Multilateral systems of cooperation are essential for Small Islands States to develop for future generations

To mark the 40th anniversary of the CPA Small Branches network, the United Nations High Representative for Small Island Developing States outlines how building SIDS strategies and increasing cooperation between states can secure key outcomes for small jurisdictions.

Being a small state does by no means imply that you face small problems. It is quite the opposite. Small states face complex and intricate challenges but have more limited human and financial resources to meet them. Their very geographies and demographics force them to manage evolving and ever-more interlinked challenges. Just as elsewhere, Parliaments in small states have a key role in delivering on a sustainable and inclusive development for all, grounded in the hopes of their citizens.

Parliaments’ primary role is to directly represent people. They are critical actors if we, as a global community, are to hold true to our promises for an inclusive and sustainable development for all. For that, Parliaments need to be equipped with access to the latest and best in knowledge, expertise and experience. Strengthening parliamentary capacity must be at the core of meeting current and future challenges.

What are some of the most salient and pressing challenges small states are confronted with and what does this mean for the work of Parliaments?

My Office, UN-OHRLLS was established in 2001 and is a global advocate for three groups of vulnerable states that represent well over one billion people. These are the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Our role is to respond to the needs and issues of these member states. For example, we work closely with SIDS delegations and catalyse support through an Inter-Agency Consultative Group that spans the UN system. The goal is to facilitate responsive, coherent and effective support to SIDS within the frameworks of the SAMOA Pathway (Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action – a development plan agreed by SIDS and their development partners in 2014), the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The SAMOA pathway places democracy and human rights at its centre of action. It affirms the “importance of freedom, peace and security, respect for all human rights, including the right to development and the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food, the rule of law, gender equality, women’s empowerment, reducing inequalities and the overall commitment to just and democratic societies for development.”

At a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly in 2017, SIDS governments re-asserted their commitment to action on “sustainable human development and climate change at local, national, regional and global levels while remaining committed to human rights and better governance with more effective, democratic and accountable institutions.”

In this framework, the challenge is to deliver on the right policy mix to tackle climate change while building human capital and strengthening the economic and financial fabric of small states. The strong political will to move forward on this agenda already exists. The general frameworks for policy and action are agreed upon and in place - the pressing issue is how best to deliver both from the policy and the operational perspectives. Needless to say, the advent of a pandemic few of us saw coming further complicates this already difficult task.

SIDS have been alerting us to the effects of climate change impacts on their land and vast ocean resources for decades. The experience of this crisis as it impacts island lives and livelihoods cannot be overstated. Take, as an example, rising sea levels and more frequent and more intense natural disasters. Internal displacement is already common in small islands and we are approaching a crisis of livability that will force external displacement and increased instability.

SIDS are remote, very often composed of scattered island groupings, have small population bases and economies of scale are difficult to achieve. This means high costs in trade, underdeveloped infrastructure, limited clean energy access, and insufficient digital connectivity. Since the pandemic struck, digital connectivity has become central to health service provision, education, maintaining economic activity and even social connectivity under confinement measures. For the citizens of too many SIDS these basics have become unattainable luxuries.

SIDS economies very often are driven by a limited mix of economic sectors. Many families rely on remittances. Tourism provides foreign exchange earnings and employment. But the pandemic has brought the tourism sector almost to standstill and remittances are also dropping off. At the same time, heavy debt burdens that pre-date the pandemic have exploded, meaning that the same level of social safety nets that helped other countries cope simply haven’t been available. These debt levels are increasingly unsustainable and put peoples’ lives and livelihoods at stake.

Finding appropriate and workable answers to this triangular challenge is what Parliaments and the executive branches of governments have to live up to. They must deliver for people. Let there be no doubt, the complexities can only be overcome with an all-hands-on-deck approach. Small island governments must also attain the capacity to access state of the art information, knowledge and experience. For this critical need the international community must accelerate and strengthen the financial ability to achieve this through building on multilateral cooperation.

“SIDS cannot go it alone. None of us can, as the pandemic knows no borders. Multilateralism will more than ever be important to small states. Access to global fora is invaluable for small nations to be heard, to address their unique social, economic, and environmental challenges and to find solutions together. ”

The task is indeed urgent. OHRLLS currently builds coalitions within the UN system and beyond to devise short, medium and long-term strategies with SIDS to increase access to finance in the form of grants, concessional loans and debt relief. We also work on the capacity building front, including through strengthening southsouth cooperation and cooperation with the private sector and academic institutions.

Accessing development finance remains a challenge for SIDS. This greatly owes, for example, to the complex and bureaucratic processes of funding agencies. We work with those agencies to streamline application and disbursement processes.

OHRLLS also coordinates the work of the UN on developing a Multi-dimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) which aims to capture the special vulnerabilities of countries, including SIDS. The ambition behind the proposed index is to better define eligibility for financing for sustainable development in SIDS. All this is a must to facilitate not just the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic but to build back better.

Parliaments need to ensure that policies and action reflect input of all citizens, in particular groups traditionally excluded including women, youth, ethnic minorities and people living with disabilities. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, four democracies in the world have no female Parliamentarians - and three are Pacific SIDS: Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and Vanuatu. This is of concern.

SIDS cannot go it alone. None of us can, as the pandemic knows no borders. Multilateralism will more than ever be important to small states. Access to global fora is invaluable for small nations to be heard, to address their unique social, economic, and environmental challenges and to find solutions together.

With urgency we must resolve the unsustainable debt crisis and find the ways and means to invest in people and their economies. We cannot afford to leave the most vulnerable behind. The capacity to do so exists. We must put the multilateral systems of cooperation to use, especially for our youth and future generations by listening to what they have to say.

And we need to invest in Parliaments, share regional and global experiences and solutions and give them the hand to be an effective and representative voice for all people. Doing so, is our guarantee for ensuring a relevant, sustainable democracy capable of listening and delivering a sustainable future for all.

Change is the hallmark of humanity, and it is how we manage in the face of change that sets the course for humanity. Let’s have the will to just do it together.

For more information please visit www.un.org/ohrlls

Ms Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu is the United Nations Under- Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). She assumed her role in May 2017. Prior to joining the United Nations, she held senior roles in the Ministry of Tourism of Tonga, the University of the South Pacific, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community as well as diplomatic roles representing the Kingdom of Tonga in the USA, Cuba, Venezuela and Canada.