Maldives elected as next chair of AOSIS

Maldives has been elected as the next Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

The decision was announced at the Ministerial Meeting of AOSIS being held in Seychelles.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Maldives launched its campaign for chairmanship on 16 May 2014, by sending a letter by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon to her counterparts in the member states of AOSIS.

The Maldives spearheaded the efforts to form AOSIS, following the first ever Small States Conference held in the Maldives in November 1989.

In the past 25 years, the Maldives, through national, regional, and international efforts, has undertaken several initiatives and been an agent of change on a wide variety of issues related to climate change and environmental degradation.

Foreign Ministry said that the Maldives hopes to further strengthen the character and status of AOSIS as the norm entrepreneur and bridge builder, during its term as Chair.

The AOSIS is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, and especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.