In partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative at ODI Global
Executive summary
The SIDS Future Forum 2026 brought together policymakers, academics, and development partners to collectively diagnose the challenges and opportunities for implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS). The Forum also served as a critical consultation on the inaugural State of SIDS Report, compiled by ODI Global’s Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI), which will be published in 2026.
The discussions highlighted several core messages:
- Small Island Developing States (SIDS) need to transition by 2034 from survival‑mode to self‑sufficiency and long‑term resilience, building on their assets, especially their ocean spaces and human capital.
- The ABAS implementation phase must move from advocacy to solutions, with institutions, mechanisms and financing structures designed “for SIDS, by SIDS”.
- Strong, well‑resourced institutions – including a fully operational SIDS Centre of Excellence, a revitalised SIDS university consortium, and an institutionalised SIDS political platform – are essential to turn commitments into outcomes.
- Digital transformation and data systems should sit at the centre of development strategies, not at the margins, enabling new economic models, better services and more effective international engagement
- Structural reforms to the international financial architecture, including use of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), SIDS‑sensitive debt reform, and a climate exception for ODA graduation, are critical to unlocking finance at the scale and terms needed.
- Collective and individual efforts across SIDS regions are needed to defend and reassert the SIDS special case, focusing on the value SIDS offer to humanity.