MARINE  CONSERVATION  NEWS

Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, 
 PO Box 1299, Victoria, Mahe ,Seychelles

MCSS at the UN SIDS Conference

Mrs. Smedler, Resident Representative of the UNDP  and panel members at one of the UN discussions . Photo courtesy of IISD/ENB-Leila Mead

MCSS Chairman, David Rowat, was supported by the UNDP to attend the UN International Meeting on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) held in Mauritius in early January. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the progress made on the implementation of the Barbados Plan of Action and to finalise the Strategy for the further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. 

 

January 2005  

Vol 3, No. 1
 

 

Please send any comments or news for inclusion by

www.mcss.sc

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with Prime Minister Berenger of Mauritius during the International Meeting.  Photo courtesy of IISD/ENB -Leila Mead

There were 3 components to this meeting; the main International Meeting with ambassadors from the various countries, and 2 parallel meetings: a Civil Society Forum and the Community Vilaj, that were aimed at getting the input of the general public and representative Non Governmental organizations (NGOs). MCSS was asked to participate in the Community Vilaj but also had the freedom to attend both of the other meetings. Community Vilaj was organised under the 'Equator Initiative' to foster the role played by local communities in achieving sustainable development in SIDS.

During the first 4 days, NGOs and community organizations in the Community Vilaj discussed the main issues of the strategy so that these views could be forwarded to the International meeting for consideration. After that the focus shifted to the various organizations who discussed how they worked in their communities, what was successful and what wasn’t, thus allowing everyone to take away new ideas and approaches that might be relevant to their own work.

Kofi Anan, Mrs Anan and Mrs Smedler meeting participants at the Community Vilaj. Photo courtesy of IISD/ENB -Leila Mead

The highlight for many of the Vilaj participants was a private meeting with the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan. During this meeting participants were able to ask him questions on his views on topical subjects. He then visited the Vilaj display area and was introduced to a number of the projects including the MCSS Turtle and Whale Shark programmes.

Considerable headway was made at the International Meeting which was tackling some rather thorny subjects in terms of sustainable development, especially the issue of Climate Change. Some of the discussion meetings lasted well through the night but the final outcome seems to have been a success. 

For more information on the Conference please visit the SIDS web site: 

http://www.sidsnet.org/index.html

For information of the Equator Initiative please see their web site at:

http://www.equatorinitiative.org

Special thanks to Sean Southey of the UNDP Equator Initiative and Roland Alcindor, Seychelles UNDP representative.

To MCSS Home Page

To M.C.News Home Page