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Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly
22 September 2021
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Honourable Gaston Brown, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States,
Excellencies,
I thank the chair for inviting me to contribute to this discussion.
I feel like I have come home. I was there in Rio, when we convened the first meeting of AOSIS Leaders ¨C when we formed AOSIS. I was there in Barbados at the first UN Conference on Small Island States. Excellencies, AOSIS is my family. And my Presidency, dear friends, is an AOSIS Presidency.
This AOSIS Leader¡¯s Summit is particularly timely. The dual crises of climate and COVID have left already vulnerable countries both threatened and struggling.
On the one hand, climate change looms as an existential threat, and on the other, the very finance and resources needed to build adaptive capacity have been depleted by the pandemic.
This, as you are all aware, is mainly due to global contractions in two sectors that are key to many SIDS: coastal tourism and fisheries. The crisis has also been amplified by SIDS¡¯ structural vulnerabilities, such as high fiscal deficits and public debt levels, and significant constraints to the mobilisation of both public and private finance.
Excellencies, the world must recognize these specific needs and heed the calls from SIDS for access to concessional financing, enhanced investment in sustainable development, debt relief, and, most importantly, climate finance.
Furthermore, any recovery effort aimed at SIDS¡¯ economies should result in unlocking new, sustainable economic opportunities that can foster diversification and resilience.
During the 76th session I intend to use the opportunity of multiple environmental summits to amplify the voices and concerns of SIDS, and to underscore these messages.
Specifically, I will convene a meeting ahead of COP26 in October, with the intention of drawing attention to much needed finance and capacities on the ground.
And later, in July 2022, I will convene a High-Level Meeting to address the interlocking nature of all the major environmental concerns and related summits, covering the ocean, climate, biodiversity, and desertification, amongst others.
Dear colleagues, another issue on which we must mobilize political will, relates to vaccine accessibility.
While vaccines remain the most powerful tool to beat back COVID-19, the level of access for SIDS has been poor. This is unacceptable. I will use the convening power of the General Assembly to host a High-Level Meeting geared towards addressing vaccine inequity.
Excellencies, please trust that as you continue to press your concerns to the global community, I will be right there besides you.
As a Maldivian, I know that the challenges faced by SIDC can feel daunting. However, I remain optimistic that with the support of the international community, they can rise to the occasion.
As you prepare to adopt the AOSIS leaders¡¯ declaration, I urge you to do so with hope. Hope is what will rescue us from cynicism and give us the willpower to address today¡¯s most pressing issues, from COVID-19 to climate change.
I thank you again for inviting me, and I wish you all a very fruitful summit.
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As a Maldivian, I know that the challenges faced by SIDC can feel daunting. However, I remain optimistic that with the support of the international community, they can rise to the occasion.