Two conferences that receive far less attention than they deserve are happening midyear — and four development issues need to feature prominently at both events to ensure sustainable growth for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations and ecosystems.
The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States and the Third U.N. Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries are critical opportunities to shine a spotlight on the challenges faced by small island developing states, or SIDS, and landlocked developing countries, or LLDCs, on their different development pathways.
These events do not get the global attention or coverage that the G20 or Davos meetings do, and the challenges that they seek to address are often overshadowed by crises, conflicts, and issues in developed parts of the world. Yet both conferences offer the opportunity to agree on comprehensive programs of action for SIDS and LLDCs, and to chart a path for sustainable development for their communities and the world.
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About the author
Francine Pickup
Francine Pickup is the United Nations Development Programme’s deputy director in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support. She has worked in the U.N., Oxfam, and Amnesty International in various countries including Serbia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, and the occupied Palestinian Territory.
