PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Small islands celebrate in Antigua as SIDS DOCK, UNIDO and Austria sign a Joint Declaration @
SIDS4 Conference
11th June 2024, Belmopan, Belize: 28th May 2024 was a night for celebration at Avec Amour (meaning With Love), a superb venue tucked away on a hill in Buckley’s, Antigua, supported by the beat of the Hell Gate Steel Pan Band, as the Small Island Developing States Dock (SIDS DOCK) organisation, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Austria, solidified their genuine and durable partnership forged in Samoa in 2014, at the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS3), with the signing of a Joint Declaration, in the margins of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), held from 27-30 May 2024, at the American University of Antigua, St. John’s, Antigua & Barbuda.
The Joint Declaration (JD) was signed by the Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Republic of Seychelles and President of the seventh session of the SIDS DOCK Assembly, Mr. Nikolaus Marschik, Secretary General for Foreign Affairs, Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMeiA), and Mr. Gerd Müller, Director General, UNIDO, during a High-Level IWON Awards and Signing Ceremony hosted by the Hon. Dr. Vince Henderson, LPD, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy, Commonwealth of Dominica and Patron for the Island Women Open Network (IWON). The JD is in line with the SIDS4 Conference Outcome Document, the 2024-2034 Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), and will continue to see UNIDO and Austria actively supporting countries and territories in their economic diversification aspirations towards higher added value manufacturing and servicing in traditional sectors and emerging ones of the green, blue and digital economy.
During the event, Austria and UNIDO were presented with the Island Women Open Network (IWON) 2024 Excellency in Leadership Award for Outstanding Support to the Establishment of SIDS DOCK. The IWON was jointly established by SIDS DOCK, UNIDO and Austria during the SIDS3 Conference in Samoa in 2014. Austria’s Citation noted the award was in recognition of Austria’s unprecedent support in the transformation of the SIDS energy sector by strengthening support to SIDS through the establishment of two SIDS Regional Centers in Barbados in 2015 and the Kingdom of Tonga in 2017, in cooperation with UNIDO and the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers (GN-SEC), critical infrastructure to facilitate SIDS-SIDS cooperation.
UNIDO’s Citation recognized the organisation for establishing the largest network of institutional and capacity building organisations in Small Island Developing States, in the historical expansion of the GN-SEC to all SIDS regions in the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS), covering 35 of 39 SIDS, comprising the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“PCREEE”) in Tonga, the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“CCREEE”) in Barbados, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“ECREEE”) in Cabo Verde, the Central America Integrated System (SICA) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“SICREEE”) in El Salvador, the South African Development Community (SADC) Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“SACREEE”) in Namibia, and the Central Africa Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (“CEREEAC”) in Angola.
Also attending the Ceremony were the Hon. Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni Hu’akavameiliku, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga and Vice President of the seventh session of the SIDS DOCK Assembly; Mr. Viliami Vaʻinga Tōnē, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga to the UN and Chair of the SIDS DOCK Executive Council; The Rt. Hon. Denzil Douglas, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Economic Development, International Trade, Investment Industry & Commerce, St. Kitts and Nevis; Hon. Mrs. Fekitamoeloa ʻUtoikamanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Kingdom of Tonga; Hon. Dr. Viliami Uasike Latu, Minister for Trade & Economic Development, Kingdom of Tonga; Hon. Ms. Nilda Borges da Mata, Minister for the Environment, São Tomé and Príncipe; Hon. Mr. Jose do Nascimento Carvalho do Rio, Minister for Infrastructure and Natural Resources, São Tomé and Príncipe; and The Rt. Hon Patricia Scotland, KC, Commonwealth Secretary-General, among other distinguished guests and delegates.
As the reluctant guests strolled out of Avec Amour to the sounds of the steel pan band, one satisfied and happy small island guest turned to the guests behind and said, “yes, the world needs more Austrians and UNIDOs.”
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SIDS DOCK is a United Nations (UN)-recognised international organisation established in 2015, with all the rights and privileges for addressing climate change, resilience, and energy security in small islands. SIDS DOCK represents 32 small islands and low-lying developing states across the globe, and is so named because it is designed as a “DOCKing station,” to connect the energy sector in SIDS with the global markets for finance and sustainable energy technologies. The organisation’s work is coordinated by the Secretariat, in Belmopan, Belize.