World Statistics Pocketbook 2014 edition Small Island Developing States

The special case of small island developing States (SIDS), within the context of sustainable development, was first formally recognized by the international community at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA), agreed at the first Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS in 1994, then the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS adopted in 2005, and most recently the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in 2012, continue to highlight the sustainable development challenges faced by SIDS.
The present special issue of the United Nations annual World Statistics Pocketbook provides a compilation of basic social, economic and environmental indicators that together comprise a framework for assessing, in quantitative terms, each State’s current development situation. Its issuance coincides with the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States to be held in Apia, Samoa in September 2014.