Baseline data archive for the Caribbean to monitor progress towards the SDGs

In light of regional and international initiatives to improve resiliency of SIDS (for example, the SAMOA Pathway and the UN Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]), there is an urgent need for baseline data to evaluate current vulnerabilities, and monitor progress of initiatives such as implementing SDGs. Here, we propose the development of a baseline data archive for the Caribbean region, which is home to 23 of 57 SIDS. Caribbean nations have identified challenges in establishing adequate databases needed to implement disaster risk-reduction plans (UNDP, 2011). These challenges have also been identified by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN, 2015) as a barrier to monitoring SDGs; the SDSN has called for international assistance in building this statistical capacity.