Thank you, co-facilitators.
Let me first express our deepest sympathy with the people and government of the Bahamas, after the devastating hurricane Dorian.
Sincerely thanks to the co-facilitators Ireland and Fiji for their hard work. The ambassadors, and also their strong teams who have worked on the declaration on a daily basis.
It has proven to be challenging to reach consensus on the declaration. After a dozen readings, and a lot of informal talks, the facilitators today presented us with their latest proposal. Some of the articles are difficult also for Norway. Mainly because we believe the international community should sieze this opportunity to show solidarity with small island states and show that we understand their special vulnerabilities and needs. Of course, all requests must be within reason, and to my mind that has been faithfully guiding the positions of the SIDS and G77.
Norway outlined our priorities during the start-up meeting at PR level on 7 May. I admit that we have not been successful in achieving all of those. We would have liked stronger encouragement to the international community when it comes to financing, reduce negative effects of graduation, supporting the call for appointing a special representative for climate and security, and better disaster risk support. To name some issues.
On the other hand, Norway appreciates the direction in which the declaration is pointing when it comes to a possible future fund or mechanism to help SIDS manage risk and build back better after disasters. We also appreciate the call to the Secretary General to develop targets and indicators to better monitor the implementation of the Samoa Pathway.
I will end by reiterating my thanks to Ireland and Fiji, and state that Norway can support the amendments presented by the G77 here today. We can also support the text as presented to us by the co-facilitators today.
Thank you.