Following DESA proposal to support the macroeconomic pillar of the CCA (EAPD-led initiative in selected countries, funded by RPCT), the RC of Samoa requested DESA to support the socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) of COVID-19 exercise. The RC stressed that the SEIA that the Secretary-General expects RCOs/UNCTs to produce in each and every country will set the stage for a CCA that is well anchored in the profoundly changed realities by the COVID-19 pandemic. A small amount was allocated by the COVID-19 MPTF for the SEIA. With that, the RC intended to establish a think tank in Samoa as a knowledge hub for all actors to receive high quality context analyses when needed. A UN DESA workshop could target both the UN team and the national experts and the UNCT.

DESA offered to review the SEIA of COVID-19 and drafted the chapeau of the macroeconomic risk analysis of the Pacific CCA in collaboration with ESCAP and RCO