A UN conference on broader aspects of small islands and development opening on Monday would scarcely have made headlines a month ago, but the huge tidal waves unleashed by an undersea earthquake on December 26 highlighted the vulnerability of the world's smallest countries.

For instance, the Maldives, a cluster of 1,192 low-lying islands scattered along some 850 kilometres (550 miles) in the Indian Ocean, estimates damage from the catastrophe at 4.8 billion dollars (3.6 billion euros).

UN officials say the walls of water known as tsunamis are an example of the natural disasters that can wreak havoc on islands, most of which are located in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

But they also stress that other big challenges face the small nations.

Rising sea levels due to global warming are threatening the very existence of the Maldives, Tuvalu and other small islands, eroding coastlines and affecting marine life.

Tourism, the economic lifeline for many islands, has brought pollution, overdevelopment of beach areas, crime and security concerns, UN officials say.

Anwarul Chowdhury, the secretary general of the five-day conference, has said it should address how the world can islands tackle both predictable and unpredictable disasters, while an early warning system in the Indian Ocean is "an absolute necessity".

At the moment, small island states cannot afford the technology needed for such a warning system and lack the expertise to set up such a sophisticated network, he added.

Speaking here on Thursday, he said: "This disaster serves as a stark reminder of how small island developing states are vulnerable and ill equipped to confront natural disaster of this magnitude."

Chowdhury, a UN undersecretary general, was addressing the opening ceremony of the Civil Society Forum, organised ahead of the UN International Meeting to Review the Implementation ot the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

He said he was convinced that civil society and the private sector have an important role to play in forging broad-based partnerships for ensuring sustainable development for small island developing states.

"Civil society is a powerful collective force that can set international development agenda and shape world public opinion," he said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to join the 2,000 delegates to the conference on Tuesday after touring the Maldives for a first-hand glimpse of the destruction wrought by the monster waves.

Some 25 heads of state and government of island nations are scheduled to attend the conference along with donor partners and other countries.

"The Mauritius meeting should bring about a new international solidarity with small developing island states which are vulnerable," said Mauritius' Environment Minister Rajesh Bhagwan.

"Donor countries now understand the vulnerability of islands, which they did not fully grasp before the Indian Ocean tragedy" from the tsunamis, says UN Information Officer Francois Coutu.

Island nations developed an action plan for their survival at a meeting in Barbados in 1994 that called for measures to address climate change, natural disasters, tourism, marine resources among other issues.

"It's high time the international community lives up to their commitments made in Barbados Programme of Action ten years ago," Chowdhury said.

Other concerns over trade, AIDS and security have been added on to the list of issues to be tackled at the Mauritius conference.

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