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External event

Conference

Breaking the Myth of Paradise: The Future of Small Island Developing States

The Eastern Caribbean States Embassies to the Kingdom of Belgium and Missions to the European Union based is organizing a Symposium: Breaking the myth of paradise: The future of SIDS to take place in Brussels on Thursday 10 July 2014.

The activity will take the format of interactive panels in plenary sessions (round table style) with discussions made in English by OECS and Caribbean experts as well as SIDS connoisseurs, international organisations and public policy institutions. It is expected that further information sharing and networking would take place during coffee and lunch breaks.  Up to 80 participants are expected to attend from Brussels, Europe, the OECS and Caribbean region and neighbouring countries.

The symposium is designed to produce greater awareness of the special and unique vulnerabilities of SIDS and their development challenges. Its aim is to focus attention, here in Brussels, and in wider Europe, on SIDS, the challenges that they face, the models that they have devised in support of their own development and the challenges that still exist and that require international efforts aimed at resolution. While the symposium will also highlight the everyday realities of Caribbean SIDS it is well understood, however, (and will be discussed) that the broader narrative is one which encompasses all SIDS.  The issues of vulnerability and the search for resilience are common to all.