The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(
United Nations / Multilateral body
)
#SDGAction52181
Description
The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative is a rights-based initiative that acknowledges the right to access to information to all Samoans contributing towards an enabling environment for enhanced digital development. The initiative will make a concrete contribution to Outcome 5 on Governance and Community Engagement of the United Nations Pacific Strategy (2018-2022) and also contribute towards the government of Samoa’s input to the World Summit on Information Society . The initiative led by the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States in partnership with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and the UNDP in Samoa.
The implementing methodologies involved alot of partnership work. The UNESCO team collaborated with the Ministries of Education, Sports and Culture, The Ministry of Communication and Information, The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ombudsman and National Human Rights team, academia with The National University of Samoa, civil society group with the Samoa IT Association, the telecommunications sector; Vodafone and Digicel Samoa, The Open Education Resource Foundation which involved work on Open source technologies. Alot of cross ministry coordination work that allowed us to better align the project goals. The SKSI team used a Joint Programme Monitoring Framework that was designed as part of the Project document that focused on achieving results. The framework looked at Expected Results (Outcomes & outputs), Indicators (with baselines & indicative timeframe), Means of verification, Collection methods, Responsibilities, Risks & assumptions. Communication and advocacy were essential in raising awareness and influencing policies; there were Press releases produced, monthly and quarterly reports to partners and a documentary was also produced. During the Freedom of access to information policy work, there were public outreach and public engagements conducted. Multiple workshops were organized to raise awareness around the policy work. There was a radio campaign that looked at the overall project at the very beginning. Capacity building was the main stay of the project with every stage looking at training and development of Samoa citizens to strengthen the skills, knowledge, and abilities of individuals, institutions, and communities to achieve sustainable development outcomes.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has agreed to take forward the adoption for the access to information policy with the Cabinet after the project produces the draft of the policy. MCIT has proposed a new team within their team that will be looking at the request for information portal and ensure timely dissemination of requested information. Trainings will be carried out first with the PSC and trainers from key partners (MCIT, MESC, Office of the Regulator, NUS and professional association representatives) to create a pool of trainers. Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture will take on the responsibility of operating the Lifelong Learning Lab with the support of the education sector after the project duration. Based on their approved Education digital strategy, the Ministry staff underwent a list of planned capacity building workshops and programmes to ensure that their team will be able to take forward the opporunties offered through the lifelong learning lab. Mobile application for the farmers association will be integrated in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries work and new staff to be hired to ensure the app has updated information and future upgrades can take place. Training of public servants, stakeholder groups on knowledge societies, Training of staff of the National University of Samoa, librarians, Learning Management and Open Access Repository teams on knowledge societies, open solutions and digitalization, Training of librarians and professional communities on the back-end and use of the Knowledge Platform, Training of the National University of Samoa and Learning Management Team on Open Education Resources, digital quality control and harvesting OERs, Training of the National University of Samoa and Open Access Research Repository team on Open Access as well as trainings for farmers and other associations of professionals, introducing knowledge platform.
The management of the Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative was a joint programme following the National Implementation Modality of the UN Development System and considered that the initiative is to be nationally owned and implemented. From the side of the Samoan government, the overall coordination took place under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Prime Minister’s Office who designated the representative institution in the Joint Steering Committee (JSC). The JSC, co-chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator and a representative of the Government of Samoa was established to include: - Beneficiaries (Professional Institutions, students and researchers); - Main line ministries (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (MESC), and institutions (National University of Samoa). - The UN System (UN Resident Coordinator, UNESCO and UNDP) as well as the financing partner (the High Commission of India) will be represented. The Steering Committee provided overall strategical guidance, monitoring, approve annual work plans, substantive revisions and no-cost extensions, participates in launching ceremonies, closing ceremonies, and public activities of project. From the technical side, the overall coordination happened through Technical Committee Meetings (TCM). The technical committee, co-chaired by a representative from MESC and from UNESCO was held quarterly to build on synergies in the project, provide advice to the JSC, produce quality reports on the programme and activity, coordinate monitoring of programme targets and facilitate audits and evaluations. The technical members of the TCM included: - Main line ministries (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (MESC), and institutions (National University of Samoa), Ombudsman Office and National Human Rights Office. - The UN system, UN Resident Coordinator Office, UNESCO and UNDP. Attention was given to composing each group of the Committees with relevant professional bodies and experts, line ministries and interest groups as well as the implementing UN Agencies and Funds as follows: Groups: UN Agency Group 1: An enabling environment for enhanced digital development: UNESCO, UNDP Group 2: Online and offline knowledge sharing services: UNESCO, UNDP Group 3: Capacity enhancement and inclusive information literacy: UNESCO Group 4: Monitoring evaluation and foresight: UNESCO (with RCO) Overall, these coordination mechanisms help to promote coherence, collaboration, and efficiency among the different entities within the UN system, ultimately contributing to more effective and impactful UN interventions and initiatives.
