Small Islands Voice - Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Regions

Small Islands Voice works to initiate dialogue on environmental and development issues at the grassroots level through community meetings, workshops, questionnaire surveys, and internet discussions, which are supported by radio, television, and print media. These views became a part of the 10-year review of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), held in Mauritius in January 2005.

As islands now begin to implement the Mauritius Strategy, Small Islands Voice focuses on sustainable development activities on the ground, with an emphasis on sharing these experiences with other islands. Taking the overall theme 'Communities in Action' and continually emphasising participatory processes, islands are embarking on activities such as preserving island memories and cultures; strengthening community planning and visioning activities; implementing and sharing eco-friendly practices; and assisting youth in implementing their own sustainable development projects. All activities are regularly updated on the Small Islands Voice website.
To cite only one example, visitors to this site may access information about a DVD that highlights "Sustainable living - the island way" (publication date: December 2006), which features such stories as how island communities in Palau are leading the way in planning how they want their neighbourhoods to develop over the next decade.

Utilising all forms of media is an increasingly important part of this process. For instance, a separate website has been established to document and regularly update the youth-led activities; click here to visit this website. Islands are using video to record their activities and share with other islands - see the Laying the Foundation video and the Island Memories project in the Cook Islands. Schools in San Andres have started their own radio stations and community issues are being discussed through a series of radio programmes in the Maldives. Newsletters [PDF] and newspapers regularly publicise the activities.

Internet forums are also playing an important role in fostering interaction and sharing experiences. SIV Youth brings together school-aged youth from small islands in the three regions to discuss issues such as 'Life and love in islands', 'My island home', and 'Money in my pocket'. Some of the students, not content with discussing issues over the Internet, have joined with other islands to implement joint projects - e.g., students from Seychelles and Maldives have visited each other and embarked on a combined project 'Zero tolerance for litter in our school'.

Another forum, SIV Global, besides being an internet site, is sent out via email to more than 20,000 islanders around the world. Members of the public have been actively discussing issues such as crime and violence, solid waste disposal, and water supplies. Organisers suggest that, though this communication, islanders are finding that they have much in common with each other as they grapple with these issues together.

Face-to-face gatherings are also central to Small Islands Voice, as illustrated by Revival of Important Principles and Practices to Lessen Evil in the Society (RIPPLES), a project to implement a cultural retrieval with and for the children of Bequia. Launched in January 2006, this community-based project seeks to reverse the decline in family values and to reach out to children at risk with a musical and cultural expression programme that focuses particularly on drumming skills and developing self-esteem. Workshops (featuring outdoor games and educational games, such as a mathematics card game), concerts, and beach clean-ups are among RIPPLES' activities.

Environment, Technology, Youth, Community Media Development.

Organisers point out that problems confronting small islands can be particularly challenging in the context of their size, relative isolation, and vulnerability to natural disasters and global economic events. If they remain isolated and unable to take part in the 'information age', the problems of environmental degradation and growing poverty could continue or worsen.

Small Islands Voice was prepared and approved in response to a 2001 call for proposals within UNESCO for interdisciplinary activities relating to the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the development of education, science, culture and the construction of a knowledge society.