SIDS encompass islands in the Caribbean Sea as well as the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
During the "High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2023" at the UN Headquarters, New York, the United States, on Tuesday, Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (PDTT) Ministry official Ivanovich Agusta urged global citizens to make it easy for SIDS to access financing to ensure sustainable development.
SIDS have continued to encounter significant challenges in strengthening resiliency against disruptions on account of limited financial resources and vulnerability to external economic disruptions, he said, according to a press statement released on Wednesday.
Therefore, global citizens must help SIDS to access and mobilize financing for sustainable development, he noted.
This would encompass providing soft financing and enabling public-private partnerships in primary sectors, he added.
Capacity-strengthening programs and knowledge-sharing initiatives would also need to be implemented to empower SIDS, for instance, for developing resiliency against natural disasters.
Agusta said that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit in September 2023 can be a momentum to improve solidarity and global cooperation to support SIDS.
The summit should contribute to establishing the agenda of the 2024 International Conference on SIDS and identify priority areas and emerging challenges while focusing on the SIDS' most urgent problems, he said.
During the UN meeting, which was attended by delegates from 196 countries, Agusta also stressed that the SDGs Summit must encourage partnership to support sustainable SIDS development by involving various stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, civil societies, and private sector players.
Indonesia is hoping to cooperate with SIDS and the international community to advance the development agenda.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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