By Robert A Emmanuel
“The destructive force of a hurricane is absolute. It has no respect for deceptive per capita metrics.”
Those were the words from Prime Minister Gaston Browne as he advocated for the adoption of the multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI).
Browne, who co-chairs the United Nations’ high-level panel on the MVI, has been part of the effort to create a critical new tool to help the most vulnerable countries move beyond cycles of shocks by putting a practical measure on vulnerability, helping the international development finance system drive smarter and more impactful investments in preparedness and grow resilience over time—at least according to the UN.
The principles of the MVI were described, in its September 2023 final report, as having:
- Multidimensional indicators to assess the structural vulnerability, covering all three dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, environmental, and social.
- Universality, capturing the vulnerabilities of all developing countries, not just small island states.
- The index also should differentiate between policy-induced and exogenous factors to reflect the inherent challenges faced by countries, independent of the political will of their governments.
- The index should utilise available, recognised, comparable, and reliable data and should be designed to be clear and easily comprehensible.
The Prime Minister, on Wednesday at the launch of the measure, said, “In a sudden onset disaster, a small island nation like my own can lose everything overnight.
“Without an MVI that shows in a data-driven manner how some countries are more vulnerable than others, the ability of the most vulnerable countries to withstand pandemics, economic shocks, disasters and climate change, will be lost.”
The report stated, “With few exceptions, access to concessional financing windows depends on meeting lower income thresholds of the gross national index per capita.
“This means that vulnerable countries often lack access to affordable development support such as concessional assistance to help them meet their sustainable development goals while coping with, and adapting to, their structural vulnerabilities.”
The MVI report also created an additional component, Vulnerability and Resilience Country Profiles (VCRP), intended to complement the MVI assessment.
The VCRP will be a “more detailed, tailored, and individualised characterisation of a country’s vulnerability and resilience factors, including non-structural resilience”.
“These national profiles, prepared by individual countries, can be used to direct support and cooperation toward addressing specific vulnerabilities identified and to enhancing resilience,” the report explained.
Antigua and Barbuda, according to the report, has an MVI score of 61.7 which is higher than the MVI score for the developing states of 52.9.
Left to their income alone, many small developing countries do not qualify for the grants and financing available from international financial institutions required to rebuild their fragile economies when impacts like hurricanes and pandemics undermine their debt-burdened fiscal resources.
The report also contained a series of recommendations to UN member states on the next steps, including its usage as a tool to “inform approaches to debt restructuring, to act as a vehicle to extend eligibility for comprehensive debt treatment and to allow exceptional eligibility for vulnerable states”.
Prime Minister Browne said, “The multilateral development banks are strongly encouraged to pilot test the MVI. Put it to use, test it out [and] this has already begun by the Caribbean Development Bank.
“We also encourage the OECD Development Assistance Committee to consider how the MVI could be incorporated into the governance framework for official development assistance eligibility and graduation, to complement World Bank income data,” he stressed.
