Police force gears up for hosting SIDS4

By Zaya Williams

The Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda is actively coordinating preparations for the upcoming fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), slated to be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda.

Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney expressed the force’s commitment to ensuring the seamless execution of the event.

“We are committing to take on the task and to do our best to show that we are capable of handling major events. We are committed to prepare. We are committed to show up, and we are committed to show off,” emphasized Commissioner Rodney.

In anticipation of the conference and with the goal of enhancing overall efforts, Rodney announced plans to recruit new members to the police force in the early months of the new year.

Scheduled to unfold from May 27 to 30, 2024, under the theme “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity,” SIDS4 aims to assess the ability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference is expected to result in a focused, forward-looking, and action-oriented political outcome document, having broad implications for the participating nations.

The preparatory committee includes representatives from Barbados, Cabo Verde, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Italy, Latvia (Rapporteur), Maldives (Co-Chair), New Zealand (Co-Chair), Romania, Seychelles, Antigua and Barbuda (as the host of the Conference), and Samoa (as Chair of AOSIS), serving as ex officio members.

To ready for the Conference, regional preparatory meetings were held in each of the three regions of small island developing states, along with an interregional preparatory meeting for all small island developing states in 2023.

UN Secretary-General Li Junhua and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States Rabab Fatima have been appointed to guide intergovernmental and logistical preparations and lead advocacy and fundraising efforts, respectively.

UN DESA, in collaboration with OHRLLS, will coordinate the inter-agency preparations and contributions of the United Nations system to the Conference.