LINK
TO OUTCOMES
21st Jun
2021—A roundtable organised by the
governments of the UK and Fiji, and the Pacific Islands
Forum Secretariat on 9 June, has delivered an outcomes
document aimed at practical priorities for improving access
to concessional finance for Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) in the Pacific.
The 9 June event was a follow
up to a SIDS Finance Roundtable in October 2020 jointly
organised by the UK, Fiji, and Belize. At the virtual
gathering, 90 participants from Pacific governments,
regional organisations and development partners discussed
the need to adapt measures of development to better reflect
SIDS’ vulnerabilities, and ways to tailor multilateral
systems to help SIDS access concessional
finance.
Pacific SIDS are particularly vulnerable to
economic shocks, including from climate change and – as we
are seeing now – from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same
time, they face capacity challenges in dealing with the
sometimes complex or inflexible systems to access
development and climate finance.
In a keynote speech
Fiji’s Attorney General and Minister for the Economy,
Civil Service, Communications and Climate Change Hon.Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum spoke of the “perfect socio-economic
storm” created by the COVID-19 health emergency and
stressed the urgent need to transition from projectised to
programmatic development finance that instils a bottom-up
approach to improving absorptive capacity of Pacific SIDS
and accelerating post-COVID recovery.
Proposals for
action discussed during the Roundtable included debt for
climate swaps, reform of the international debt
architecture, review of IMF Special Drawing Rights to
provide liquidity for SIDS, investment in capacity building
in SIDS for long term sustainable and resilient economies,
and donor support for insurance to manage risk.
The
outcomes of the Roundtable will feed into proposals for
action at the Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers
Meeting this July, and a high-level global meeting in London
in September.
British High Commissioner to Fiji,
George Edgar said, “The UK recognises the particular
challenges faced by Small Island Developing States are
exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yesterday’s Roundtable was an important step towards
identifying practical actions to facilitate access to
development finance for SIDS.”
Pacific Islands Forum
Secretary General Henry Puna delivered opening remarks to
the Roundtable. Thanking the Governments of the UK and Fiji,
and noting outcomes and next steps, he noted how “keynote
speakers, panels and comments continued the call for urgent
attention to the lack of access to finance for Pacific SIDS.
They have generated much needed momentum on a critical
challenge at the heart of global
development.”
“Our Forum members have raised clear
and consistent concerns about access to global development
finance for decades. This is critical for our Blue Pacific
to progress. I do hope the renewed sense of urgency and
commitment from the global impacts of COVID-19 and the
climate crisis, will make 2021 the year for affordable,
effective finance for our Pacific Island countries and all
SIDS,” SG Puna
said
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