A release from the Federal Government has indicated that having an officer in the Division who understands the concerns of CARICOM and of Small Island Developing States will prove significant for St. Kitts and Nevis within the decision-making process.

The expectations were revealed after Kittitian Carlisle Richardson, Senior Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, left here on Sunday 19th June to take up a six month assignment in the SIDS.

The SIDS Unit, as it is called, is the focal point in the United Nations which deals specifically with the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States. It was created following the Barbados Program of Action, which was the outcome of the first global conference to address the developmental challenges facing island states.

With the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for May-June 2012, and the different regions around the world lobbying to ensure that their interests are considered, the latter half of 2011 will be critical in framing the policies on sustainable development in the international community for the next decade.

Richardson’s main responsibility, while at the SIDS Unit, will be to prepare reports that put forward concrete recommendations to enhance the implementation of the Barbados Program of Action and the Mauritius Strategy for the Barbados Program of Action, and refocus efforts towards a results-oriented approach to consider what improved and additional measures might be needed to more effectively address the unique and particular vulnerabilities and development needs of Small Island Developing States. This project will contribute to the development options for St. Kitts and Nevis leading into the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

Mr. Richardson joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 and was posted to the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations from 2001 until 2010.

While there he represented the Federation in the Alliance of Small Island States, the Committee on Decolonization, and the Economic and Social Council.