Small Island Developing States

Overview

The Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Bridgetown, Barbados, April 25-May 6, 1994 resulted in the Declaration of Barbados. The Barbados Declaration made a commitment to specific policies, actions and measures to be taken at the national, regional and international level to enable SIDS to achieve sustainable development. It recognized the special constraints to sustainable development that SIDS face economically, environmentally, socially by virtue of their small size. It called for the assistance of regional and international entities, both governmental and non-governmental, to engage in a program of action aimed at the sustainable development of the SIDS.

The Barbados Program of Action drawn up at the 1994 conference is the subject of periodic review, the last of which was the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1999.

Almost all of the SIDS belongs to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). The United States flag territories of American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are among the 43 AOSIS members and they send their own delegations at international SIDS meetings. AOSIS functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for SIDS within the United Nations system.

Related Links
The network maintained by the United Nations, www.sidsnet.org, is the main web site for SIDS, with further links to documents, island themes, regional organizations, meetings and events.

OES contact information
Office of Oceans Affairs, 202-647-3262