PM Browne to speak at Launch of Multidimensional Vulnerability Index Report in Morocco.

Today, Antigua and Barbuda’s PM Gaston Browne, is in Marrakech, Morocco, where he will be one of the main speakers at the launch of the Report of the High-Level Panel on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) on the margins of the 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As the Chair of the High-Level Panel of the MVI, Prime Minister Browne has been working since March 2022 with experts and Co-Chair Ms. Erna Solberg, Former Prime Minister of Norway, to develop the MVI framework.

This includes a new MVI index – a global-level assessment tool, and the enlightening Vulnerability and Resilience Country Profiles (VRCP), which serve as a valuable complement to the MVI. The panel has also outlined governance mechanisms to ensure the MVI’s effectiveness.

Prime Minister Browne said that this is another opportunity for Small Island Developing States to engage with developing countries and the international community on the ongoing efforts in support of the MVI within the framework of the World Bank Group and the IMF.

The MVI event brings together participants from the Annual Meetings and the media, providing a platform for robust conversations. It is expected to contribute to another significant gathering focused on the Debt Crisis in SIDS and the imperative for immediate action in the lead up to the fourth International Conference on SIDS, also to be held in Marrakech.

According to Prime Minister Browne, the SIDS-focused events will serve as a valuable platform to deliberate on potential areas where developing countries, particularly SIDS, could receive enhanced support.

Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, said that Prime Minister Browne’s participation in the launch event will add substantial value to the discussions and will also convey a resounding message from the UN system to the broader international community about the urgent need to reconsider the approach to accessing and allocating development assistance, including concessional finance.

Prime Minister Browne has always advocated that measuring a nation’s progress and well-being should not be confined to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita alone. He said that the limitations of this traditional metric are especially evident in countries facing substantial external shocks and stressors, compounded by their lack of resilience.

While the international community, including the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), acknowledges the inadequacy of GNI per capita in capturing the multifaceted development challenges of developing nations, the missing piece of the puzzle has been a reliable and universally accepted measure of vulnerability.

The MVI now fills this crucial void. It presents a new quantitative benchmark designed to measure structural vulnerability and lack of resilience across multiple dimensions of sustainable development at the national level.

Importantly, the MVI is not intended to replace GNI per capita; rather, it complements it, offering a deeper understanding of a country’s development requirements, including their need for concessional financing.

The launch event on Wednesday of this week will take the form of a High-Level panel which will also include, HE Ms. Erna Solberg, Former Prime Minister of Norway, Co-Chair of the High-Level Panel; HE Mr. Chola Milambo, Permanent Representative of Zambia to the United Nations; Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy-Secretary General of the United Nations, and Dr. Louise Fox, Brookings Institute, Technical lead for the High-Level Panel.

Accompanying Prime Minister Browne to the World Bank/IMF meetings and the launch of the MVI Report are Debt Manager, Peter Abraham Jr.; Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Aubrey Webson; Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tumasie Blair; and First Secretary Claxton Duberry. (Ends)