Implementing the New Urban Agenda in Small Island Developing States: Promoting the role of cities in sustainable development in island systems

The event will last approximately 2 hours and will be moderated by an expert on human settlements in SIDS, Prof. Paul Jones Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney and commence with opening statements by ECLAC, ESCAP and UN-Habitat. A keynote presentation on SIDS and SDG localization and NUA implementation from Prof. Jones will provide a broad contextual overview.

Following the keynote presentation, the second segment of the event will include presentations from Pacific and Caribbean institutions on the regional response to the SIDS urban development challenges presented by Prof. Jones by presenting the Pacific and Caribbean Urban Agendas and outcomes of recent regional Forum process. These will be delivered by CLGF Oceania and TBC for Caribbean.

The third segment of this event will involve Member State statements and a moderated plenary discussion on the advancement of a SIDS New Urban Agenda (within Agenda 2030 including leveraging the AFINUA) as well as the role of existing and potential regional and interregional partnerships in advancing this agenda. The objectives of the Member State Statements segment are twofold - The first objective is to reinforce country commitments to existing regional SIDS Urban Agendas and global agreements (such as the New Urban Agenda, SDGs, Paris Agreement, Oceans Pathway, etc.) while highlighting good and/or emerging country practices in the integrated implementation of these frameworks. The second objective is to build momentum for a SIDS Urban Agenda by demonstrating the value of such interregional cooperation and providing suggestions to development partners (such as UNESCAP, UNECLAC, UN-Habitat, CLGF, PIFS, etc.) on the type of support needed for this global agenda to have value and impact at the country level.

The event will conclude with a representative from AOSIS or UN-OHRLLS or ACP who summarizes the different recommendations from countries and support requirements next steps and follow up.