BACKGROUND
Last year, various regions around the world suffered from severe natural disasters. Many of them were of unprecedented magnitude, compromising the development efforts undertaken by small island states. It is in the wake of the devastating hurricanes that cut across the Caribbean that UNDP and CARICOM hosted a high-level pledging conference at the UN HQ in New York last November. Once again, the outcome underscored how resilient and sustainable (re-)construction as well as transforming energy sectors (in the context of climate change) were crucial for small island states to achieve the sustainable development goals. Becoming the first climate-resilient region in the world is the way to meet the goals of Agenda 2030.
OBJECTIVE OF THE CONFERENCE
To concretely follow-up on the UNDP-CARICOM conference and its outcomes and to address the specificities of small islands states, the Governments of Belgium and Antigua & Barbuda together with the Aruba Centre of Excellence (COE) for SIDS organized a two-day seminar that focused on financial aspects of resilience, on disaster risk reduction and management, on climate resilient infrastructure, on the inclusion of the Private sector through PPPs and other relevant topics.