‘The Stars Are Aligned for Small Island Developing States’

In what has become a tradition for AOSIS, it’s Leaders and Heads of Delegation met on the sidelines of the 68^th United nations General Assembly this year to discuss the year ahead and reaffirm the bonds of an alliance that now spans over two decades.

Meeting at a luncheon in Midtown Manhattan, the group held a dialogue about the convergence of a number of opportunities for SIDS to highlight their priorities on the international stage over the next year-and-a-half, including the International Year of SIDS; the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development; the ECOSOC reform process; the UN Secretary-General’s Leader’s Summit on Climate Change; and the SIDS Conference in Samoa.

The Leaders solidified their commitment to the Alliance and to each other as representatives of some of the people most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The discussion was led by Nauru’s President, Chair of AOSIS, H.E. Baron Waqa who echoed the words of Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations at a SIDS preparation meeting earlier this summer: “‘The Stars Are Aligned for Small Island Developing States’ so we better take advantage of all the opportunities.”