The National University of Samoa (NUS), in partnership with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), launched the national Samoa Digital Library (SADIL) Project on Monday 17 th of
January 2022, at the NUS Fale Samoa. The Digital Library is part of the Samoa Knowledge Society
Initiative (SKSI), which is collectively funded by the India South-South Cooperation, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and UNDP.
SKSI is a rights-based initiative that acknowledges the right to access to information by all Samoans,
contributing towards an enabling environment for enhanced digital development. The initiative also
aims to produce a user-friendly localized knowledge e-platform, providing access to full text,
bibliographical and institutional information from Samoa and international sources that are openly
licensed. An objective of this initiative is the establishment of a knowledge platform that comprises of
two repositories (the Lifelong Learning Lab and the Research repository) and a digital library.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a heavy reliance on online technology for working and
learning. Hence the digital library is timely with its wealth of digital resources – providing online access
to information for work, for education and for use in our daily lives. Knowledge is power. Therefore,
access to quality information empowers people to make the right choices and the right decisions, hence
ensuring an empowered knowledge-based society,” said the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture,
Seuula Ioane Tua’au,
In addition, the national digital library aims to increase access to bibliographic and institutional
information from Samoa in English and Samoan. The development of the multilingual interface of the
digital library was carried out by national consultant, Mose Mose.
The project is now complete, and the launch ceremony yesterday also served as the official handover of
the National Digital Library to the National University of Samoa to administer through its Learning
Resource Centre (NUS Library) on behalf of all of Samoa. The Digital Library currently has numerous
electronic resources on Samoa mainly from NUS.
Both key donors, India and the United Nations, reaffirmed their commitment to the development of
inclusive knowledge societies in Samoa.
“India, as a partner and true friend, would like to extend a helping hand to Samoa towards its socio-
economic development. I would be very happy to engage with the Ministry of Education and see how
we can work together in the areas of education, e-learning, capacity-building and human resource
development,” said India’s High Commissioner to Samoa, Muktesh K. Pardeshi, who joined the launch
virutally.

“IA AO SAMOA”
PRESS RELEASE

“The future of learning, like most facets of our society nowadays, is digital. We need to move with the
times. A key part of this digital transformation is digital libraries, as we have seen here today. Digital
libraries ensure continuity and availability of information regardless of the circumstances. As the
pandemic continues to evolve, presenting multi-faceted challenges, we must also respond accordingly.
Digital libraries have emerged as vital pathways to high quality educational content ensuring all
Samoans can access information freely and learn without disruptions, regardless of current limitations,”
said the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Simona Marinescu.
The Project Team and Management acknowledged the significant contribution of enriching electronic
historical and archaeological records on Samoa from the NUS Centre of Samoan Studies. The Digital
Library also contains resources from external libraries such as the United Nations Digital Library. The
Digital Library in the near future will also contain resources from the Government Ministries and will be
linked directly to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture’s Lifelong Learning Platform.
More information about the digital library can be found at: https://samoaksi.ws/