President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Special Envoy of the President of Maldives to the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, has said that the world should start listening to the voices of small states. Speaking at the Maldives side-event entitled “Island Voices: A Maldivian Perspective”, President Gayoom reasserted that for the problems of small island developing states to be understood, they need to be listened to.
President Gayoom also spoke about the challenges facing small states focusing on water management, which was the theme of the Maldives side-event. Water management in the Maldives is a continuous challenge to the Maldives with limited fresh water, salination of fresh water, and high costs associated with collecting, storing and transporting water. The former President asserted that challenges such as water management is a problem that can only be addressed through genuine and durable partnerships.
The Maldives side-event focused on the integrated water resource management (IWRM) system, which is “a partnership between old and new methods, local and new authorities, national and international partners”.
Speaking at the Side Event, MrThoriq Ibrahim, Minister of Environment and Energy, highlighted that for the Government of Maldives, access to drinking water is a human right. He explained that the IWRM system employs to the fullest extent possible, all sources of water, reducing costs associated with establishing exclusive desalinated water systems. The system also utilizes renewable energy sources in the production and distribution, further reducing costs.
The Maldives side-event opened with a video documentary showcasing, from a Maldivian perspective, the challenges that small island developing states face, and identifying opportunities available for the Maldives.
Apart from the national side-event, the Maldives delegation to the Conference participated in various other events.
On 2 September 2014, the Minister at the President’s Office, Mr Mohamed Hussain Shareef spoke at the side event hosted by Costa Rica as the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) entitled “The post-2015 Climate Change Regime”. Speaking at the side event, Minister Shareef said that “throughout their history, small island developing states have shown that they have smart ideas that can address the biggest problems facing the world”. These ideas have transcended barriers of geography, and development status.
Minister Shareef highlighted that climate change poses an existential threat to SIDS, their cultures, and way of life. He noted that it infringes on internationally protected human rights, including the right to sustainable development. “The fate of the most vulnerable is a litmus test for the fate of the world tomorrow”, he added.
The Maldives was also represented at the inaugural session of the Coalition of Atoll Nations on Climate Change, a new partnership of atoll nations in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, that are severely affected by climate change and, hopes to show leadership in terms of words and action. Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and Tokelau joined the Maldives at the panel of the CANCC meeting.
Representing the Maldives at the session, the Minister Shareef recalled the devastation of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the nationwide effort to rehabilitate and reconstruct after the disaster. He noted that the low-lying island nations, including the Maldives, experienced climate change and its effects on a scale that is unprecedented. Furthermore, the Minister highlighted some of the initiative that the Maldives had taken over the years to make itself more climate resilient. Minister Shareef also spoke on the importance of reconsidering and revising the existing criteria on graduating front-line SIDS from among LDCs, with special focus on their special characteristics and inherent vulnerabilities.
“The world should start to listen to the voices of small states”: says President Gayoom
