September 23, 2010 -- Vice-President Danny Faure has told the United Nations that Seychelles has made a commitment to move towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Plus targets, which go beyond the initial development goals set.

VP Faure has also called on the United Nations to lead the efforts to "reset" the challenge of sustainable development to ensure that MDGs can be met.

He is representing President James Michel at the MDG Summit in New York at the start of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly. In his address he highlighted the development paradox of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), saying most of them have graduated to middle-income status, but there is a severe lack of developmental mechanisms available to facilitate their entry into the next phase of their development.  

VP Faure welcomed the initiative of the UN secretary-general to appoint a high-level panel on sustainability led by President Tarja Halonen of Finland and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

He said that small islands are penalized by their relative success, and new mechanisms are a must to meet their needs.

"In this middle-income trap, there is unfortunately a sense that there is no way up," the VP added.

"In an increasingly interconnected world, the marginalization of SIDS is increasing, and we need the global development architecture to recognize this. We need to have formal recognition of SIDS as a developmental category by the UN system."

Speaking about the MDG Plus targets, VP Faure said: "Seychelles is one of the first countries in the African region to make this commitment, and this reflects the strong policies that the government has put in place to maintain and enhance out commitment to people-centred development."

He pointed out that Seychelles is well on the way to achieving the MDGs, and as it moves towards these commitments it is expected that continued emphasis will be placed on the key sectors of health and education.