SPECIAL PACNEWS REPORT
United Nations Meeting of Small Islands Developing States (SIDS): “Small Islands – Big Stakes”
Port Louis, Mauritius (10 – 14 January 2005) PACNEWS coverage is made possible with UNESCO funding
UNESCO lead role in establishment of tsunami warning centres
14 JANUARY 2004 PORT LOUIS (Pacnews) --- UNESCO director general, Koichiro Matsuura says Pacific Island nations that have
not joined the Pacific Tsunami Warning System must do so now.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is based in Hawaii and only covers Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Samoa.
Most Pacific Island Countries have not joined the Hawaii Tsunami Centre, which operates under the auspices of the International
Oceanographic Commission (IOC).
Mr Matsurra told PACNEWS that disaster preparedness must become an integral part of sustainable development policies in Small
Island Developing States (SIDS).
“UNESCO is advocating that the tsunami warning system in Hawaii for the South West Pacific region must be model for other
regions – the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Mediterranean.”
“Off course it’s difficult to foretell when we will have another tsunami like the one we just had in the Indian Ocean. In the Indian
Ocean there have been two tsunamis in the past – one 100 years ago caused by a volcanic eruption off the coast of Indonesia and
another one 200 years ago.
“But this does not necessarily mean, we will have 100 years of tranquility in the Indian Ocean. We have to be vigilant and other
regions that have not had tsunamis should be ob alert.”
UNESCO has taken the lead role in the move to establish sub regional tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean…PNS (ENDS)
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WMO supports call for early tsunami warning centre
13 JANUARY 2004 PORT LOUIS (Pacnews) --- The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has strongly supported calls by
many small island developing states for the United Nations to establish tsunami early warning systems for all regions at risk from
natural disasters.
“They could consider to build on and further strengthen the systems already in place in areas related to weather, climate and water
such as monitoring and warning systems for tropical cyclones,” said WMO secretary general, Michel Jarraud.
The Pacific region already has a tsunami-warning centre based in Hawaii. The centre monitors international warning activities in the
Pacific and recommends to members appropriate measures to take in the event of a natural disaster.
It also monitors seismological and tidal stations and instruments around the Pacific Ocean to evaluate potentially tsunamigenic
earthquakes.
The centre, established in 1968 is a collaborative effort involving many Pacific island nations and the International Oceanographic
Commission.
Pacific island states covered by the Hawaii centre are Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa.
Mr Jarraud said the vulnerabilities of small island developing states has continued to grow and resilience to decrease.
“The international community has the duty to support their development efforts. This was highlighted by the unprecedented tsunami
three weeks ago that brought death and destruction to the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean basin countries.”
In the past few years, small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific have been devastated by tropical cyclones and associated floods.
“As many as 14 major tropical storms in the Caribbean during the latest hurricane season alone have caused US$20 billion in
economic losses, while rising sea level in the Pacific region threaten to completely submerge the islands of Nauru, Maldives and
Tuvalu,” Mr Jarraud said.
WMO has produced a short documentary on the impact of climate change on small island nations titled, The other side of paradise.
…PNS (ENDS)
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US and France pledge support to help establish early tsunami warning system
11 JANUARY 2005 PORT LOUIS (Pacnews) --- Delegates from a number of most vulnerable small island states in the Caribbean
and Indian Ocean have reiterated their calls for a global early warning system for national catastrophes.
A debate co-chaired by New Zealand and Samoa on environmental vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
concluded with a common theme that SIDS need proper warning systems in place to help them mitigate against natural and
environmental disasters.
“This includes the need for proper communication systems in place to be able to reach out to these islands, including small and
isolated islands, said Marian Hobbs, New Zealand’s Environment Minister.
She used the example of Tikopia Island in Solomon Islands that was destroyed by a tropical cyclone two years ago.
“It was difficult to get to this little island and there was no way we could get any communication also. Even helicopters could not land
on the island. These are some of the other difficulties faced by these small islands.” Ms Hobbs said.
Last year in the Pacific, the small island nation of Niue, with a population of 1,200 was completely destroyed by cyclone Heta.
Hurricanes Ivan and Jean left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and also devastated Grenada and Haiti.
Such storms, coupled with coastal development, urbanization, poor planning and environmental degradation have proven a dangerous
and tragic combination in several SIDS.
A representative of the Caribbean Centre for Cyclone Warning, Kenrick Leslie shared the problems of relocating people from coastal
areas as a preventive measure.
“We have a lot of mountainous region and it’s impossible to relocate them to the mountain.”
“Not only are we faced with the dangers of tsunamis but the Caribbean has a number of underwater volcanoes. We are a region prone
to volcanic eruptions.
“We basically live in an enclosed lake,” Mr Leslie said.
“We appeal to the international community to understand the reality of our situation and help devise solutions to our environment
threats.”
Mr Leslie said six months in a year, the Caribbean is under threat from tropical cyclones and the region sits on a major earthquake
fault line.
There were also concerns of human settlements in low lying regions of small island states facing mass evacuation as a result of sea
level rise and impacts of climate change.
The United States and France, who are sovereign powers in some islands states in the Pacific, Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, have
both pledged their support for the establishment of an early warning system in the Indian Ocean…PNS (ENDS)
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SIDS meeting begins with a sombre plea to the UN to set up early warning systems
11 JANUARY 2005 PORT LOUIS (Pacnews) --- Small Island Developing States (SIDS) meeting in Mauritius have urged the United
Nations to set up early warning systems to protect them from the onslaught of natural or man-made disasters.
The call comes two weeks after the devastation of giant tidal waves that swept through more than ten countries in South East Asia,
claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
Mauritius, the host of the weeklong SIDS international meeting to review the implementation of the Barbados Plan of Action, was
especially concerned because of its location in the Indian Ocean, an area prone to natural disasters.
Prime Minister Paul Raymond Berenger, who is chairing the meeting, said the tsunami disaster has again demonstrated the extreme
vulnerability of small island states.
“Male, the capital of Maldives is still under seawater, Tuvalu was devastated by king tides, Niue was flattened by cyclone Heta,
Grenada, Bahamas, Jamaica and Haiti were battered by successive hurricanes, are the most recent illustrations of our vulnerability,”
said PM Berenger.
“The damage sustained by these islands will take years to repair and significant amount of resources, in some cases equivalent to
several times their annual GDP, will be required for reconstruction.”
The Mauritania leader said 2004 was a particularly destructive year for many small island states.
“No SIDS region has been speared, the Pacific and Caribbean regions suffering the most.”
On the review of the Barbados Plan of Action, Mr Berenger said dearth of resources, poor human and institutional capacity, lack of
technology transfer have adversely affected implementation of the Plan of Action.
“In addition new emerging issues such as HIV/AIDS, globalisation and the erosion of trade preferences traditionally favouring SIDS
as well as new emphasis on security have further slowed down our implementation efforts.
“It is important for SIDS to build social, economic and environmental resilience to achieve sustainable development.
An interactive high-level roundtable meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday (13-14) attended by leaders from SIDS will put
together targeted action for the next ten years.
The United Nations representative at the meeting, Mr Anwarul Chowdhury said in the past ten years, after Barbados, there was a
decline in international support and resources to SIDS.
“It is envisaged that donor countries, development partners, civil society, private sector, UN agencies and SIDS themselves will be
jointly involved in the implementation of the Mauritius meeting.
“I urge development partners to increase their official development assistance to these vulnerable countries.” Mr Chowdhury said.
At the same time, he’s asked national governments to adopt policies promoting the establishment of an enabling environment to meet
these objectives…PNS (ENDS)
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