SIDS have been persistently lagging other comparable economies in the developing world on the path to sustainable development. This is caused in part by the diverse characteristics of SIDS, which include low- and below sea-level- lying coastal communities, multi-island jurisdictions, and their attendant vulnerabilities. Many also have small populations or limited usable land area, which limits their development options. The COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have further aggravated this situation by hampering the sustainable economic growth of these island economies and undermining the security of their populations. Promoting innovation and digital transformation in the Caribbean can help countries to ‘build back better’ by delivering services in a more effective and inclusive way, particularly to underserved, rural, physically disconnected, and otherwise marginalized segments of society.However, the public sector in the Caribbean appears to be facing a capacity challenge in delivering change and transformation, with challenges being experienced in relation to mindsets, capacity, processes, and right skillsets. Implementing effective, accountable, and inclusive governance and institutions, and pursuing opportunities for innovation and digital transformation, including digital services, could build resilience      through progressive structural changes, and mitigate geographical remoteness. Their populations could then be provided with reliable, fast, and affordable connectivity and better access to services, such as health and education.Implemented by UN DESA and ECLAC Caribbean, with the collaboration of the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), this project aims to strengthen public sector national capacities for Innovation, Digital Government Transformation and Changing Mindsets in three Caribbean SIDS after the pandemic by: (i )strengthening public servants’ skills, knowledge, and understanding of the importance of public sector transformation by promoting changing mindsets strategies and approaches in support of innovation and digital transformation  to support the implementation of the SDGs ; and (ii) strengthening institutional arrangements, structures, mechanisms and approaches to promote innovation and digital governance transformation to improve public service delivery, leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first. In this regard, multi-island jurisdictions are likely to especially benefit from improved governance and institutional service delivery modalities.

The Data For Now initiative (Data4Now) aims to develop countries’ capacities to deliver the information needed by local and national policy and decision makers to achieve the 2030 Agenda and make a positive difference in people’s lives.  To this end, it supports members of the national statistical systems in participating countries to collaborate more effectively with local, national and global partners from intergovernmental organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector, in order to leverage innovative sources, technologies and methods for the streamlined production and dissemination of better, more timely and disaggregated data for sustainable development. The initiative, which was launched by UN Deputy-Secretary General Amina Mohammed on 25 September 2019 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, seeks to enhance collaboration and promote synergies across increasingly complex data systems, supporting the mainstreaming of data innovations into official statistical production processes, including geospatial information, big data and other non-traditional data sources.  It is co-led by a core team consisting of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). A set of eight trailblazer countries from 3 continents have already joined the initiative, namely: Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Paraguay, Colombia, Ghana, Rwanda and Senegal. Data4Now is about accelerating the sustainable use of robust new methods and innovative tools that improve the timeliness, coverage, and quality of SDG data through collaboration, partnerships and capacity development. It draws closely from the learnings of previous and ongoing work carried out by UNSD, the World Bank, GPSDD, and SDSN, and has been designed with inputs from government, civil society, academic and private sector partners.  An inception workshop of the Data4Now initiative was hosted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, in Kigali, Rwanda, on 13-14 November 2019. In this inception workshop, funded jointly by the four core partners, representatives from national statistical systems in the eight trailblazer countries, as well as partners from the private sector, academia and international identified priority needs and deliverables, and explored possible partnerships and solutions around data, technology and methods with highest potential impact to attain those deliverables. Building on the outcome of the inception workshop, the UNSD, in close coordination with other Data4Now core partners, has developed a plan of action to build the capacity of Colombia and Senegal, two Data4Now trailblazer countries that are also priority target countries for the Italian development cooperation. This  plan of action foresees specific activities to support the collection, analysis and use of accurate, inclusive and up-to-date data for the SDGs on two priority themes identified by their respective national statistical system authorities, namely (1) measurement of poverty indicators among difficult-to-reach population groups, and (2) production of disaggregated and timely crop-yield estimates.   

Around 12 least developed countries (LDC) are scheduled to leave the category in coming years, more than doubling the number which have left the category in the 47 years since it was formed. Many of these potential graduates are concerned about losing access to the international support measures (ISMs) provided by the international community. After graduation, in some cases after a transition period, countries stand to face reduced support or forego access to support measures in trade, official development assistance and other areas such as travel support and reduced budgetary contributions to the UN. The loss of these benefits disincentivizes graduating LDCs, most of which are along the Belt and Road, from leaving the category, a process which is not automatic but is ultimately the sovereign decision of governments. The drop-off in international support also risks stalling development progress after graduation. LDC graduation and assistance for LDCs are mentioned in ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ approximately 44 times, particularly with a view to ‘leaving no-one behind’. Support for LDCs after they leave the category is an important way of helping these countries meet the SDGs by 2030.
The project will work with the governments of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal and Timor Leste, as well as international specialists and UN entities, to develop a set of proposals for post-graduation assistance. Some of these will be specific to the country concerned, and some generic – ie. applicable across the board. The proposals will partly aim at mitigating the potential impact of forfeiting existing ISMs – such as the loss of duty-free, quota-free market access under the European Everything But Arms Initiative – and will partly take the form of fresh measures to assist with the new development landscape following graduation, such as new infrastructure investment to support trade diversification. The key beneficiaries are thus the populations of these countries, totaling some 269 million people, intermediated through the Ministries of Planning, Trade, the Central Banks and private sector institutions. These will also be the prime entities involved with implementation in each country, alongside teams of national and international consultants overseen by UNDESA staff.
The project will first result in a concrete list, for each country, of new proposed assistance mechanisms for the post-graduation landscape. Communications and advocacy measures built into the project will aim at incorporating these mechanisms into international processes such as the forthcoming new Programme of Action for LDCs to be launched after 2020, and ideally some of the measures will be adopted by donors and trading partners. They will also be incorporated into government planning. Secondly, beyond the development and publicity of these measures, the project will strengthen policy frameworks and institutions for the adoption and use of selected assistance mechanisms in target countries.
Analysis and recommendations will be developed and published in an in-depth analytical study. Subject to government priorities and ratification, they will be included in the government planning documents of target countries, supported by development partners, and implemented with a view to enhancing sustainable development in the post-graduation era. An anticipated secondary outcome will be to incentivize the next graduating LDCs to leave the category, given new assurances of support.