Honourable Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Maldives,
Honourable Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great honour to welcome you to this side event on the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Debt Sustainability Support Service, one of the key outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on SIDS - or SIDS4. Congratulations, once again, to Prime Minister Browne for his leadership, both as host of the Conference and for spearheading this important initiative.
Excellencies,
We gather at a critical time for multilateralism. The international community is grappling with an unprecedented number of concurrent crises that demand collective solutions. No where is this felt more acutely than in SIDS.
SIDS are on the frontlines of a global climate crisis, with shocks that are becoming more frequent and severe. This crisis, which SIDS did little to create, has cost them losses of 94.3 billion US dollars between 2010 and 2019.
As the impacts of climate change have intensified year-on-year, the financing gap in SIDS has become more urgent. Many are now caught in a vicious cycle, unable to make the investments they need in sustainable development, as precious resources are diverted to finance recovery from recurring crises and emergencies.
Lacking in options, many SIDS have been forced to take on crushing levels of debt.
Between 2000 and 2022 debt levels in SIDS rose from 42.3 per cent of GDP to around 60 per cent.
At SIDS4 we heard time and time again that the current financial architecture is not delivering for SIDS. SIDS too often find themselves pushing up against the closed doors of institutions and systems they had no hand in creating, have no voice in shaping, and that remain unresponsive to their needs.
The Summit of the Future is an opportunity to rethink our international system, so that no one, or no country – no matter how small – is left behind.
And next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will build on the momentum generated by the Summit to advance meaningful reforms of the international financial architecture.
FfD4 can move forward a package of solutions to address our global debt challenges, a package that centres on three critical action areas: First, systematic support for countries suffering from debt overhangs to create fiscal space for SDG investment.
Second, strengthening the debt crisis resolution architecture.
And third, bolstering countries’ ability to manage debt more effectively, ensure responsible borrowing and lending, and prevent future debt crises.
The Debt Sustainability Support Service is designed to provide a mix of options for debt relief, service on protection measures, promotions of climate resilience investment, and advisory and legal support for debt management, in ways suited to the needs of SIDS.
This initiative is an example of a SIDS-led solution to SIDS’ debt management. It will equip SIDS to engage in debt discussions on a more equitable footing.
I encourage all partners to lend their support.
Thank you!