Seychelles pushes island agenda in Malabo

Seychelles has used two high-level forums in Malabo to press for stronger backing for small island states and to elevate youth priorities within the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, with Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Minister Barry Faure taking a visible role in both meetings. The government said Faure addressed the Small Island Development States forum and later served as rapporteur at the youth forum, a position that gives Seychelles a hand in shaping recommendations for the summit of heads of state and government.

Faure’s intervention came as OACPS members gathered in Equatorial Guinea for the 11th summit, scheduled for March 27 to 29, 2026, after a day of side events that included the SIDS and youth forums on March 26 at the Sipopo Conference Center in Malabo. Official summit material describes the SIDS forum as part of a broader push to place island concerns more firmly within the global agenda, while the youth discussions focused on jobs, entrepreneurship, digital pathways and skills for the future.

According to Seychelles’ foreign ministry, Faure told the SIDS forum that island countries should be placed at the centre of the global climate and development agenda and argued that international priorities must better reflect the structural vulnerability of small states. The ministry said he praised the OACPS for sustaining a platform where island members can coordinate positions, and he pointed to the legal and policy momentum building around climate obligations and climate finance.

That message aligns with a wider diplomatic campaign by small island states, which have been pressing for international rules and financing systems that reflect their exposure to climate shocks, debt stress and high adaptation costs. The debate has gathered pace since international courts and tribunals began clarifying states’ legal responsibilities on climate action, and since the United Nations moved ahead with the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, designed to capture structural vulnerability more effectively than income metrics alone.

Seychelles has also tried to present itself as more than a petitioner for aid. In the Malabo discussions, its debt-for-nature swap was highlighted as one example of innovative financing for vulnerable states. That transaction made Seychelles the first country to carry out a sovereign debt conversion specifically linked to ocean conservation and climate adaptation, a model later studied by other island economies. Barbados, which was also cited in the forum discussions, completed what the Inter-American Development Bank described as the world’s first debt-for-climate-resilience operation in late 2024.

For Seychelles, the value of that comparison is both practical and political. Island governments are trying to show that they are capable of designing workable financial instruments, while also arguing that innovation cannot substitute for reform of the global system. Many SIDS remain locked out of affordable finance because income-based classifications can obscure exposure to external shocks, narrow economic bases and the outsized fiscal burden of climate adaptation. The MVI debate has become central to that argument because it offers a route towards development support based on vulnerability rather than headline income alone.

The youth forum added another dimension to Seychelles’ diplomacy. The government said Faure was appointed rapporteur for the meeting, which discussed employment, resilience and action for younger people across the OACPS space. In that role, he is expected to present the forum’s key outcomes and recommendations to heads of state and government, giving Seychelles additional visibility in negotiations that are usually dominated by larger member countries.

That appointment matters because youth policy is increasingly being folded into broader development strategy rather than treated as a stand-alone social issue. Across the OACPS bloc, unemployment, skills gaps, migration pressures and limited access to digital opportunity remain persistent concerns. By linking youth priorities to resilience and economic transformation, the Malabo agenda suggests member states are trying to connect labour-market policy with climate, technology and development finance debates.

Faure’s presence at the two forums also reflects his growing profile since taking office as minister in November 2025. Over the past several months he has represented Seychelles in a series of climate, conservation and diplomatic engagements, underscoring the government’s effort to keep the country visible in multilateral arenas where small states can exercise influence disproportionate to their size.