The 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States will take place in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda from the 27th to the 30th of May 2024.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are in the crossfires of multiple crises: climate change, the economic and social repercussions of COVID-19, and a crisis of debt. The pandemic hugely impacted all island nations, especially those dependent on tourism. Global lockdowns left large holes in islands’ coffers and severely set back efforts to invest in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Meanwhile, climate action is becoming increasingly urgent, as weather-related disasters have doubled in two decades: with island nations both most vulnerable and least responsible.

At this time of great peril, opportunity must be seized. In Antigua and Barbuda in May 2024, the international community will gather to review SIDS’ sustainable development progress and propose a new decade of partnerships and solutions to supercharge their path to resilient prosperity.

Under the overarching theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity", the Conference will aim at assessing the ability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

It will result in an intergovernmentally agreed, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented political outcome document.

The members of the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee are: Barbados, Cabo Verde, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Italy, Latvia (Rapporteur), Maldives (Co-Chair), New Zealand (Co-Chair), Romania and Seychelles. Antigua and Barbuda (as host of the Conference) and Samoa (as Chair of AOSIS) serve as ex officio members.