Maldives calls for greater commitment towards development of Small Island Developing States

Maldives Minister of State for Environment and Energy Abdulla Majeed, speaking at the First Session of UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), has called on the international community pay adequate attention to the issues of the of small island developing states.

The First Session of UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) was held from 23 to 27 June at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Referring to the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States to be held in Samoa next September, State Minister Abdulla Majeed said that the UNEA must take stock of how the assembly has progressed and where it has failed.

He queried whether the international community pays adequate attention to the issues of the group of over 40 small island developing states, if there were sufficient exchanges of technology with these nations and if new resources were made available to them.

Speaking at the First Session of UN Environment Assembly, Abdulla Majeed reaffirming Maldives’ commitment towards sustainable development, and highlighted the difficulties faced in the Maldives in the aspect in terms of ecological fragility and structural vulnerability.

Majeed also assured the UNEA gathering of Maldives’ commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and noted its progress thus far, having achieved 5 of the 8 MDGs, making Maldives a front-runner in the South Asian region.