UNITED NATIONS (CMC)— President of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Munir Akram, says Small Island Developing States (SIDS), such as those in the Caribbean, must receive financial and international support if they are to recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and natural disasters.

“Financial liquidity is available today in the world, and it is essential in order to enable the SIDS to build back better,” he told a special high-level meeting, held online Friday. 

The meeting was also addressed by Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne in his capacity as the chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

The UN said there are roughly 60 SIDS worldwide, located in three geographical regions: the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS). It said although their combined population of 65 million is slightly less than one per cent of the world’s population, it recognises the unique social, economic and environmental challenges they face.

While the pandemic has inflicted serious hardship and damage globally, Akram said it has particularly affected SIDS, “impacting every aspect of life in these countries.”

“For the SIDS, this has been a perfect storm – financial, natural, and social. Their revenues have virtually evaporated with the end of tourism, due to lockdowns, trade impediments, the fall in commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions.

“High debt overhangs, internally high risk, and short-term maturity debts are creating impossible financial problems for their ability to recover from the crisis,” he said.

At the same time, Akram said SIDS have also faced the brunt of the climate crisis.

“There have been increasing climate events, hurricanes, and also the recent eruption of the volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines”, he said, referring to the burgeoning crisis in the Caribbean country.

The ECOSOC chief pointed out that SIDS, however, have largely been ineligible for debt suspension during the pandemic.

He said they also have received little in the way of international support for climate adaptation, and for loss and damage, warning that their sustainable development is at risk.

“It is said that we must ‘Build Back Better’”, Akram said. “But, in order for the SIDS to revive the path of development, it is essential that they should receive the financial and international support that is required, which is commensurate with the challenges they are facing,” Akram said, calling for innovative solutions to enable SIDS to access global financing.

“The SIDS should be assisted to prepare a pipeline of projects, which are suitable for financial investment,” he said, adding that “this must be an essential part of the transformation in the development modules to decrease their vulnerability to such pandemics and events.”

In his address, Browne told the conference that there was need for a revision of the rules governing development assistance to SIDS saying that the majority of them are unable to access concessional financing, debt relief or debt forgiveness.

“The majority of our countries are unable to access concessional financing, debt relief, or debt forgiveness, even when struggling to recover from the impacts of the most catastrophic hurricanes the world has ever seen,” he told the meeting.