy of Japan?s Saga University. The Uehara Cycle, which uses Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to convert the temperature difference between the warm surface seawater and the cooler water at a depth of 800 metres into electricity, is seen as a solution to both the precariousness of energy supplies on islands and global warming.

The Civil Society Forum, which acts as a platform for a plethora of NGOs, provided an opportunity for the latter to coordinate their global efforts. During one of their workshops, the latter observed that the accomplishment of their objectives was hindered by a lack of consensus and optimization of their resources.

At the Forum?s opening ceremony, the United Nations undersecretary-general and high representative, Anwarul Chowdhury, explained that the recent tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean basin highlighted the need for the world?s rich countries to lend a helping hand on such issues as global warming and trade. ?Small Island Developing States face formidable challenges regading trade liberalization and globalisation. They are at risk of remaining marginalised unless urgent measures are undertaken to accord special treatment to these countries for increased market access, development assistance, debt relief and capacity building. It is high time that the international community lives up to the commitments made in the Barbados Program of Action ten years ago.?

<I>The recent tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean basin highlights the need for the world?s rich countries to lend a helping hand on such issues as global warming and trade. </I>

Seeking international support to achieve sustainable development

The United Nations conference for Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) opened yesterday at Pailles Conference centre and will be on until 14th January. Important personalities like Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, who arrived yesterday, are expected. This conference aims at discussing the main preoccupations of the SIDS. The latter want to make sure they have the support of developed states to help them achieve sustainable development. The main theme raised so far by the participants has been preferential trade agreements, which will allow their survival while developed countries do not seem ready to consider the possibility. In view of the recent natural catastrophe in the Indian Ocean, which badly affected developing islands, like the Maldives and Sri Lanka, the tsunami should be at the centre of the conference. Anwarul Chowdhury, the UN undersecretary, said he was in favour of an early global warning system. However, this will not be the only issue discussed: other ecological, economic and social problems will be tackled and participants will see how the situation has evolved since Barbados conference in 1994. The meeting will end with the birth of the Mauritius declaration as well as a concrete action plan, which is expected to make projects move a huge step ahead.