Learning from the pandemic recovery for a more green and resilient future for all. Cities and human settlements of Small Island Developing States

This report takes the COVID-19 pandemic experience in SIDS as an opportunity to capture learnings about effective crisis prevention, response, recovery and resilience building strategies. It draws insights from three regional sister reports to dissect response and recovery efforts, explore to what degree SIDS have emerged from the pandemic with more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive cities and human settlements, and offer recommendations to inform future urban development. 

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly vulnerable to external shocks and stresses, especially, but not only, to the accelerating impacts of climate change. Building broad-based economic, social and environmental resilience and sustainability in SIDS is both critical and urgent.   

This report takes the COVID-19 pandemic experience in SIDS as an opportunity to capture learnings about effective crisis prevention, response and recovery strategies, and future priorities for building inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements. It draws insights from three regional sister reports – addressing African, Caribbean and Pacific SIDS respectively – as from the broader literature and on-the-ground experiences.  

Acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic as much more than a health crisis, the report dissects immediate and more structural response and recovery efforts. It asks to what degree SIDS have emerged from the pandemic with more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive cities and settlements, and offers recommendations to inform their future development. These stress the need for integrated urban action with cross-sectoral benefits, and opportunities for inter-regional learning and collaboration among the SIDS regions. In this way, the report provides insights into how SIDS can strategically harness the interlinkages and shared underlying vulnerabilities of the multiple challenges they face to achieve more comprehensive risk reduction. The global report and its four regional sister reports are concluding deliverables of the project ‘Strengthened Capacities of African, Caribbean and Pacific SIDS for Green, Resilient and Pro-poor Pandemic Recovery’, funded by the UN Development Account.  

Another report in this series, is State of Urbanization in the Blue Pacific Report, available on UN-Habitat's website for the Regional Office for Asia and Pacific Fukuoka