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During a special ceremony “Strengthening Media in Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness in SIDS” held on Wednesday, 29 May 2024, at Government House in Antigua and Barbuda, Mr. Qu Xing, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), presented one set of Radio Box equipment to Sir Rodney Williams, Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda. This donation aims to enhance the disaster preparedness and broadcasting capabilities during climate emergencies of the country’s national public broadcaster, the Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Services.

Under the banner of the SIDs4 Conference, held in Antigua and Barbuda, UNESCO highlighted the Organization’s endeavors to strengthen media in Small Island Developing States in climate action and disaster preparedness. The state-of-the-art, portable radio broadcasting set donated to Antigua and Barbuda will bolster disaster resilience efforts in the twin-island nation.

Welcoming the strong leadership of the government of Antigua and Barbuda in hosting the SIDS4 Conference, Mr. Qu emphasized that by enhancing media programming on climate and disaster-related topics and fostering public dialogue through media, closer linkages could be created between national emergency services and local communities.

Sir Rodney also acknowledged UNESCO's efforts to strengthen the capacity of media in Caribbean Small Island Developing States like Antigua and Barbuda. He stated that media institutions with enhanced capacity for agile broadcasting would be crucial in keeping communities informed and prepared before, during, and after disasters. He reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to building a resilient future and transforming challenges into opportunities for sustainable development.

During 2022 and 2023, UNESCO supported ten media institutions across eight SIDS —including The Bahamas, Fiji, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu — in preparing for disasters and continuing to broadcast during natural hazards. 

In this area, the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean has conducted and planned a wide range of capacity building activities, such as a regional workshop on media and disaster risk reduction, benefitting Caribbean media organizations, including the Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Services. The workshop held in February 2024, hosted with regional partners, improved the capabilities of news outlets to report on natural hazards and disaster risk reduction, as well as develop their institutional disaster risk assessment and disaster preparedness plans. In May 2024, a subsequent regional workshop focused on the Radio Box Equipment was convened.

The session on the sidelines of SIDS4 and the handover of the mobile broadcasting equipment to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda highlights the country’s continuing partnership with UNESCO and confirms the UN organization’s ambition to improve the capacities of more media organizations in SIDS in the Caribbean region and beyond, for climate and disaster reporting.

Furthermore, 91�鶹������Ʒ���� been working with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and other UN Agencies since September 2022, to prepare a National Digital Transformation Framework. This ongoing activity will enhance the nations’ ability to use digital technologies for their sustainable development.

UNESCO’s actions to support SIDS media in climate action and disaster preparedness

UNESCO is committed to supporting SIDS through initiatives that harness the power of media to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience. These are tangible expressions of UNESCO’s broader mandate to foster media development and support media in crisis preparedness and implement the Organization’s Operational Strategy for SIDS. 

Thanks to their core functions to inform, educate, and alert, media have a fundamental role in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This is a prerequisite for effective early warnings, which must reach those at risk. In many SIDS, broadcast media are the primary source of reliable news and information for citizens, especially during climate emergencies. This is why UNESCO bolsters SIDS media. Efforts in this vein include reinforcing media programming on climate change and natural hazards, helping media develop institutional plans and strategies for disaster preparedness and response, and increasing media’s access to and use of digital tools in news gathering and production.

SIDS4 Conference and UNESCO’s Commitment to Resilience

The fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), held under the theme “Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity,” focused on the unique challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Comprising 37 UN member nations and 20 associate members, SIDS are particularly vulnerable to global crises, especially climate change. The conference resulted in a forward-looking and action-oriented political declaration, setting the course for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.