The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges confronting Small Island Developing States (SIDS) resulting in a new array of issues, which could potentially inhibit the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SAMOA Pathway. The pandemic calls for unprecedented action. It requires more than ever innovative and collaborative measures by all countries and the global community to contain the spread and mitigate its far-reaching repercussions.

Against this backdrop, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), through its Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG), is organizing a Webinar Series on “Leveraging Public Governance & Spearheading Innovative Solutions to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The Webinar Series addresses the needs of developing countries, including countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific.

This Webinar, which focuses on SIDS in the Caribbean subregion, is organized by UN DESA in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat with the support of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU). The webinar has also been designed to contribute to the ongoing discussions in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) around, inter alia, digital government emanating from the 9th Special Emergency Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government held on 15 April 2020 to agree on a way forward to the Community's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.