Seventh Edition of the SIDS Solutions Dialogue

Geneva - The FAO Liaison Office in Geneva (LOG), in collaboration with the Office of SIDS, LDCs, and LLDCs (OSL), the liaison offices in Brussels and New York as well as the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, organized the seventh session of the SIDS Solutions Dialogue. The focus of the dialogue was on Blue Transformation: maximizing the contribution of aquatic food systems to the 2030 Sustainable Agenda in SIDS.  

Blue Transformation in Action  

The session reflected the importance of maximizing the contribution of aquatic food systems to enable SIDS, particularly their local communities, to adapt to climate change and build more resilient livelihoods.  

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Leslie Ramsammy, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), highlighted the multi-faceted aspects of Guyana’s work on the Blue Agenda, emphasizing Guyana’s efforts to expand the aquatic food system. Ambassador Mere Falemaka, Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, briefed participants on successes achieved on fisheries and highlighted challenges for maintaining the sustainability of stocks and dealing with the impact of climate change and the omnipresence of plastics.  

The dialogue featured country experiences from Cabo Verde on the Sustainable Fish Value Chains for SIDS (SVC4SIDS) and from the Dominican Republic as part of the FISH4ACP project. These two field experiences demonstrated good practices for enhancing value chain productivity in fisheries and aquaculture, while ensuring environmental sustainability and supporting livelihoods.  

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture  

FAO provided an overview of fisheries and aquaculture key trends, challenges and opportunities for SIDS, based on the 2024 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report. This report is published biennially by FAO and contains a detailed description of matters ranging from global aquatic resources to the trade in seafood products or the extent of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Carlos Fuentevilla, Fishery Officer in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division of FAO, highlighted the potential of aquatic food systems and emphasized that aquatic food systems are also crucial for local economies, livelihoods, trade, and sustainable development.  

Angélica Jácome, Director of the FAO Office of SIDS, LDCs, and LLDCs, concluded the session highlighting the importance of maximizing the contribution of aquatic food systems to enable SIDS, particularly local communities, to adapt to climate change and build more resilient livelihoods.