Antigua and Barbuda, July 2026 — The SIDS Centre of Excellence (CoE) recently convened a high-level virtual webinar, “Advancing the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) Through the SIDS Centre of Excellence: Data, Investment and Debt Solutions for Resilient Prosperity,” to highlight progress across three of the Centre’s core pillars.
The webinar demonstrated how the SIDS CoE is moving from the commitments of ABAS toward practical implementation through an integrated platform focused on data, investment and fiscal resilience.
The first session focused on the SIDS Global Data Hub, which is being developed by the PVBLIC Foundation’s SDG Data Alliance, in partnership with AOSIS and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
Greg Scott of PVBLIC Foundation outlined progress in developing the Hub as an integrated data and geospatial platform designed to strengthen the capacity of SIDS to collect, manage, visualise and use data for national development planning. The Global Data Hub will connect a global platform with Country Data Hubs, dashboards, maps and analytical tools, while maintaining country ownership, data sovereignty and control.
The discussion highlighted applications ranging from ABAS and SDG monitoring to climate and disaster resilience, investment tracking, tourism and blue economy planning, natural asset valuation and evidence-based policymaking.
The session also featured Cecilia Heuser of the International Trade Centre (ITC), who presented the SIDS Export Potential Map, an analytical tool designed to help SIDS identify promising products and markets for export promotion and economic diversification.
The tool uses trade intelligence to assess factors including international demand, export supply, tariffs, bilateral trade relationships and product relatedness. A functional prototype has already been developed, with consultations with AOSIS Member States planned to inform its finalisation ahead of its official launch.
The second session focused on the Island Investment Forum (IIF), presented by Tishka Francis of the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), together with Ambassador Webson and the IIF technical team.
The session provided an update on preparations for the upcoming Global Buisness Forum (GBN) where the IIF will be launched in the Maldives and its role in creating a practical mechanism through which SIDS can present investment-ready opportunities to investors, businesses and development partners.
The Forum is designed to support pipeline development, investor engagement and matchmaking, while linking investment opportunities to the data and analysis being developed through the SIDS CoE. This approach is intended to ensure that investment mobilisation is aligned with national priorities, ABAS commitments and the broader sustainable development needs of SIDS.
The third pillar showcased during the webinar was the Debt Sustainability Support Service (DSSS), presented by Ritu Bharadwaj of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the DSSS knowledge partner.
The DSSS is a SIDS-designed and SIDS-led mechanism intended to help countries address debt vulnerabilities and create the fiscal space required to invest in climate resilience and sustainable development.
Bharadwaj highlighted the Service’s layered approach to debt sustainability, which brings together existing debt relief measures, climate-risk protection, resilience financing and legal and advisory support. The DSSS is also designed to help SIDS strengthen their capacity to negotiate with creditors and develop financing instruments that can support resilience investments.
The webinar highlighted significant progress in moving the DSSS from design toward implementation, including its recognition in the Compromiso de Sevilla, the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, and the establishment of a Secretariat within the SIDS Centre of Excellence.
An Expression of Interest has been issued to SIDS through the AOSIS Secretariat, with plans to undertake establishment-phase work in six pilot countries across the Caribbean, Pacific and AIS regions.
A central message emerging from the webinar was that the four pillars of the SIDS Centre of Excellence are designed to operate as an interconnected system rather than as standalone initiatives.
The webinar also provided an opportunity for Member States and partners to engage directly with technical leads, ask questions and identify opportunities for collaboration, including participation in pilot activities, designation of national focal points, data sharing, technical cooperation, capacity building and investment partnerships.
As the CoE moves into its next phase of operationalisation, engagement with Member States and development partners will remain critical to ensuring that these mechanisms are responsive to national priorities and capable of delivering tangible benefits across the SIDS community.
H.E. Dr. Walton Aubrey Webson, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the UN welcomed the growing momentum around the Centre, noting that the objective is ultimately to ensure that ABAS delivers practical value for SIDS.