UN General Assembly
2011

unchecked, NCDs will not only devastate the health of our people but also have the potential to wreak havoc in our economies, with the incidence of these so-called lifestyle diseases having a heavy impact on the productive population. Samoa therefore adds its voice to the call to include the reduction of non-communicable diseases in the Millennium Development Goals and which sufficient resources and donor partnership actions should also prioritize. 7 11-51372 These are real concerns. Sustainable economic development is a priority issue for Samoa and the Pacific island countries. This is why we are hopeful that the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), to be held next June in Brazil, will allow for a serious discussion and reorientation of the whole United Nations community on the importance of identifying and providing the necessary resources for the implementation of the agreed programmes of action and other global arrangements that the United Nations underwrites. The theme of this year’s Pacific Forum was “Converting potential into prosperity”. In line with this is the advocacy led by the Pacific countries to raise the