The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 49/100 and 49/122 of 19 December 1994 and
50/116 of 20 December 1995, on or related to the implementation of the outcome
of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States, and reaffirming Commission on Sustainable Development
decision 4/16 on the review of the implementation of the Programme of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States,
 
      Reaffirming that, because the development options of small island
developing States are limited, there are special challenges to devising and
implementing sustainable development plans, and that small island developing
States will be constrained in meeting such challenges and overcoming obstacles
to sustainable development without the active support and cooperation of the
international community,
 
      Stressing the need for greater attention to priority areas of the
Programme of Action, particularly climate change and sea-level rise, energy
resources, tourism resources, biodiversity resources, transport and
communications and science and technology,
 
      1.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on action taken
at the international, regional and national levels, inter alia, by the organs,
organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to implement the
Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States,2 and welcomes in particular the action that has been taken by the
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the
Secretariat to support the system-wide implementation of the Programme of
Action;
 
      2.    Stresses the importance of maintaining the Small Island Developing
States Unit within the above-mentioned Department, and requests the Secretary-
General to maintain the Unit at an appropriate level of staff and improve the
structure and organization of the Unit, in accordance with resolution 49/122;
 
      3.    Welcomes the work being done by the regional commissions to
support activities to coordinate the outcome of the Global Conference on the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States;
 
      4.    Takes note of the decisions of the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, at its ninth session, related to programme support for
small island developing countries, within the framework of the Programme of
Action, and requests the Secretary-General to implement fully the relevant
provisions of resolution 49/122;
 
      5.    Calls upon Governments, as well as the organs, organizations and
bodies of the United Nations system, other intergovernmental organizations and
non-governmental organizations, to continue to implement fully all the
commitments and recommendations that were made at the Global Conference, and
to continue to take the necessary actions for effective follow-up to the
Programme of Action, including action to ensure the provision of the means of
implementation under chapter XV thereof;
 
      6.    Recognizes the importance of the technical assistance programme,
known as SIDSTAP, and the information network for small island developing
States, known as SIDSNET, in the overall implementation of the Programme of
Action, takes note of the progress made by the United Nations Development
Programme in implementing resolution 49/122, and requests the Programme, in
cooperation with Governments, to continue its actions to implement fully all
provisions in order to operationalize the two mechanisms;
 
      7.    Takes note of the support that has been provided by the Commission
on Sustainable Development to following up the implementation of the Programme
of Action in accordance with resolution 49/122 and the Programme of Action
itself, and invites the Commission at its fifth session to continue its
support for and attention to the Programme of Action, as an integral part of
the preparations for the special session of the General Assembly to be held in
June 1997;
 
      8.    Requests that, in the context of the special session of the
General Assembly, specific modalities be recommended for examining all
outstanding chapters of the Programme of Action and for undertaking the full
review of the Programme of Action in 1999;
 
      9.    Welcomes the inclusion of the development of a vulnerability index
for small island developing States as part of the work programme of the
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development for 1996-1997,
and in this regard requests the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations
Environment Programme, other relevant United Nations organizations and
non-United Nations organizations, to prepare a report based on the views of
relevant experts on the vulnerability index, in 1997;
 
      10.   Requests the Committee for Development Planning, at its
thirty-second session, to formulate its views and recommendations on the
above-mentioned report, in order to submit those views to the General Assembly
at its fifty-third session, through the Economic and Social Council, and to
make this information available to the Commission on Sustainable Development;
 
      11.   Requests the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable
Development, in its coordinating role, to look into appropriate modalities for
mobilizing resources for the effective implementation of the Programme of
Action and provide information thereon;
 
      12.   Requests closer collaboration and greater transparency between the
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and the United
Nations Development Programme for effective implementation of SIDSTAP, and
requests detailed information to be made available to Governments on actions
taken to this effect;
 
      13.   Welcomes the report of the High-level Panel Meeting on Island
Developing Countries on the challenges faced by island developing countries,
particularly in the area of external trade, considered by the Commission on
Sustainable Development at its fourth session;
 
      14.   Requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Governments on
the creation of an informal open-ended working group within the existing
International Framework of Action for the International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction, with the membership of all concerned States, including all
relevant sectors in disaster reduction, with a view to ensuring full
integration and participation of small island developing States in the mapping
of a concerted strategy for disaster reduction into the twenty-first century
and in improving access to disaster and warning information in order to
enhance the capability of small island developing States with respect to
disaster management;
 
      15.   Stresses that small island developing States are particularly
vulnerable to global climate change and sea-level rise, and that the potential
effects of global climate change and sea-level rise are increased strength and
frequency of tropical storms and inundation of some islands, with loss of
exclusive economic zones, economic infrastructure, human settlements and
culture, and urges the international community to support small island
developing States in their efforts to adapt to the sea-level rise that will be
experienced as a result of the impact of greenhouse gases that have already
been emitted into the atmosphere;
 
      16.   Calls upon the international community, including the Global
Environment Facility, within the framework of its operational strategy, to
support commercial energy development in small island developing States based
on those environmentally sound renewable sources with demonstrated viability,
to support improvement of the efficiency of existing technologies and end-use
equipment based on conventional energy sources, and to assist with the
financing of investments necessary to expand energy supplies beyond urban
areas;
 
      17.   Also calls upon the international community, where appropriate, to
support the efforts of and to provide assistance to small island developing
States with respect to improving and acquiring, through appropriate investment
incentives and innovative measures, the means of maritime transport and
development of infrastructure in small island developing States, such as
airports, harbours, roads and telecommunications;
 
      18.   Welcomes actions at the national and regional levels by small
island developing States, and invites all Governments, with the assistance of
international and regional organizations, to provide information on all of
their major activities under the Programme of Action so as to enable an
adequate review of the actions taken at the national and regional levels;
 
      19.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its fifty-third session a report on the plans, programmes and projects for
the sustainable development of small island developing States that have been
implemented in response to the Programme of Action, as well as those that are
under implementation and those that are envisaged for implementation within
five years of the date of the report;
 
      20.   Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session, under the item entitled "Environment and sustainable development",
the sub-item entitled "Implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference
on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States";
 
      21.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session a progress report on the particular actions taken
to implement the present resolution.