Interviews

A medical epidemiologist working with the Indian Ocean Commission’s One Health initiative says that the number of ministers from small island States attending this week’s SIDS4 Conference in Antigua and Barbuda shows there is real “political commitment” to take urgent action.

Dr. Lovena Preeyadarshini Mangroo of Mauritius says although all five island nations that make up the Commission have similar problems, each country is different and must be properly understood before prevention and response plans to head of epidemics and other health risks can be put in place.

The developed world must increase support for small island developing States “not as an expression of generosity but of responsibility”, the UN’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction has said.

Kamal Kishore – who also heads up the Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) - was speaking to UN News in Antigua and Barbuda as the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) came to a close on Thursday.

Nearly eight months of war in Gaza have devastated the enclave’s hospitals and clinics but many skilled medical professionals are still there and committed to being part of its future, a senior UN World Health Organization (WHO) official told UN News.

“There's a lot of very capable health professionals in Gaza, and they should be very much part - they should actually be the focus - of any reconstruction and any rehabilitation process,” said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in Palestine.

They may be small islands in size – but the countries of the Caribbean are huge exporters of culture and need to remind younger generations at home of why they should feel proud of where they come from.

That’s according to Claire Nelson, a Jamaican based in the United States and founder of the advocacy-based Institute of Caribbean Studies, who’s been attending this week’s SIDS4 conference taking place on the twin island of Antigua and Barbuda.

How artificial intelligence (AI) can help advance efforts to build a more just and inclusive global future, for both people and the planet, is the focus of a two-day forum that opens in Geneva on Thursday.

The annual AI for Good Global Summit, organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), brings together leading experts in the field of AI and digital solutions to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues – from emerging AI applications to governance and ethical considerations. 

Small island developing States (SIDS) gathered in Antigua and Barbuda this week for the SIDS4 conference should not be afraid to stand up to companies seeking short-term profit at the long-term expense of human health and the environment – especially in the tourism sector.

Youth activists have been meeting on the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda this weekend to ensure their voices and call for action is heard loud and clear by world leaders assembling for the SIDS4 conference.

With their personal “wall of commitment” around 80 passionate young changemakers attending the SIDS Global Children and Youth Action Summit have been committing themselves to more action and taking the long view that the climate crisis is make or break for their generation of small islanders.

Following the 7 October terror attacks led by Hamas, thousands of Palestinians have been detained in what the Israeli Government has dubbed an “incarceration emergency” allowing them to fill prisons beyond official capacity.