The towns and cities of small islands and archipelago-based nations are some of the most vulnerable, diverse, and rapidly growing urban centres anywhere in the world, acting as crucial gateways to sustainable development for the citizens of small island developing states. Yet they are often overlooked by international urban resilience policies and programs due to the small populations involved.
To address this gap, ICLEI has launched a special Community for towns, cities and provinces of small island states, often known as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This initiative was announced by Eddie Ngava, Deputy Mayor of Honiara, Solomon Islands, at the closing plenary of the ICLEI Resilient Cities 2016 Congress held in Bonn, Germany.
This ICLEI Community is a group of interested and concerned representatives of towns and provinces of small island states. It will support their communication, exchange and cooperation on resilient and sustainable urban development.
The ICLEI Community will provide a forum for island leaders to gain access to critical information as well as support tools and programmes, to exchange experience and expertise, collaborate in developing resilience-building projects and securing funding, and to advocate on behalf of the Community at regional and global events.
The Community will be supported by the ICLEI global network of cities and programmes. Cr Ngava has been nominated as the Small Islands portfolio holder on the ICLEI Global Executive Committee. “Cities like Honiara are the first victims of climate change and contribute only marginally to global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet they receive little support and recognition for strengthening their resilience,” said the deputy mayor of the island city.
Following the launch of the Community, ICLEI is now inviting leaders of island municipal authorities to apply to join the community. Potential partner organisations who may be interested in supporting, endorsing or sponsoring the Community have also been invited to contact ICLEI.
The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) country group was formed through the United Nations 1992 Earth Summit process, comprising 52 nations across 3 regions: the Pacific, the Caribbean, and ‘AIMS’ (the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea).
Click here to join the Community or to know more about it
Or contact: Steve Gawler, (steve.gawler@iclei.org)
Low emission development
