Accelerating SDG achievement through digital transformation to strengthen community resilience in Micronesia

Digital technology, as experienced worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, serve as a powerful tool to facilitate the much needed social and economic transformations towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pacific Islands countries. An integrated approach embracing digital transformation across multiple sectors and customized to local needs and priorities can address multiple high priority challenges expressed by the citizens. 

This Joint Programme (JP) aims to leverage digital transformation to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in the Micronesian countries and strengthen community resilience in the countries. Digital transformation is not just about the technology adoption, but on how digital connectivity, services and applications will change and "transform" citizen's experience and way of day-to-day business in a way that will lead to improvement in quality of life and wellbeing. It will accelerate the path to SDG attainment while leaving no one behind.

While digital technology contributes towards all the six UN Pacific Strategy (UNPS) outcomes (Climate Change, Disaster Resilience and Environmental Protection, Gender Equality, Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Empowerment, Equitable Basic Services, Governance and Community Engagement and Human Rights), the primary UNPS outcomes targeted include: 

- Outcome 3: By 2022, people in the Pacific in particular youth, women, and vulnerable groups, benefit from inclusive and sustainable economic development that creates decent jobs, reduces multi–dimensional poverty and inequalities, and promotes economic empowerment. 

- Outcome 4: By 2022, more people in the Pacific, particularly the most vulnerable, have increased equitable access to and utilization of inclusive, resilient, and quality basic services.