Follow-Up to and Implementation of the Sids Accelerated Modalities of Action (Samoa) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

A/RES/77/245View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 18b Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, published in 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2016–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/203

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2024	A/RES/79/203	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States	2,538	20%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/232	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States	4,845	44%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/245	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States	4,808	45%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/203	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States	3,647	63%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/215	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States	2,555	76%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

11 reports · 2017–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/79	Follow-up to and implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/203
2025	A/80/411	Follow-up to and implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States : A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/203
2024	A/79/527	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/232
2023	A/78/222	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/245
2022	A/77/218	Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/203

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Conferences Indexes Partnership Programme Implementation Small Island Developing States Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

49 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;¹³

¹³A/77/218.

Recalls the convening of the high-level meeting to review progress made in addressing the priorities of small island developing States through the implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway on 27 September 2019 and the adoption on 10 October 2019 of its political declaration,¹⁴ and looks forward to the full and urgent implementation of the calls made in the political declaration;

¹⁴Resolution 74/3.

Reiterates the call to the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and their subsidiary bodies to monitor the full implementation of the Declaration of Barbados¹⁵ and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the Samoa Pathway, including through the monitoring frameworks of the regional commissions, and recalls the discussion during the 2022 high-level political forum on sustainable development on the sustainable development challenges facing small island developing States, with the aim of enhancing engagement and implementing commitments;

¹⁵Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April–6 May 1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and corrigenda), chap. I, resolution 1, annex I.

Underlines the need to give due consideration to the issues and concerns of small island developing States in all relevant major United Nations conferences and processes and the relevant work of the United Nations development system, and calls for the elaboration of information specific to small island developing States in a disaggregated manner in all major United Nations reports, where appropriate;

Welcomes resolution 5/14 adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its resumed fifth session, in which it decided to convene an intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics;

Recalls with concern the findings and conclusions of the needs assessment resulting from the expanding mandates of the small island developing States units of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, and emphasizes the need for allocation of adequate resources commensurate with the mandates of these units, taking into account the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States and its preparatory process;

Welcomes the continuing commitment of the international community to take urgent and concrete actions to address the vulnerabilities of small island developing States and to continue to seek new solutions to the major challenges facing them in a concerted manner in order to support the full implementation of the Samoa Pathway;

Calls for immediate and substantial actions to facilitate the responses of small island developing States to recover from the crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and address the unprecedented health and economic crisis in these States, while preserving their sustainable development achievements and commitments, and reinforce their resilience to climate change in line with the Samoa Pathway and the political declaration of the high-level meeting to review progress made in addressing the priorities of small island developing States through the implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway, notes with appreciation the recommendations of the Co-Chairs of the round-table process entitled “SIDS access to finance – identifying solutions for resilient COVID-19 recovery”, invites Member States to consider the statement and call to action from the second round-table dialogue on small island developing States and access to finance, held on 7 October 2021, and to join the Group of Friends of Small Island Developing States, and welcomes the commitments made by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in the communiqué of its high-level meeting of 2020, to improve policies and programmes to address the particular needs of small island developing States;

Recognizes that small island developing States face significant challenges in accessing sufficient affordable financing for sustainable development, including concessional financing, and in this regard encourages providers of development finance to consider the specific vulnerabilities of small island developing States in order to strengthen development cooperation;

Recalls the Secretary-General’s recommendations and guiding principles on the development and coordination of work within the United Nations system on a multidimensional vulnerability index for small island developing States, including on its finalization and potential uses, also recalls the establishment of a representative high-level panel of experts co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, and the former Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, welcomes the progress of the High-level Panel on the Development of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index for Small Island Developing States on its work and on its interim report, and in this regard:

Supports the proposed definitions for structural vulnerability and resilience and the two-level structure outlined in the report as the basis for the Panel’s continued work, guiding the selection of appropriate indicators to inform vulnerability across all sectors of sustainable development, the proposed governance structure and the development of the country vulnerability-resilience profiles;

Notes the request of the Panel for an extension of time to complete its work, and decides to request the Panel to finalize its work on the index, in full consultation with all Member States and other relevant stakeholders, in accordance with the terms of reference for the High-level Panel, and to convene additional consultations, as necessary, to address these and other relevant issues, taking into account the written submissions submitted to date, and to submit its final report no later than 30 June 2023;

Reiterates that small island developing States continue to face loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow-onset events, resulting in unprecedented social, economic and environmental challenges that push debt to unsustainable levels, and in this regard calls for urgent and ambitious global action, in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change¹⁶ and the Paris Agreement to avert, minimize and address the threat and impact of climate change on small island developing States;

¹⁶United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1771, No. 30822.

