Transcript Fathimath Ghina

SMALL ISLANDS VOICE
GLOBAL INTERNET FORUM
Vision Statement
The Small Islands Voice Global Forum
(SIV Global) is a mechanism for the
general public in small islands to
discuss sustainable development
issues and to share experiences and
solutions
Starting in September 2002
• SIV Global began as a 3-month
experiment
• Response to the first message on the
construction of a major road in Palau
was overwhelming
• SIV Global quickly became a fixture
of Small Islands Voice
First discussion theme
Discussion started
with road
development in
Palau
Responses came from all
walks of life
• ‘Thanks for sending me this article, I
am a mackerel salesman and I can tell
you by just looking at the ocean that
the road is a major contributor to the
pollution of our marine environment’.
• ‘I am very interested in the
comments outlined in this article’.
Minister of Tourism, Nevis
Newspaper editors wrote in
• ‘Thanks so much for sending us this article
and feel free to send more....we'll publish it
in our paper’. Diario Belau, Palau
• ‘I write from the StandPoint newspaper in
the British Virgin Islands. I was impressed
with the discussion, since we on small
islands often feel like no one understands
our problems’.
How SIV Global works (1)
• A theme article is prepared
• This is placed on www.sivglobal.org
through Scotland on Line, and
• Sent out by email to an everincreasing list of addresses (now
20,000+)
• Responses are received in Paris
How SIV Global works (2)
• Key responses are compiled into a
one-page article which is posted on
the forum and sent out by email 2
weeks later
• Process continues until discussion
decreases – usually about 2-months –
and then a new theme article is
posted
How SIV Global works (3)
• Once a theme is finished, ALL the
responses are compiled and placed on
the SIV website at
www.smallislandsvoice.org
Selecting discussion themes
• Newspaper articles are a good source
• Through collaboration with island
partners
• Sometimes a contributor to the
forum sends in a theme article
• Other organizations
Newspapers provide themes
Local island
newspapers are a
good source of
theme articles for
SIV Global
Themes discussed so far (1):
• Road construction in Palau, Pacific, Oct-Nov
'02
• Beach access in Tobago, Caribbean, Nov '02
- Feb '03
• Tourism policy in Seychelles, Indian Ocean,
Feb-May '03
• Foreign investment in Cook Islands, Pacific,
May-Jul '03
• Increased youth crime and violence,
Caribbean, Jul-Sep '03
Themes discussed so far (2):
• Export of spring water from St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, Caribbean, Sep-Dec '03
• The 'right' type of tourism development for
Aitutaki, Cook Islands, Pacific, Jan-Mar '04
• Preventing illegal deep sea fishing around
small islands, Mar-May '04
• Solving island garbage problems, Jun-Aug
'04
• Climate change: is it an urgent issue in small
islands? Aug-Nov '04
Themes discussed so far (3):
• Are we becoming dependent on
disaster relief? Nov-Dec '04
• Communities planning their future, FebMar '05
• Freshwater supplies in small islands,
Fiji, Apr-Jun '05
• Sustainable development, Anguilla, Jun
’05 ongoing
Learning as we go:
‘An emailed response to my column posed the
question: Do you live in a small island? If I
did, I was urged to "tell us what you think". I
thought: "spam". But something stayed my
hand as it moved quickly to the delete key
and I read the message through to the end. It
was, in fact, an interesting discussion on a
problem peculiar to the people of some island
states scattered around the planet.
New Zealand Herald, July 2004
Attention-grabbing opening
lines
SMALL ISLANDS VOICE
Do you live in a small island?
Tell us what you think.
********************************‘
Climate change is not like terrorism, it is
terrorism’ was one response to………….
SIV Global and the future
• New themes to be covered
• Testing an approach to discuss
solutions, not only issues
• Expanding the list of email addresses