Honorable Reed B. Oliver, Governor of Pohnpei State of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Honorable Andrew Yatilman, Secretary of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management of FSM

His Excellency Mr. Michigami Hisashi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to FSM

Mr. Patrick Carl, Director of the Department of Public Safety, Pohnpei State Government of FSM

Senior Government Officials of FSM

Colleagues and esteemed guests

Kasalehlie, Menseng mwahu – Good morning to you all.

It is my privilege to join this handover ceremony of ICT equipment to the Pohnpei State Emergency Operation Center with our important partners under the two UNDP projects funded by the Government of Japan: Enhancing Disaster and Climate Resilience in the Federated States of Micronesia through improved Disaster Preparedness and Infrastructure; and COVID-19 Response Support in the Pacific.

UNDP has increased our presence in the Pacific, namely here in the Federated States of Micronesia, so that we can be closer to our partners and enhance partnerships. Further, UNDP is committed to supporting countries to achieve their sustainable development goals. As part of this, UNDP has a three-prolonged approach tailored for Small Island States, we call this the SIDS offer. The three parts of this offer are blue economy, digitalization and climate action. We have a large portfolio of projects here in the FSM that covers all three areas, but the projects that I mentioned above are designed to support the FSM on climate action and digitalization.

Digital technology is a fundamental force for change in this century, reshaping economies, government, and civil society – thereby impacting almost every aspect of development. The profound consequences and exponential pace of digital transformation demands both local action and global leadership to reimagine development in a digital age.

Pacific Islands Countries, including FSM are going through challenging times to cope with the effects of climate change and disasters, as well as the COVID-19 in their communities. In Pohnpei, the Department of Public Safety and the Pohnpei COVID-19 Emergency Taskforce which has been formed under the framework of Governor’s Disaster Committee continue their efforts to safeguard and protect the communities and the people of Pohnpei.

However, the increasing impacts of climate change and disasters, and the unexpected outbreaks of COVID-19 have imposed considerable strain on their emergency response resources, including equipment and communication technology. 

In response to these challenges, UNDP is handing over the ICT equipment worth US 20,000 dollars today to the Pohnpei State Emergency Operation Center, which provides a point of centralized control, coordination, and direction of emergency operations. We trust this support will help strengthen the Pohnpei State’s capacity in emergency communications and operations as well as crisis management and coordination that will benefit all community members, especially those who belong to the deprived communities in this difficult time. This is part of UNDP’s SIDS offer on climate action and digitalization.

We are grateful to the Government of Japan for their generous support, which enables us to work with the Government of FSM on the enhancement of the country’s resilience to the impact of disasters and climate change, COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We wish to reiterate that we stand ready to provide further support to enable the Government of FSM to continue its operation during the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies.

Again, thank you all for your support and for being with us today for this important ceremony.

Kalahgan.