SDGS & Targets
Goal 2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
2.1
By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round
2.1.1
Prevalence of undernourishment
2.1.2
Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
2.2
By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons
2.2.1
Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
2.2.2
Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
2.2.3
Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
2.3
2.3.1
Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size
2.3.2
Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status
2.4
By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
2.4.1
Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
2.5
By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed
2.5.1
Number of (a) plant and (b) animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium- or long-term conservation facilities
2.5.2
Proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction
2.a
2.a.1
The agriculture orientation index for government expenditures
2.a.2
Total official flows (official development assistance plus other official flows) to the agriculture sector
2.b
Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round
2.b.1
Agricultural export subsidies
2.c
Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility
2.c.1
Indicator of food price anomalies
Goal 4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
4.1
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.1.1
Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
4.1.2
Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
4.2
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.2.1
Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
4.2.2
Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex
4.3
By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
4.3.1
Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
4.4
By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.4.1
Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
4.5
4.5.1
Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
4.6
By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
4.6.1
Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex
4.7
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
4.7.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment
4.a
Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
4.a.1
Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service
4.b
4.b.1
Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study
4.c
By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States
4.c.1
Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level
Goal 16
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
16.1
Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
16.1.1
16.1.2
16.1.3
Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months
16.1.4
Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live after dark
16.2
End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children
16.2.1
Proportion of children aged 1–17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month
16.2.2
16.2.3
Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18
16.3
Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
16.3.1
Proportion of victims of (a) physical, (b) psychological and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms
16.3.2
16.3.3
Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism
16.4
By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime
16.4.1
16.4.2
16.5
Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
16.5.1
16.5.2
16.6
Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels
16.6.1
16.6.2
Proportion of population satisfied with their last experience of public services
16.7
Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
16.7.1
Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups
16.7.2
16.8
Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance
16.8.1
Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations
16.9
By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration
16.9.1
16.10
Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements
16.10.1
16.10.2
16.a
Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime
16.a.1
16.b
Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development
16.b.1
SDG 14 targets covered
| Name | Description |
|---|
Deliverables & Timeline
Drafting of national policies on access to information and lifelong learning in place and relevant legislation
Launch of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture Innovative Lifelong Learning Lab
Launch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries AgriTouch App
Conclusion of a pre assessment questionnaires on user needs, priority collections and digital skills for promoting knowledge societies
Creation of the Samoa Digital Library (SADIL)
The Samoa Digital Library (SADIL) established to increase access to bibliographic and institutional information from Samoa and internationally.
Drafting of national policies on access to information and lifelong learning in place and relevant legislation.
Work on the freedom of access to information policy and editorial guidelines for publications through Open Access.
Establishment of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture’s (MESC) Innovative Lifelong Learning Lab
The MESC Lifelong Learning Lab an inclusive innovation hub for training and collaboration that draws and identifies talents, mentors youths, provides accessible learning opportunities to the disabled, and provides pathways and skills required to meet the contemporary and future challenges of Samoa within the globalized economy.
Development of a mobile application for farmers to promote and ensure access to information for farmers.
The AgriTouch App was established to provide up to date information focused on markets, crop management, and current projects co-ordinated by the Ministry, funding opportunities as well as a tool to track production and expenses for farmer
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
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More information
Countries
SIDS regions
- Pacific
Samoa pathway priority area
- Sustained and Sustainable, Inclusive and Equitable Economic Growth with Decent Work for All
- Food Security and Nutrition
- Social Development
- Means of Implementation, including Partnerships
- Monitoring and Accountability
Contact Information
Varunesh, Programme Coordinator