Major Groups and Other Stakeholders Forum
INTERVENTION – ECOSOC INFORMAL MEETING
2nd of October 2014
MAJOR GROUP AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
THE S.A.M.O.A PATHWAY
ENGAGING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Lemalu Nele Leilua – SUNGO SIDS 2014 Major Groups Coordinator
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity Mr President to present an intervention this morning. Imagine 10 years from now and when you and I am 10 years older and we all meet at the 4thh International Conference on SIDS. “What do we expect to hear, smell and see?
For us, we would like to hear the stories of how SIDS leap frogged to achieve at least 70 percent of the Samoa Pathway.
We want to smell the scent of accomplishment of the Post 2015 development goals and we want to see the happy faces of SIDS that will say – “we did not achieve 70 percent, but we achieved 100 percent of the Samoa Pathway.
For us civil society, we live and breathe poverty, lack of resources for health, education, and the environment including forests, oceans and rivers which provide nourishments for our daily lives, and in particular we held our communities when disaster strikes.
Way forward: Where to after Samoa 2014?
The S.A.M.O.A Pathway Declaration and Implementation Plan, must be people centred, connected by accountable, genuine and durable partnerships where human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability and economic justice are the core of all sustainable development pursuits in Small Island Developing States.!
Major Groups, that attended the pre-conference Forum in Apia, Samoa called on governments to use a clear and strong human rights and a development framework approach to underpin all action plans.
Overall, we call for a transformative people-centered approach to sustainable development that delivers development justice, economic justice, environmental justice, gender equality and women’s human rights, social justice, universal human rights, and accountability. ! !
The S.A.M.O.A Pathway gives hope for the peoples of SIDS and the next generation. Therefore we need to lay the foundation now through working together and developing smart sustainable development models for monitoring the implementation of the Samoa Pathway so that together we can create the future we want. !
As Major groups we commit ourselves to genuine partnerships that embrace commitment, trust, respect and mutual accountability.
In this context, we call on each Member State to create the enabling environment and supportive framework for partnership. The elements of those frameworks should include at a minimum, a shared vision, clear governance structures, a regulatory system, freedom of information and expression, inclusiveness, and instruments of transparency and accountability.
What are the Means of Implementation?
Civil society and other stakeholders continue to play leading roles in partnership with Government for implementation of sustainable development in SIDS. We need to explore smart sustainable models of implementation that include: knowledge transfer and capacity building of Major Groups;
capacity building of counterparts to effectively engage in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and development and strengthening of partnerships. These partnerships must include non-traditional partners and academia, within and across regions at all levels; enabling policies, structures and processes to facilitate participatory governance approaches that allow for equitable involvement of civil society in decision-making and accountability for implementing sustainable development initiatives.
Twenty years after the first SIDS Conference, many commitments made in the BPoA, and MSI remain unfulfilled. Major challenges and gaps persist, even as new issues emerged. Thus, it is felt that SIDS+20 must result in a strong and action oriented re-commitment to the promises made in these global Conferences.
On a personal level, I analysed modes of implementation of BPoA and MSI and found that there was an absence of scientific methods and lack of technological mechanisms.
In the Samoa Pathway, there is a commitment to improve connectivity through developing information and communication technologies or ICTs. This is the one aspect that will change and speed the implementation of the pathway. For example, mobile broadband is widely available and stakeholders must use mobile technology to deliver m-Health, m-Education to name a few.
The outcome will be using ICTs as catalyst to deliver services that are not available in rural areas and remote islands. For instance, a patient in a rural village can call a doctor in town who can see the patience on a screen and talk to them, then provide the most suitable diagnosis and medication.
In closing, I challenged you all: what kind of future you and I want? What mechanisms are available to monitor the Implementation of the Pathway in a Faster, Transparent and Accountable Manner?
