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Excellencies, 
Colleagues, 
Ladies and gentlemen,

I join my colleagues in welcoming you all to our  Webinar.

A big thank you must go to the Co-chairs as well as the Small States Centre of Excellence for organizing this timely webinar.

If I had addressed you last year, I would have said here we are, the glass is half- full, many complex issues remain but the SIDS are making every effort to realize the SDGs, the SAMOA Pathway and meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Here we are in 2020. A year that certainly none of us will ever forget and the  COVID-19 pandemic now threatens the lives AND the livelihoods of the  SIDS citizens.

Of course, the immediate issue is one of health. But as we all know the health status of people is linked to a complex set of socio-economic issues. So, I really look forward to learning today from our partners, our speakers and panelists.

As I said, the immediate issue concerns the health impacts of the virus.

To date, they have been severe in some SIDS and thankfully not yet in others. So far, several Pacific SIDS have avoided outbreaks.

My thoughts and condolences go to the families and friends of all those whose lives could not be saved.

What we now  see, and this is of serious concern, is that across the board people in nearly all SIDS experience reduced food security, increased malnutrition or vulnerable children  receive less care outside of their homes.

Education systems are disrupted.

Like elsewhere violence against women has drastically increased. Women who disproportionately work in the healthcare sector not only are more exposed but do double shifts between work and family.

Gender disparities in the impact of the COVID-19 crisis are evident and we need to take that into account.

The pandemic has not only laid bare already existing challenges, but has also laid bare what high degrees of inequality mean in a pandemic and has now driven the situation where potentially we talk glass half empty rather than half full.

And the pandemic, while a major aspect of the challenges SIDS face, is not standing on its own as the many risks, including those to health, from climate change, natural disasters and external economic shocks are all part of this near perfect storm the SIDS now face. 

Given border closures, disrupted supply chains, globally rapidly dropping consumption, highly reduced remittances, near to non- existing tourism which is a major employer and earner in the SIDS, many already lost jobs, we must be also be concerned by the state of the economies!  The state of the economies means the state of household budgets and their capacities to afford food, health care and basic necessities!

It is clear that sustained international support is needed to ensure we do not leave the SIDS behind. And I add, it is needed NOW.

The  (AOSIS), has made strong calls for major fiscal measures to enable SIDS to cope with the crisis and to preserve hard won development gains.

The reality, sad reality is that so far this year, an increase in international support has not yet materialised.

Take humanitarian relief. This year, it is a third lower than the same time last year. From a global perspective, the UN estimates for an adequate humanitarian response stood at $40 billion. So far only $1.7 billion has been pledged.

The question before us is simple: do we want to leave the SIDS behind or do we want that the peoples of the SIDS are included in the sustainable development path that the Agenda 2030 wants to achieve for all.

Now is the time to be proactive. Now is the time to further partnerships between SIDS and with their partner states and the global community. In the short term of course focus has to be on the immediate and urgent healthcare response. But, for responses to be sustainable, now is the time to invest in and build capacities for and with the SIDS to manage forward through the range of complex issues all having ultimately a bearing on the health status of their peoples.

In closing, I reiterate the commitment of OHRLLS to continue to strongly support the SIDS Partnership Steering committee.

I thank all participants for your contributions and look forward to listening to you.