Takes note of the Secretary-General’s findings regarding the limited capacity of small island developing States, including upper-middle-income and high-income small island developing States, to gain access to disaster-related funding owing to differing eligibility criteria and the quantum of resources required to gain access thereto, as well as the need for an enabling environment at all levels, invites international financial institutions to revise eligibility criteria and modalities that prevent access to resources, taking into consideration multidimensional vulnerabilities, and urges the international community to enhance the allocation of and access to sustainable and predictable financing for disaster risk reduction and other preventive measures as part of a comprehensive risk management framework that matches the scale of existing and future disaster risks, while taking into account the barriers that have prevented the effective mobilization of critical financing to small island developing States, especially for implementation of associated plans and strategies devised by small island developing States;

Reaffirms that official development assistance, both technical and financial, can foster resilient societies and economies, and calls upon the international community to mobilize additional development finance from all sources and at all levels to support small island developing States’ efforts;

Recognizes with concern the transition challenges encountered by small island developing States that have graduated or are about to graduate from least developed country status, remains mindful that graduation must not disrupt a country’s development progress, and stresses the need for the development and implementation of a viable multiannual transition strategy to facilitate each small island developing State’s graduation, with the support of the international community where appropriate, to mitigate against, inter alia, the possible loss of concessionary financing, to reduce the risks of falling heavily into debt and to ensure macrofinancial stability;

Reiterates the call to relevant institutions to learn from one another’s efforts to address the diverse circumstances of countries, to better manage transitions and graduation, recognizes that official development assistance should continue to focus on countries most in need, and takes note of a willingness to develop a wider analysis of new measures, building on existing experiences with eligibility exceptions, for concessional finance and multidimensional assessments, to address the limitations of an income-only assessment of development and graduation readiness;

Reiterates the call to Member States to invite the World Bank to consider reviving the high-level working group among the development banks and its partners to review the rules governing access for small island developing States to concessional finance;

Underlines the need to take targeted measures to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, to reduce inequalities and to promote the implementation of nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for the poor and those in vulnerable situations;

Recognizes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in small island developing States is not possible without private investment, including long-term foreign investment, which can be facilitated and attracted through the creation of an enabling environment and capacity support for small island developing States;

Recalls the comprehensive review of the least developed country criteria by the Committee for Development Policy in 2020, and looks forward to the next review process;

Welcomes the establishment of the United Nations Small Island Developing States Partnerships Awards to recognize and reward the efforts of the best and most noteworthy, genuine and durable partnerships in the implementation of the sustainable development priorities of small island developing States, consistent with the Samoa Pathway and in line with the Small Island Developing States Partnerships criteria and norms;

Reaffirms the commitment to take urgent and concrete action to address the vulnerability of small island developing States, including through the sustained implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the Samoa Pathway, and underlines the urgency of finding additional solutions to the major challenges facing small island developing States in a concerted manner so as to support them in sustaining the momentum realized in implementing the Barbados Programme of Action, the Mauritius Strategy and the Samoa Pathway and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also reaffirms its call to convene in 2024, the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States which will be aimed at assessing the ability of small island developing States to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and decides that the international meeting will be convened in the second or third quarter of 2024 for a duration of no more than five days;

Welcomes the offer by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to host the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States in 2024;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, by 2024, the allocation of adequate resources to respond to the expanding mandates of the small island developing States units of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Office of the High Representative in support of the sustainable development agenda of the small island developing States and the forthcoming fourth International Conference for Small Island Developing States and its preparatory process;

Reiterates its call for the Secretary-General to continue to use his convening powers to continue to work on devising solutions for small island developing States in relation to debt vulnerability in the immediate term and debt sustainability in the long term, with due regard to multidimensional vulnerability, including the potential of a multidimensional vulnerability index, as criteria to access concessional finance, and in this regard invites the Secretary-General to consider requesting that a wide variety of stakeholders, including the United Nations system, international financial institutions, development banks and multilateral development partners, convene a high-level meeting during the Conference to discuss the mobilization of resources for small island developing States;

Decides that the Conference should:

Assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps and challenges in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action, the Mauritius Strategy and the Samoa Pathway, including the Small Island Developing States Partnership Framework, building on, inter alia, existing reports and relevant processes, stressing the importance of continued substantive consideration of the follow-up to and implementation of the Samoa Pathway, and the previous programmes of action for small island developing States, and seek a renewed political commitment by all countries to address effectively the special needs and vulnerabilities of small island developing States by focusing on practical and pragmatic actions for the further implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action, the Mauritius Strategy and the Samoa Pathway, inter alia, through the mobilization of targeted resources, including domestic and private investment, and assistance for small island developing States;

Identify new and emerging challenges and opportunities for the sustainable development of small island developing States and ways and means to address them, including through the strengthening of collaborative partnerships between small island developing States and the international community, and further identify priorities for the sustainable development of small island developing States for consideration, consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

Acknowledges that small island developing States have demonstrated their commitment to promoting sustainable development and, to that effect, have mobilized resources at the national and regional levels despite their limited resource base, and welcomes the long-standing cooperation and support provided by the international community and the private sector, which have played an important role in helping small island developing States to make progress in addressing their vulnerabilities and in supporting their sustainable development efforts;

Calls for continued and enhanced efforts to assist small island developing States and for a strengthening of United Nations system support to small island developing States, in keeping with the multiple ongoing and emerging challenges faced by those States to achieving sustainable development;