For me, I do not want a future that I can only hear, smell and see. I want a future where we can hear, see, AND SMELL THE SCENT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SOIFUA MA IA MANUIA
2nd of October 2014
MAJOR GROUP AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
THE S.A.M.O.A PATHWAY
ENGAGING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Lemalu Nele Leilua – SUNGO SIDS 2014 Major Groups Coordinator
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity Mr President to present an intervention this morning. Imagine 10 years from now and when you and I am 10 years older and we all meet at the 4thh International Conference on SIDS. “What do we expect to hear, smell and see?
For us, we would like to hear the stories of how SIDS leap frogged to achieve at least 70 percent of the Samoa Pathway.
We want to smell the scent of accomplishment of the Post 2015 development goals and we want to see the happy faces of SIDS that will say – “we did not achieve 70 percent, but we achieved 100 percent of the Samoa Pathway.
For us civil society, we live and breathe poverty, lack of resources for health, education, and the environment including forests, oceans and rivers which provide nourishments for our daily lives, and in particular we held our communities when disaster strikes.
Way forward: Where to after Samoa 2014?
The S.A.M.O.A Pathway Declaration and Implementation Plan, must be people centred, connected by accountable, genuine and durable partnerships where human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability and economic justice are the core of all sustainable development pursuits in Small Island Developing States.!
Major Groups, that attended the pre-conference Forum in Apia, Samoa called on governments to use a clear and strong human rights and a development framework approach to underpin all action plans.
Overall, we call for a transformative people-centered approach to sustainable development that delivers development justice, economic justice, environmental justice, gender equality and women’s human rights, social justice, universal human rights, and accountability. ! !
The S.A.M.O.A Pathway gives hope for the peoples of SIDS and the next generation. Therefore we need to lay the foundation now through working together and developing smart sustainable development models for monitoring the implementation of the Samoa Pathway so that together we can create the future we want. !
As Major groups we commit ourselves to genuine partnerships that embrace commitment, trust, respect and mutual accountability.
In this context, we call on each Member State to create the enabling environment and supportive framework for partnership. The elements of those frameworks should include at a minimum, a shared vision, clear governance structures, a regulatory system, freedom of information and expression, inclusiveness, and instruments of transparency and accountability.
What are the Means of Implementation?
Civil society and other stakeholders continue to play leading roles in partnership with Government for implementation of sustainable development in SIDS. We need to explore smart sustainable models of implementation that include: knowledge transfer and capacity building of Major Groups;
capacity building of counterparts to effectively engage in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and development and strengthening of partnerships. These partnerships must include non-traditional partners and academia, within and across regions at all levels; enabling policies, structures and processes to facilitate participatory governance approaches that allow for equitable involvement of civil society in decision-making and accountability for implementing sustainable development initiatives.
Twenty years after the first SIDS Conference, many commitments made in the BPoA, and MSI remain unfulfilled. Major challenges and gaps persist, even as new issues emerged. Thus, it is felt that SIDS+20 must result in a strong and action oriented re-commitment to the promises made in these global Conferences.
On a personal level, I analysed modes of implementation of BPoA and MSI and found that there was an absence of scientific methods and lack of technological mechanisms.
In the Samoa Pathway, there is a commitment to improve connectivity through developing information and communication technologies or ICTs. This is the one aspect that will change and speed the implementation of the pathway. For example, mobile broadband is widely available and stakeholders must use mobile technology to deliver m-Health, m-Education to name a few.
The outcome will be using ICTs as catalyst to deliver services that are not available in rural areas and remote islands. For instance, a patient in a rural village can call a doctor in town who can see the patience on a screen and talk to them, then provide the most suitable diagnosis and medication.
In closing, I challenged you all: what kind of future you and I want? What mechanisms are available to monitor the Implementation of the Pathway in a Faster, Transparent and Accountable Manner?
For me, I do not want a future that I can only hear, smell and see. I want a future where we can hear, see, AND SMELL THE SCENT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SOIFUA MA IA MANUIA
Stakeholders