“We are not doing this for Samoa, we are doing this to provide the stage for partnerships. For me, if there are partnerships that will be launched that will benefit Tuvalu, Kiribati and other countries in other regions all the better”
The third International Small Island Developing States (S.I.D.S.) conference may be about small islands and hosted by a small island, but make no mistake, Samoa’s voice will resonate globally.
That’s a promise from Samoa’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ali’ioaiga Feturi Elisaia.
Speaking to the Samoa Observer four days from the official opening of S.I.D.S, Ali’ioaiga says the conference, bringing more than 3,000 delegates to Samoa, is very much a worldwide conference.
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“We are at pains to keep reminding the international community,” he says. “This is not a S.I.D.S. conference for S.I.D.S. only, this is a global conference on S.I.D.S. issues.”
High on the agenda, he says, are partnership dialogues. He says this will be the first time this style of talks will be tried at such a high level conference.
Ali’ioaiga says in the lead up to the conference, officials asked him how many roundtables he wanted.
“My response was ‘you must be joking? Why are you bringing the leaders (to Samoa) to lock themselves up in a room with prepared statements that were drafted by officials who may not be in the room?’
“For us we want to have a focus on partnerships…that is why they have to have these partnership dialogues now.
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