{{Short description, United Nations policy document
The United Nations Programme of Action on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, popularly referred to as the Barbados Program of Action (BPOA), is a policy document that both: comprehensively addresses the economic, environmental, and social developmental vulnerabilities facing islands; and outlines a strategy that seeks to mitigate those vulnerabilities. It remains the only internationally approved programme specific to
Small Island Developing States
The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a grouping of developing country, developing countries which are small island country, island countries and small states that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include s ...
(SIDS) which has been collectively and unanimously endorsed by SIDS.
Development of the BPOA
The full text of the BPOA was produced in
Bridgetown, Barbados
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The C ...
, in 1994 at the first Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island States, a conference mandated by United Nations
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
Resolution 47/189. The need for an islands specific conference was highlighted some two years prior at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...
), held in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
where 179 governments voted to adopt
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action ag ...
. Chapter 17, section G of Agenda 21 acknowledges that "small island developing states are a special case both for environment and development ... ndare considered extremely vulnerable to global warming and sealevel rise."
BPOA+5
In 1999, the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
of the UN held a special session to appraise five years of progress on the implementation of the BPOA (BPOA +5). The Assembly recognized progress as 'uneven' and identified key trends including increasing
globalization
Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...
, widening inequalities in income and a continued deterioration of the global environment. A new General Assembly Resolution (S-22/2) promised further action.
BPOA+10
The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, agreed to at the
World Summit on Sustainable Development
The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was t ...
( Earth Summit 2002) affirmed UN commitment to 'full implementation' of Agenda 21, alongside achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals
In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...
, the BPOA, and other international agreements. To this end, it recommended the convening of an International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. Upon receipt of the recommendation, the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
of the UN passed Resolutions 57/262 and 58/213, which mandated an International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States to take place. The meeting was held in Port Louis, Mauritius, during January 10–14, 2005. The final report emerging from this meeting significantly revised the original BPOA, and verified what previous reviews were alluding to, that the implementation of the BPOA had been largely unsuccessful. What emerged from it was a reorganising of the Programs "priority areas" and an entrenched commitment to the notion that economic growth would ultimately contribute to sustainable development.
The Barbados Programme of Action Final Report for the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (BPOA).
the final Report of the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (BPOA +10).
Official website for the
Alliance of Small Island States
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is an intergovernmental organization of low-lying coastal and small island countries. AOSIS was established in 1990, ahead of the Second World Climate Conference. The main purpose of the alliance is to c ...