Decides to convene in 2023, prior to the commencement of the seventy-eighth session, a regional preparatory meeting in each of the three regions of small island developing States, as well as an interregional preparatory meeting for all small island developing States, to identify and develop input for the Conference, while maximizing coherence and complementarity with respect to other preparatory work;

Also decides that the national, regional, interregional and substantive preparations should be carried out in a most effective, well-structured and broad participatory manner and that, for this purpose, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, through its Small Island Developing States Unit, the Office of the High Representative and the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions, within their respective mandates and available resources, should provide the necessary support to the Conference and its preparatory process;

Further decides that the Conference will result in an intergovernmentally agreed, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented political outcome document;

Decides to establish a preparatory committee to make the organizational, procedural and substantive preparations for the Conference, which will hold a one-day organizational session in the first half of 2023 and two sessions, of no more than five days each, in the first half of 2024, and also decides that the Bureau of the preparatory committee shall consist of two members from each regional group, as well as ex officio members from the host country and the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, and that the committee shall elect two Co-Chairs from among the nominated Bureau members, one from a developed State and one from a developing State;

Invites regional groups to nominate their candidates for the 10-member Bureau of the preparatory committee no later than 31 January 2023, so that they can be involved in the preparations for the first meeting of the preparatory committee, and invites the Bureau to convene further meetings of the preparatory committee on an informal basis in New York, as required and in the most efficient and effective manner, to conclude discussions on the draft outcome document of the Conference;

Decides that the preparatory committee, during its organizational session in the first half of 2023, will adopt decisions and, as appropriate, make recommendations to the General Assembly on the additional modalities and format of the Conference and how it can be organized in the most efficient and effective manner;

Agrees that the Conference will be convened at the highest possible level and will include a high-level segment;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide all appropriate support to the work of the preparatory process of the Conference and to the Conference itself and to ensure inter-agency cooperation and effective participation and coherence within the United Nations system, as well as the efficient use of resources, so that the objectives of the Conference can be addressed;

Decides that the Conference and its preparatory committee shall be open to all States Members of the United Nations or members of specialized agencies, that the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, as well as the supplementary arrangements established for the Commission on Sustainable Development by the Council in its decisions 1993/215 of 12 February 1993 and 1995/201 of 8 February 1995, shall apply to the meetings of the preparatory committee, and that the preparatory committee shall consider and adopt the provisional rules of procedure of the Conference taking into consideration the established practice of the General Assembly and its conferences;

Invites relevant stakeholders, including organizations and bodies of the United Nations, international financial institutions and major groups identified in Agenda 21,¹⁷ to participate as observers in the Conference and the meetings of the preparatory committee;

¹⁷Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, vol. I: Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II. The major groups identified in Agenda 21 are women, children and youth, Indigenous Peoples and their communities, non-governmental organizations, local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, scientific and technological communities, and farmers.

Calls for the participation of associate members¹⁸ of the regional commissions in the Conference and the meetings of the preparatory committee, in the same capacity specified for their participation in the global conferences on the sustainable development of small island developing States held in 1994, 2005 and 2014;

¹⁸American Samoa, Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Curaçao, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guam, Martinique, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands.

Calls upon the Secretary-General to appoint a Secretary-General for the Conference at the earliest possible date;

Urges international and bilateral donors, as well as the private sector, financial institutions, foundations and other donors to support the preparations for the Conference through voluntary contributions to the trust fund in support of preparations for the Conference and to support the participation of representatives of developing countries, priority being given to small island developing States, including coverage of economy-class air tickets, daily subsistence allowances and terminal expenses, and invites voluntary contributions to support the participation of developing countries in the regional and international preparatory processes and the Conference itself;

Stresses the need for the effective participation of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and other major groups, particularly from small island developing States, in the regional and international preparatory processes and the Conference itself, as appropriate, and invites voluntary contributions to support their participation;

Recognizes that improved data collection and statistical analysis are required to enable small island developing States to effectively plan, follow up on, evaluate and track the implementation and achievement of the 2030 Agenda, including its Sustainable Development Goals, and other internationally agreed development goals, and in this regard recalls the adoption and finalization of the monitoring framework for the Samoa Pathway, further encourages small island developing States to utilize the framework for reporting ahead of the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, reiterates the call for meaningful partnerships with small island developing States to assist with strengthening their statistical offices and to provide enhanced support in developing national capacities for improved data collection and statistical analysis, including high-quality and disaggregated data, welcomes the launch of the Data Platform for the Small Island Developing States by the United Nations Development Programme at the Wadadli Action Platform convened in Saint John’s on 8 and 9 August 2022, and further calls upon the Secretary-General to continue to update the General Assembly on this matter;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly, at its seventy-eighth session, a report on the follow-up to and implementation of the Samoa Pathway, including on progress made and continuing challenges faced, on the implementation of the present resolution, building on the discussions and outcomes of the national, regional and interregional preparatory meetings, as well as the preparatory process for convening the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States and the final report of the High-level Panel on the Development of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-eighth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Follow-up to and implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States”.

56th (resumed) plenary meeting

30 December 2022

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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