Marie Altagrace Astride Nazaire serves as Minister Counsellor on the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the United Nations (UN). As part of her role in advocating for the Caribbean community, Astride Nazaire spoke at the UN’s Second Committee on the importance of implementing the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) to par development between rich countries and small island developing states (SIDS).
BPOA was adopted in 1994 at the UN Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS held in Barbados. The program was backed by the Barbados Declaration, indicating the political will of global leaders to follow up on its mission.
BPOA highlights the specific development challenges faced by SIDS, including small size that prevents economies of scale, geographic isolation, dependence on international trade, high population density that strains available resources, costly infrastructure, and limited institutional capacities. The program then outlines a 14-point agenda highlighting the actions necessary to address these challenges. These include: addressing climate change, expanding energy resources, managing wastes, supporting national and regional institutions, promoting innovative scientific and technological solutions, and continuously developing human resources.
